Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets traded in red throughout the day with Sensex and Nifty closing with more than one percent cut on the day of F&O expiry. Markets record highest ever turnover of over Rs 15.5 lakh crore. The market breadth was in favour of declines with three stocks advancing against four declining ones. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) will release gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimates for the second quarter (July-September) of 2017-18. Oil prices edged up, ahead of an OPEC meeting in Vienna at which producers are expected to extend a supply-cut deal that came into effect in January with the goal of tightening supplies and propping up prices. The benchmarks started the F&O series expiry session on a pessimistic note and traded with a cut of over half a percent in early deals. Traders remained on sidelines ahead of September quarter GDP data that will be announced later in the day, though it is expected that economic growth pace is likely to pick up in the three months ending in September, halting a five-quarter slide as businesses started to overcome teething troubles after the bumpy launch of a national sales tax. Market participants will keenly watch GDP data to understand the effects of GST implementation on the economy.

Separately, a foreign brokerage enlightened that a prolonged bull market across stocks, bonds and credit has left a measure of average valuation at the highest since 1900, a condition that at some point is going to translate into pain for investors. The report added that all good things must come to an end and there will be a bear market, eventually.  Traders’ sentiments remained subdued as India reported a fiscal deficit of 5.25 trillion rupees ($81.36 billion) for April-October, or 96.1 percent of the budgeted target for the current fiscal year that ends in March 2018. The deficit was 79.3 percent of the full-year target during the same period a year ago. Net tax receipts in the first seven months of 2017/18 fiscal year were 6.34 trillion rupees. Besides, investors took note of Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian’s statement that demonetization and GST rollout may have reinforced the growth deceleration that had already set in. He added that not just growth, but investment, credit, exports, industrial production they all started decelerating sometime in the second quarter last year.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red. Growth in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly picked up in November, despite a crackdown on air pollution and a cooling property market. The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) stood at 51.8 in November, compared with 51.6 in October. The European markets were trading mostly in green shrugging off weakness among oil majors. Euro zone inflation rose in November, as the European Central Bank begins to end its purchase buyback program. The European Union’s statistics office said the consumer price index rose at an annual rate of 1.5% in November, above 1.4% in October.

The BSE Sensex ended at 33142.67, down by 460.09 points or 1.37% after trading in a range of 33118.66 and 33576.20. There were 5 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.60%, while Small cap index was up by 0.19%. (Provisional)

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.32%, Telecom up by 0.52% and Consumer Durables up by 0.13%, while, Bankex down by 1.81%, Energy down by 1.70%, Metal down by 1.19%, IT down by 1.07% and PSU down by 1.07% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 0.26%, Larsen & Toubro up by 0.23%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 0.17%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.08% and Coal India up by 0.02%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.96%, Wipro down by 2.77%, Axis Bank down by 2.58%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.56% and Reliance Industries down by 2.52% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, keeping a stable outlook for Asian steel industry in 2018, global rating agency Moody’s in its latest report has said operating conditions will remain most supportive for Indian steel industry among other Asian steel-producing countries, with robust domestic demand and the government’s continuous protectionist measures. It also expects improvement in profits of Indian steel companies in the next year, despite an increase in raw material prices.

In its 'Asia Steel Outlook 2018' report, among the major steel-producing companies, Moody’s said that Tata Steel will benefit most due to newly-added capacity, while earning of JSW Steel will remain steady. Both the companies got stable outlook from the rating agency of Ba3. The rating agency has kept stable outlook on Asian steelmakers on ground that the profitability of these companies will be steady during through 2018, after improving significantly in 2017.

On the demand front, Moody’s noted stable demand outlook for overall Asian, while robust demand growth for South and Southeast Asia and that for China is flat on the back of continue decline in capacity. It kept steady demand outlook for Japan and Korea, adding that earning of these countries’ steelmakers may be higher this year compared to last year, due to their efforts to cut costs and increase production of premium products. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 10229.45, down by 131.85 points or 1.27% after trading in a range of 10211.25 and 10332.70. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bosch up by 1.20%, GAIL India up by 1.05%, NTPC up by 0.55%, HPCL up by 0.46% and Bharti Infratel up by 0.36%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, UPL down by 3.36%, Wipro down by 3.01%, Hindalco down by 2.88%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 2.75% and Axis Bank down by 2.64% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX increased 84.41 points or 0.65% to 13,146.28, France’s CAC increased 19.76 points or 0.37% to 5,417.81, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 13.99 points or 0.19% to 7,379.57.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in red on Thursday as weakness in tech stocks following the overnight pullback by the tech-heavy Nasdaq overshadowed positive manufacturing data from China. The manufacturing sector in China continued to expand in November, and at a faster pace, the National Bureau of Statistics said with a PMI score of 51.8. That beat forecasts for 51.4 and was up from 51.6 in October. Chinese shares ended lower, pressured by selling of real estate and financial shares, and as investors booked profits in sector leaders that had stellar gains this year. Though, Japanese shares hit a three-week high as the dollar firmed up against the yen and gains in the financial sector offset weakness in tech shares. There were also hopes that the Bank of Japan will buy more exchange-traded funds.