Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a lackluster note throughout the day and ended the session with minor gains. Markets have gained in seven of total ten trading sessions this month. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) snapped three day gaining streak. The equity benchmarks traded in fine fettle in early deals, as traders took some support with private brokerage firm’s report which highlighted that India’s GDP growth is expected to be around 7.1% this fiscal following a likely pick up in industrial production as firms resort to restocking post GST especially ahead of festive season. The report added that the ongoing remonetisation will have a positive impact on the cash-intensive services sectors and this in turn will help to augur growth numbers. Investors took note that industry body ASSOCHAM has sought from the government slew of tax relief for companies against whom insolvency proceedings have been initiated. It added that the resolution plans approved after factoring in these reliefs/concessions will result in quick revival of assets, freeing up liquidity for banks for further lending, increased economic activity, job creation, increased contribution to the exchequer and will have multiplier effect on the associated economy. 

Selling crept in after data released by the commerce and industry ministry highlighted that higher inflation in food and fuel products drove India’s Wholesale Price Inflation (WPI) to 3.24% in August from 1.88% in July. Food articles inflation was up 5.75% with that in vegetables at 44.91% and onions at 88.46%. Separately, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to hold the key rate in the monetary policy review next month following a jump in inflation and is expected to focus more on resolving the problem of bad loans in the banking system. Meanwhile, CRISIL Ratings said that banks have only recognized two-thirds of their stressed loans as non-performing assets, and estimated the bad loan ratio to rise by 1% point to 10.5% by March 2018. The agency estimates the total amount of stressed loans, which includes NPAs and standard assets that are under pressure currently and could deteriorate into NPAs, to be at Rs 11.5 trillion or 14% of the system.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in red, following a burst of Chinese data which was largely weaker than markets expected. China’s fixed-asset investment, factory output and retail sales all grew less than expected, reinforcing views that the world's second-largest economy is gradually beginning to lose steam in the face of rising borrowing costs. The European markets were trading mostly in red weighed down by weaker miners. Investors also assessed geopolitical developments and looked ahead to the Bank of England’s latest policy decision. Britain’s unemployment rate hit it’s lowest since 1975 but wages slipped further behind the cost of living, taking some of the urgency out of a Bank of England debate on when interest rates might rise.

Back home, oil marketing companies - Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) closed in green after Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that the government doesn’t plan to intervene to check fuel prices that have soared to the highest in three years. Select stocks related to railways were buzzing in today’s trade after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japan PM Shinzo Abe laid the foundation for 508-km bullet train project.

The BSE Sensex ended at 32230.98, up by 44.57 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 32186.84 and 32328.61. There were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.61%, while Small cap index was up by 0.66%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 2.05%, Industrials up by 0.94%, Power up by 0.80%, Bankex up by 0.35% and Auto up by 0.29%, while Metal down by 0.72%, Realty down by 0.49%, Energy down by 0.36%, Oil & Gas down by 0.22% and Basic Materials down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors - DVR up by 4.08%, Sun Pharma up by 3.93%, Axis Bank up by 3.87%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 3.67% and Tata Motors up by 3.41%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Wipro down by 4.07%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.07%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.98%, ONGC down by 0.93% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.70% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, after the sharp rise seen in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) based inflation, the latest data released by the government has shown that the wholesale price index (WPI) inflation rate too has registered significant increase in August month. Surge in prices of foods articles, vegetable and  fuel products mainly pulled the country’s WPI higher to 3.24% in August against 1.09% increase in the same month a year ago and 1.88% recorded in the previous month. Build up inflation rate in the financial year so far was 1.41% compared to a build up rate of 3.25% in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, witnessed increase of 1.9% to 134.9 (provisional) from 132.4 (provisional) for the previous month. Among the primary articles, the index for ‘Food Articles’ group surged 2.2% to 150.8 (provisional) from 147.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for ‘Non-Food Articles’ group rose by 1.8% to 120.6 (provisional) from 118.5 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for ‘Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas’ group gained by 0.5% to 64.3 (provisional) from 64.0 (provisional) for the previous month. On the other hand, the index for ‘Minerals’ group declined 1.2% to 118.2 (provisional) from 119.6 (provisional) for the previous month.

Fuel & Power index having weight of 13.15% inched up by 0.9% to 89.2 (provisional) from 88.4 (provisional) for the previous month due to higher prices of naphtha, petrol and kerosene.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23% increased by 0.2 percent to 112.9 (provisional) from 112.7 (provisional) for the previous month. The index for Manufacture of Food Products group rose by 0.3% to 127.3 (provisional) from 126.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Beverages group jumped 1.4% to 119.1 (provisional) from 117.4 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Tobacco Products group surged 2.9% to 147.7 (provisional) from 143.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Wearing Apparel group increased by 0.4% to 136.5 (provisional) from 136 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Leather and Related Products group rose by 1.2% to 120.9 (provisional) from 119.5 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Wood and of Products of Wood and Cork group inched up by 0.3% to 132.1 (provisional) from 131.7 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for Manufacture of Paper and Paper Products group rose by 0.9% to 118.5 (provisional) from 117.5 (provisional) for the previous month.

The index for Printing and Reproduction of Recorded Media group rose by 0.5% to 144.3 (provisional) from 143.6 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Pharmaceuticals, Medicinal Chemical and Botanical Products group rose by 0.8% to 120.9 (provisional) from 120 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Basic Metals group rose by 0.8% to 97.8 (provisional) from 97.0 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Electrical Equipment group rose by 0.8% to 109.3 (provisional) from 108.4 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Machinery and Equipment group rose by 0.3% to 108.4 (provisional) from 108.1 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Motor Vehicles, Trailers and Semi-Trailers group rose by 0.7% to 111.9 (provisional) from 111.1 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for Manufacture of Furniture group was up by 1.4% to 119.5 (provisional) from 117.8 (provisional) for the previous month.

On the other hand, the index for Manufacture of Textiles group declined by 0.6% to 112.7 (provisional) from 113.4 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Chemicals and Chemical Products group decreased by 0.1% to 111.2 (provisional) from 111.3 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Rubber and Plastics Products group declined by 0.6% to 107.2 (provisional) from 107.9 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Other Non-Metallic Mineral Products group slipped 0.8% to 111.9 (provisional) from 112.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Fabricated Metal Products, Except Machinery & Equipment group declined by 0.3% to 107.5 (provisional) from 107.8 (provisional) for the previous month, the index for Manufacture of Computer, Electronic & Optical Products group dropped by 0.4% to 108.9 (provisional) from 109.3 (provisional) for the previous month and the index for Manufacture of other Transport Equipment group was down by 1.4% to 109.5 (provisional) from 111 (provisional) for the previous month.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10086.45, up by 7.15 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 10070.35 and 10126.50. There were 23 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors - DVR up by 4.50%, Axis Bank up by 4.04%, Sun Pharma up by 3.95%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 3.81% and Tata Motors up by 3.58%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Wipro down by 4.28%, Vedanta down by 2.19%, GAIL India down by 1.73%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.17% and Asian Paints down by 1.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 29.08 points or 0.23% to 12,524.49, France’s CAC decreased 2.33 points or 0.04% to 5,215.26, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 5.34 points or 0.07% to 7,385.04.

Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Thursday after a raft of Chinese data came in below estimates. Investors also awaited the release of US inflation data later in the day for clues on the possible timing of the Federal Reserve's next rate rise. Chinese shares eased from a 20-month high after the release of weaker-than-expected data. Reports showed China's industrial output grew an annual 6.0 percent in August, the National Bureau of Statistics said - missing forecasts for an increase of 6.6 percent and down from 6.4 percent in July. Retail sales rose 10.1 percent - again missing expectations for 10.5 percent growth, while fixed asset investment advanced an annual 6.7 percent - shy of forecasts for 6.8 percent. Further, Japanese shares ended lower as the dollar held steady against the yen and data showed Japan's industrial output declined as initially estimated in July. Sentiments also turned sour after North Korea threatened to use nuclear weapons to ‘sink’ Japan and reduce the United States to ‘ashes and darkness’ for supporting a new round of sanctions by the United Nations.