Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets traded in red for most part of the day and ended with cut of around a percent on the first day of December series. Though, the markets started the trade on a firm note taking cues from encouraging economic data but selling crept in during the second half on account of geopolitical tensions coupled with fall in European markets. The market breadth was in favour of declines with one stock advancing against two declining ones.  Investors awaited key events like RBI Policy, Federal Reserve meet and Gujarat assembly elections. Oil held steady after OPEC and other major producers agreed to extend production curbs in a widely expected move aimed at ending a persistent glut in global supplies. The benchmarks made a positive start and traded slightly in green in early deals as sentiments were upbeat after GDP rose 6.3% in the July-September period, in line with independent estimates, compared with the three year low of 5.7% growth in the April-June quarter and 7.5% in the year earlier, reversing a five-quarter slide and setting itself on course for revival. Reacting to the GDP growth data, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the impact of demonetization and GST is behind us and growth in coming quarters will be on upward trajectory. Additionally, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index, or PMI, rose to a 13-month high of 52.6 in November from October’s 50.3. It enlightened that growth in output and new orders picked up to the fastest since October 2016, reportedly supported by reductions in GST rates and stronger underlying demand conditions. India’s manufacturing economy advanced on its path to recovery as disruptions from the recent tax reform (GST) continues to diminish.

Selling crept in as India’s core sector output grew at a slower pace of 4.7% in the month October 2017, from 5.2% in September 2017, largely due to subdued performance of cement, steel and refinery segments. Besides, chief statistician TCA Anant said that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, which kicked in from July 1, has posed fresh a new challenge for calculating India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). GST has consolidated a welter of local and central levies such as value added tax, excise and service tax into a single levy. This has made inter-period tax collections difficult to compare. Investors took note of yesterday’s report that India’s fiscal deficit, the gap between expenditure and revenue, touched 96.1% of the budget estimate (BE) in the first seven months of financial year 2017-18, mainly because of lower revenue collections and increase in expenditure. Select auto stocks were buzzing in today’s trade on back of monthly auto sales number. Mixed reactions were witnessed in aviation stocks as aviation fuel price has been hiked by Rs 3,206 per kilolitre to Rs 57349 per kilolitre in Delhi.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed. China’s manufacturing activity grew at the weakest pace in five months in November as input costs remained high and tougher pollution measures weighed on business confidence. The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) dipped to 50.8 from 51.0 in October. The housing ministry said that China issued 787.8 billion yuan ($119.2 billion) worth of individual mortgage loans via the housing provident fund in January-October. The European markets were trading in red as euro zone factories posted their busiest month in over 17 years in November.

The BSE Sensex ended at 32835.51, down by 313.84 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 32797.78 and 33300.81. There were 3 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.04%, while Small cap index down by 1.20%. (Provisional)

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 2.40%, Metal down by 1.94%, Utilities down by 1.82%, PSU down by 1.59% and Oil & Gas down by 1.58%, while there were no gainers on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 0.80%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.56%, Maruti Suzuki up by 0.03% and ITC up by 0.00%.  (Provisional)
On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.98%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 2.91%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.74%, SBI down by 2.64% and Sun Pharma down by 2.59% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a positive surprise, India’s manufacturing sector growth touched a thirteen-month high in November, driven by an accelerated increase in new orders, purchasing activity and output. It indicated a robust improvement in manufacturing business conditions. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance - climbed to 52.6 in November from 50.3 in October. A reading above 50 in terms of manufacturing performance indicates expansion.

In the month of November, the amount of new work received by manufacturers grew at fastest rate since October 2016, however capital goods market group could not catch this growth rate. Besides, new export business also rose for the first time in three months, but at marginal rate. As per survey report, a combination of higher order book volumes and a decrease in GST rates, has led to greater production and firms responded to the improvement in operating conditions by creating jobs and purchasing greater quantities of raw materials and semi-finished items in November.

Rising input costs, which grew at the fastest pace since April, remained the biggest concern for the manufacturers as increasing raw material prices including that for chemicals, steel and petroleum products, added upward pressure on output prices. However, the report found that intensive competitive conditions restricted the firms to fully pass on higher cost burdens to customers, resulting in marginal output charge inflation.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10120.25, down by 106.30 points or 1.04% after trading in a range of 10108.55 and 10272.70. There were 7 stocks advancing against 43 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 0.60%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.28%, Ambuja Cement up by 0.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.20% and Maruti Suzuki up by 0.18%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing down by 4.43%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.60%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 3.24%, Vedanta down by 3.15% and GAIL India down by 3.01% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 17.57 points or 0.24% to 7,309.10, Germany’s DAX decreased 132.14 points or 1.01% to 12,891.84 and France’s CAC decreased 54.39 points or 1.01% to 5,318.40.

Asian equity markets ended mixed on Friday after a Senate vote on US tax bill got delayed and a private survey showed that activity in China's vast manufacturing sector fell in November to the weakest pace in five months. The dollar held steady against the Japanese yen and oil prices extended overnight gains after a decision by the world’s biggest oil producers to extend oil output cuts until the end of 2018, helping support underlying sentiments to some extent. Regional manufacturing surveys also painted a mostly positive picture. Japanese shares ended higher as the yen weakened against the greenback. Chinese shares ended flat on concerns over slowing growth after the Caixin manufacturing PMI dropped to 50.8 in November from 51.0 in October, signaling a slight slowdown in economic activity. Meanwhile, Markets in Indonesia and Malaysia were closed in observance of the birth of the prophet Muhammad.