Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks altered between red and green territory throughout the day and ended flat with positive bias. The equity benchmarks made a pessimistic start and traded slightly in red in early deals as investors took note of S&P Global Ratings report which enlightened that the Indian economy is shaking off its post-GST implementation woes but risks from higher oil prices have reappeared. International oil prices have been rising which has also led to increased prices of petrol and diesel. A majority of India’s import bill stem from crude oil purchases. However, losses remained capped as investors’ sentiments got some relief with Niti Aayog’s former vice chairman Arvind Panagariya's statement that India is headed to become the world’s fifth largest economy and it has the potential to achieve 10% growth rate. He added that for India to achieve the double-digit growth, it needs major reforms in labour and land acquisition laws. It also needs significant privatization and a major reform of civil service, which is quite not sufficient to handle the large economy that India is now.

Some comfort also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley expressing confidence about the Indian economy’s potential, he said that India will be one of the three largest economies in the world over the next 25 years. Some solace also came with the Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu’s statement that the increasing middle class would be the main driver of India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the coming years. Besides, Union minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that there is a huge appetite for continuous surge in foreign investments in India with no comparable opportunity available worldwide, also gave some relief to market-men.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mixed. Japan’s exports to China and Asia hit record levels as shipments rose for a 13th straight month in December and manufacturing growth hit a four-year high in January, pointing to an economy that powered through the fourth quarter and into 2018. The European markets were trading in red as investors focused on a batch of euro zone economic reports set to be released. The jobless rate in the UK was unchanged as expected at a prior 42-year low in November, while wage inflation excluding bonuses unexpectedly ticket higher.

Back home, telecom stocks Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular closed in red, a day after Reliance Jio offered 500 Mb more data at the same price points, underlining the continuing tariff war which will hurt average revenue per user further. The industry, already plagued by tariff wars and debt of Rs 5 lakh crore has had another poor quarter.

The BSE Sensex ended at 36152.29, up by 12.31 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 36036.51 and 36268.19. There were 18 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.61%, while Small cap index was down by 0.89%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.45%, PSU up by 1.23%, FMCG up by 0.57%, TECK up by 0.42% and Oil & Gas up by 0.23%, while Telecom down by 3.74%, Consumer Durables down by 2.23%, Metal down by 1.63%, Basic Materials down by 1.45% and Industrials down by 0.90% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 3.68%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 2.39%, TCS up by 2.32%, ITC up by 1.92% and ONGC up by 1.64%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 6.80%, Tata Motors down by 3.44%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.11%, ICICI Bank down by 2.60% and Tata Steel down by 2.47% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, highlighting India is coming out of post Goods and Services Tax (GST) implementation woes, global rating agency, Standard & Poor's (S&P) ratings, in its latest report titled ‘APAC Economic Snapshots, January 2018’ has said that overall economic risks in India remain low, on the back of pick up in industrial output and bank credit. However, the rating agency raised concerns over rising crude oil prices, terming it as a ‘risk’ for the country, as a majority of India's import bill stem from crude oil purchases.

The report further mentioned about recent growth of industrial sector, noting that Industrial output (and investment more generally) -- the missing piece of the sustainable growth story in recent years -- jumped to a 25-month high in November, led by manufacturing. Besides, the rating agency also highlighted improving bank credit situation to the real economy.

On the Asia-Pacific region, S&P ratings said that both export and domestic demand are showing positive signs in the more trade-dependent Asia-Pacific economies, with high export growth and broadening domestic demand. Apart from this, the report also expressed optimism over China's 2017 strong GDP growth which is suggesting an ongoing rebalancing of its economy and for Japan, it said that the near-term economic remains relatively bright in this country.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11084.65, up by 0.95 points or 0.01% after trading in a range of 11046.15 and 11110.10. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 3.76%, GAIL India up by 2.89%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.59%, Lupin up by 2.52% and HCL Tech up by 2.48%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 7.22%, Tata Motors down by 3.49%, Tata Steel down by 2.66%, ICICI Bank down by 2.51% and Eicher Motors down by 2.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets closed in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 39.23 points or 0.51% to 7,692.60, Germany’s DAX decreased 17.29 points or 0.13% to 13,542.31 and France’s CAC decreased 13.56 points or 0.24% to 5,521.70.

Asian equity markets ended mixed on Wednesday as news of US tariffs on washing machines and sonar panels sparked fears of a global trade war. Chinese shares hit fresh two-year highs on optimism about growth in 2018. Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended lower as the dollar dropped below the 110 yen threshold for the first time in four months, triggering selling in exporters. Weaker- than- expected Japanese trade data for December also dented sentiments.