Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets traded on a lackluster note throughout the day, oscillating between positive and negative terrain and ended the session with modest cut. The special CBI court pronounce the judgment in the 2G scam, which rocked the telecom sector some years ago and played a major part in cementing the UPA government’s reputation of being corrupt. The court acquitted all accuses including former telecom minister A Raja acquitted in 2G case. The equity benchmarks made a cautious start and traded flat in early deals amid weak global cues. The street took note of the details of the minutes of the MPC meeting held on December 5 and 6 released by the RBI, where RBI Governor Urjit Patel flagged concerns over rising global oil prices and uncertainties on fiscal and external fronts. Two other members in the panel, Deputy Governor Viral Acharya and Executive Director Michael Debabrata Patra, flagged the issue of inflation in petroleum products.

Select stocks from public sector banks were under pressure after the finance ministry yesterday said that it has not provided the entire amount towards capital infusion in public sector banks as most of them failed to meet the performance target. As part of Indradhanush Plan to revitalize state-owned lenders, the government had proposed to infuse Rs 70,000 crore out of Budgetary Allocations in them. Select stocks from textile industry remained on buyers’ radar, as the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved the scheme for Capacity Building in Textile Sector (SCBTS). The scheme will be applicable from 2017-2018 to 2019-2020 with an outlay of Rs 1,300 crore.

Meanwhile, the street took note that the Cabinet approved the introduction of the Consumer Protection Bill, 2017, to amend the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, with focused on faster redressal of consumer grievances and to ensure stringent action against unfair trade practices. The Bill seeks to enlarge the scope of the existing Act and proposes stricter actions against misleading advertisements and food adulteration. Separately, foreign investment inflows to India rose nearly $45 billion between April and October, 20 per cent more than what it was in the same period last year with improved outlook on the Indian economy, which is undergoing structural reforms. The rise in dollar inflows amid tightening of monetary policy across major markets including the US and the UK is a positive for India.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mixed. The Bank of Japan kept monetary policy steady despite growing signs of strength in the economy, signaling that it was in no rush to edge away from crisis-mode stimulus with inflation still distant from its 2 percent target. The European markets were trading mostly in red as investors focused on a highly-anticipated vote in Catalonia. Catalonia voters were set to go to the polls on Thursday for a regional election following weeks of political uncertainty. Trading volumes is expected to become more and more thin throughout the week, ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Back home, DB Realty, Unitech and Sun TV Network ended in green after all accused in 2G case were acquitted by a special court. Former telecom minister A Raja and DMK MP Kanimozhi were today acquitted by a special court in the 2G spectrum scam case. Others acquitted in the case are former telecom secretary Siddharth Behura, Raja’s erstwhile private secretary R K Chandolia, Swan Telecom promoters Shahid Usman Balwa and Vinod Goenka, Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra and three top executives of Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (RADAG) -- Gautam Doshi, Surendra Pipara and Hari Nair.

The BSE Sensex ended at 33742.86, down by 34.52 points or 0.10% after trading in a range of 33712.50 and 33860.99. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.73%, while Small cap index was up by 1.11%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.06%, Utilities up by 1.65%, Capital Goods up by 1.49%, Industrials up by 0.88% and Healthcare up by 0.76%, while Auto down by 0.87%, Energy down by 0.46%, Bankex down by 0.29%, FMCG down by 0.23% and Oil & Gas down by 0.22% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 2.02%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.00%, Tata Steel up by 1.91%, NTPC up by 0.92% and Infosys up by 0.84%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.75%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.16%, Axis Bank down by 1.07%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.98% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.82% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, pointing to the two major headwinds-- infrastructure issues at major airports and pricey fuel, credit rating agency, Crisil in its latest report has said that these two factors may impact Indian aviation’s flight path and would reduce passenger growth by an average around 800 bps to 13-15% annually in the five fiscals through 2022, as against 22% growth seen in the last two fiscal years.

As per the report, low fare prices on cooling crude oil prices had led passenger traffic growth in the last two fiscal years, but expectations of rise in crude oil prices to $50-$55 per barrel over the next five fiscals would rise the airfares and this would result in moderate passenger traffic growth.

Crisil further said that the bigger problem is the severe congestion at airports metastasizing into structural gridlocks, adding that Mumbai and New Delhi airports are edging towards capacity crunch during peak hours, which is amplifying the infrastructure constraints. The ratings agency further noted that though the airlines have started deploying bigger aircraft to deal with congestion issues, it is beneficial for the short term only. So there is need of significant investments in airport infrastructure to help the industry grow faster.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10428.65, down by 15.55 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 10426.90 and 10473.95. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Larsen & Toubro up by 2.11%, HCL Tech up by 2.09%, Hindalco up by 2.01%, Tata Steel up by 1.35% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.19%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 3.63%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.19%, Axis Bank down by 1.16%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.16% and HPCL down by 1.14% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 35 points or 0.27% to 13,034.17, France’s CAC decreased 12.8 points or 0.24% to 5,339.97, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.89 points or 0.04% to 7,528.11.

Asian equity markets made a mixed closing on Thursday as financial markets offered a muted reaction to the passage of major US tax reform, which will lower tax rates for both businesses and individual Americans. Japanese shares closed lower even as the dollar held near a one-week high against the yen, supported by a rise in US bond yields. Meanwhile, Chinese stocks ended higher after Xinhua news agency said the country is committed to maintain economic growth in a reasonable range next year.