Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a lackluster note throughout the day and ended the session with gains of around four tenth of a percent. The advance decline ratio was neutral with one stock advancing against each declining ones. The benchmarks made a positive start and traded slightly in green in early deals as traders took support from foreign brokerage report that the Indian economy is expected to see a rebound in the July-September quarter of this year with a GVA growth rate of 6.3 per cent. The brokerage proprietary indices suggest that growth bottomed out in the second quarter and a recovery is underway in the third quarter, largely because consumption and investment indicators have improved in the third quarter. Separately, a domestic brokerage report enlightened that the government is likely to achieve the fiscal deficit target of 3.2 per cent of GDP for the first time in about seven years, but may cut its capital expenses by Rs 70,000 crore to meet the goal. However, it noted that budgeted disinvestment receipts are on track to realizing Rs 72,500 crore.

Sentiments remained up-beat on Hasmukh Adhia’s statement that policymakers are considering steps to ease the compliance burden related to the goods and services tax (GST) on small businesses and to make product classification for taxation less complicated. Some support also came with report that foreign investors have poured a whopping $2 billion into the Indian debt markets so far this month due to lower currency volatility coupled with positive real interest rates. Investors took note of Prime Minister Narendra Modi statement that the process of taking important decisions regarding the economic reforms will continue. He added that after all reforms and hardcore decisions, the economy of the country is on track and is going in the right direction. On sectoral front, telecom stocks such as Idea Cellular, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications closed on firm note after Reliance Industries’ telecom arm ‘Jio’ raised data tariffs recently, signaling more pricing discipline in the sector.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green, with Tokyo up sharply as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s coalition returned to power with a super majority, setting the benchmark index up for its 15th straight daily gain. China’s labor ministry said that the country’s unemployment rate has hit its lowest point in multiple years at 3.95 percent by the end of September, but employment still face challenges as the economy pushes ahead with structural reforms. The European markets were trading in green as investors monitored fresh corporate earnings and awaited further developments of Spain’s ongoing constitutional crisis.

Back home, port and shipping related stocks were buzzing in today’s trade as Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has said a blueprint of 142 expansion projects has been finalized to modernize 12 major ports and develop new harbours at a cost of about Rs 90,000 crore. Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) made a tepid debut on the exchange today as the scrip got listed at a discount to its issue price of Rs 1,650. The issue, which was sold between October 9 and October 11, had been subscribed 2.28 times. The company, which sold the shares in the price range between Rs 1,645 and Rs 1,650 had cut anchor investor allocation to 7,89,120 shares from 18,19,501 announced earlier.

The BSE Sensex ended at 32508.29, up by 118.33 points or 0.37% after trading in a range of 32312.74 and 32614.89. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.51%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.73%, Energy up by 1.75%, TECK up by 1.39%, Basic Materials up by 1.28% and Realty up by 1.22%, while Healthcare down by 0.74%, FMCG down by 0.73%, Capital Goods down by 0.35%, Industrials down by 0.13% and Consumer Durables down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.90%, Reliance Industries up by 2.96%, Wipro up by 1.90%, ICICI Bank up by 1.80% and Infosys up by 1.66%.  (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.55%, Axis Bank down by 2.47%, Cipla down by 2.33%, Lupin down by 1.81% and HDFC down by 1.57% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the Indian economy is on track and is going in the right direction on back of various reforms and hard decisions. He also assured that the government will continue to take important decisions regarding the economic reforms and further noted that while initiating these measures the government would maintain financial stability of the country.

Narendra Modi further mentioned that the production of coal, natural gas, electricity and other items has increased enormously, adding that foreign investors are also making record investments in the country. He highlighted that the country’s foreign exchange reserves have jumped to $40,000 crore from $30,000 crore.

The Prime Minister also tried to assure the traders over the Goods and Service Tax (GST), saying that their past records will not be checked by the Income Tax department if they join the formal economy by getting themselves registered under the new tax regime.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10192.25, up by 45.70 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 10124.50 and 10224.15. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.92%, Ultratech Cement up by 4.11%, Reliance Industries up by 3.32%, Ambuja Cement up by 3.12% and HCL Tech up by 1.92%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Cipla down by 2.60%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.41%, Axis Bank down by 2.28%, UPL down by 1.79% and Lupin down by 1.45% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 9 points or 0.12% to 7,532.23, Germany’s DAX increased 68.96 points or 0.53% to 13,060.24 and France’s CAC increased 30.97 points or 0.58% to 5,403.35.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Monday after the US Senate approved a budget blueprint that paves the way for tax cuts and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party scored a big win in the nationwide parliamentary election Sunday, paving the way for a continuation of loose monetary policy. Chinese shares finished marginally higher as home-price growth data disappointed investors and markets awaited cues from a key political congress. Further, Japanese shares rallied as the dollar hit a three-month high versus the yen following the weekend election victory for Shinzo Abe.