Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets traded in green throughout the day and ended on a firm note. The benchmark BSE Sensex hit a life-time high of 32,320.86 points and the NSE index Nifty scaled a new peak of 9,982.05 as market heavyweight Reliance Industries continued to surge on optimism about its outlook for the core business and telecom venture. The equity benchmarks made an optimistic start to the new week in early deals as traders took support with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya’s statement that India’s economic growth rate is likely to be 7.5 percent for the current financial year. He said ‘For the current fiscal year of 2017-18, I expect that we will be back to at least 7.5 percent and as you get towards the last quarter of the year probably we will begin to touch 8 percent, but the average for the year would be about 7.5 percent’. Separately, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that the demonetization of high value currency notes in November last year and the implementation of goods and service Tax (GST) regime from  July 1would make cash dealings a lot more difficult and certainly lead to greater compliance and digitization of the economy. He also observed that the first signs of both these landmark policy moves are already visible in the expansion of the base of direct and indirect taxes. Meanwhile, investors took note of India Meteorological Department (IMD) statement that the cumulative rainfall received till Sunday across the country was 103% of the benchmark long period average (LPA). Both the north-west and central parts of the country have received ‘excess’ rainfall with 116% and 113% of LPA, respectively. In case of the southern peninsula, rainfall has been 91% of LPA, while in the east and the north-east region, rainfall has been 90% of LPA.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green, in thin regional trade. Growth in Japan’s manufacturing activity slowed for the second straight month in July, a preliminary private survey showed, as export demand stagnated. The Markit/Nikkei Japan Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 52.2 in July on a seasonally adjusted basis from a final 52.4 in June. European markets were trading in red as the weakness of the US dollar continued to affect global markets. French business activity slowed more than expected in July to a six-month low, though manufacturing sped up.

Back home, Alok Industries closed firm after a media report indicated that Aion Capital and SSG Capital are interested to buy controlling stake in the troubled textile company. Alok Industries, which owes about Rs 23,000 crore to lenders and trade vendors, is one of 12 accounts that already identified by the Reserve Bank of India under Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code in June.

The BSE Sensex ended at 32248.86, up by 219.97 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 32058.33 and 32320.86. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.28%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.24%, IT up by 1.04%, TECK up by 1.01%, Energy up by 0.90% and FMCG up by 0.89%, while Metal down by 0.57%, Realty down by 0.43%, Healthcare down by 0.38% and Basic Materials down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.15%, Reliance Industries up by 2.13%, HDFC Bank up by 2.03%, Wipro up by 1.78% and TCS up by 1.77%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.19%, Axis Bank down by 1.01%, Tata Steel down by 1.00%, Sun Pharma down by 0.99% and ONGC down by 0.64% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, retaining its growth forecast of 7.2 per cent for India for the current fiscal year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest update report ‘World Economic Outlook, July 2017’ has said that  the country would grow at 7.7 per cent in 2018-19, keeping growth rates forecast in line with the April 2017 forecast.

IMF further mentioned that even though activity in India slowed following the currency exchange initiative, the growth rate of  7.1 per cent in 2016 was higher than anticipated due to strong government spending and data revisions. It added that the growth in 2016-17 would have been lower had the government not intervened in terms of capital expenditure. It also said that despite China's growth projections being raised by a couple of notches, India's economy would still be the fastest growing among large economies. As per its projections, while India's economy is projected to grow in both 2017-18 and 2018-19, China's economy will expand at the same rate in 2017 at 6.7 per cent as it did in 2016.

IMF further said that inflation in advanced economies remains subdued and generally below targets, while noting that it has also been declining in several emerging economies, such as Brazil, India, and Russia. Furthermore, the report kept its global growth projections unchanged for this and next year at 3.5 per cent and 3.6 per cent respectively.

The CNX Nifty ended at 9965.55, up by 50.30 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 9919.60 and 9982.05. There were 28 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 2.11%, HDFC Bank up by 1.99%, Indiabulls Housing up by 1.98%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.87% and TCS up by 1.76%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.55%, Vedanta down by 1.30%, Tata Steel down by 1.00%, Axis Bank down by 0.99% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.95% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 77.17 points or 1.04% to 7,375.74, Germany’s DAX decreased 82.28 points or 0.67% to 12,157.78 and France’s CAC decreased 18.73 points or 0.37% to 5,098.93.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Monday as investors awaited the outcome of US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday for more clues on interest rate hikes this year. Oil prices were slightly higher in Asian deals ahead of the joint OPEC and non-OPEC ministerial meeting later in the day to discuss the issue of rising output in Nigeria and Libya. Chinese shares ended higher after the International Monetary Fund kept its growth forecasts for the world economy unchanged for this year and next, but slightly revised up growth expectations for the eurozone and China. Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares ended higher on expectations that China will increase fiscal spending to boost GDP growth in the second half. However, Japanese shares hit over two-week lows as a strong yen dragged on exporters and financials also lost ground after the Bank of Japan reduced its purchases of 5-10 year bonds at its regular operation.