Markets to make a cautious start on sluggish global cues

02 Nov 2017 Evaluate
The Indian markets zoomed to their fresh record highs in the last session, on jubilation of huge jump in India’s ranking in World Bank's Doing Business 2018 report. Today, the start is likely to be a bit cautious and some consolidation can be seen at the record high levels on sluggish global cues. PSU banking stocks will keep buzzing, as the government in a bid to push consolidation among state run lenders has said that the alternative Mechanism headed by finance minister Arun Jaitley may also direct banks to examine proposals for amalgamation. A three-member ministerial panel on PSU bank consolidation led by finance minister Arun Jaitley has been formed, the other members of the panel are railway and coal minister Piyush Goyal and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Markets may get some support with a private report stating that India’s current account deficit (CAD) for this financial year is expected to be around $ 40 billion, or 1.5 per cent of GDP. CAD rose sharply to $ 14.3 billion, 2.4 per cent of GDP, at the end of first quarter of 2017-18. Auto stocks will continue to remain in focus after the announcement of their monthly sales numbers, as sales of most manufacturers cooled in October after dispatches to dealers moderated with the festive season end. There will be some action in the steel stocks too, as the Union Steel Minister Chaudhary Birender Singh has called for coastal shipping of steel products to boost growth of the sector.

The US markets made a mixed closing in the last session, coming off their record highs reached in initial trade after the Federal Reserve’s announcement of its latest monetary policy decision. It left interest rates unchanged as widely expected and offered support for the December rate hike. The Asian markets have made a mixed start and some indices are trading in red, as investors digest news that President Donald Trump picked Jerome Powell to lead the Federal Reserve.

Back home, Wednesday turned out to be a remarkable day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks where bulls tightened their grip on Dalal Street, with Nifty and Sensex hitting fresh record highs and ending above their crucial 10,400 and 33,600 levels, respectively. The market mood remained up-beat through the day and benchmarks fervently gained strength to strength, as investors continued hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. Key gauges made a gap-up opening on report that India’s ranking in the World Bank ease of doing business survey for 2018 climbed to record 30 notches to 100, as a range of regulatory and policy reforms put in place by the Union and state governments over the past four years started delivering results. The survey also recognized India as one of the top five reformers in this year’s assessment. Further support also came with Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) secretary Ramesh Abhishek’s statement that the government is working with the World Bank to recognise over 200 reforms that will help propel India into the top-50 bracket in ease of doing business. Domestic bourses continued to move northward till end at all time high levels, with up-beat economic data also providing strength. The Core sector growth hit a six-month high in September. The index of eight core industries was up 5.2% in September, compared with 4.4% in August and 5.3% in September last year. Also, fiscal deficit improved to 91.3% of the budget estimate at the end of September from 96.1% at the end of August as revenues picked up pace. Fiscal deficit is pegged at Rs 4.99 lakh crore at the end of September, down about Rs 26,000 crore from August as second instalment of corporate taxes allowed revenue to exceed spending in the month. The markets participants paid no heed towards the report that growth in India’s manufacturing sector lost momentum in October month. The Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell from 51.2 in September to 50.3 in October. Finally, the BSE Sensex soared 387.14 points or 1.17% to 33,600.27, while the CNX Nifty was up by 105.20 points or 1.02% to 10,440.50.

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