Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a weak note throughout the day on Tuesday and continued selloff in last hour of trade dragged the market to close near day’s low, with Nifty breaching crucial 10,850 mark. Key indices made a sluggish start, following weakness in the global markets on US-China trade tensions. Sentiment remained downbeat with Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that global trade is facing headwinds and these challenges are needed to be tackled properly to boost world economy. He also said that the US decision to impose high import duties on certain steel and aluminium products have led to a trade war kind of situation, with other countries too raising their tariff walls. Traders remain worried about a private report that the Indian rupee would continue to witness pressure in the coming days, but it should get respite in the medium term as trade protectionism ends up hurting the US economy, a net importer of goods.

Sentiment on the street weakened further with Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia’s statement that exporters, particularly from the food and agriculture sectors, should strictly comply with global norms for quality and standards, or else they might lose their export market share to other countries. Traders failed to get any sense of relief from Finance Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the government is committed to meet the fiscal deficit target of 3.3% for the current fiscal. The government will maintain stability in the economy and meet all economic parameters fixed by the government. Traders also overlooked President Ram Nath Kovind’s statement that India is striving to become a $5 trillion economy and the world’s third largest consumer market by 2025.

On the global front, Asian markets ended in red, as U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on Chinese goods in an escalating tit-for-tat trade war between the world's two biggest economies. European markets were trading in red in early deals on Tuesday, as investors worry that the U.S. and China are getting closer to a trade war.

Back home, shares of footwear companies edged higher for the second straight day in a row on private report that the Indian footwear industry is valued at Rs 500-550 billion, which is expected to grow at a CAGR of around 15% going ahead. One third of the industry is mainly dominated by the unorganized sector. In scrip specific developments, shares of ICICI Bank and ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Company (ICICI Pru Life) ended slightly in red after the board of ICICI Bank on Monday appointed Sandeep Bakhshi, as whole-time director & chief operating officer (COO) to run the affairs of the private lender.

The BSE Sensex ended at 35274.02, down by 274.24 points or 0.77% after trading in a range of 35249.06 and 35552.47. There were 4 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.98%, while Small cap index was down by 1.31%. (Provisional)

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy down by 1.76%, Metal down by 1.63%, Basic Materials down by 1.61%, Realty down by 1.39% and Oil & Gas down by 1.30%. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 0.78%, ONGC up by 0.27%, HDFC Bank up by 0.18% and HDFC up by 0.17%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.47%, Reliance Industries down by 2.15%, Sun Pharma down by 2.08%, SBI down by 1.95% and Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.91% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to boost world economy, the Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that global trade which is facing headwinds, need to tackle these challenges properly. He mentioned that there are several empirical evidences that growth in global trade helps boost domestic economies as well and therefore India really need to focus on it adequately.

Prabhu further said that services trade is growing faster than merchandise and such dynamic changes need to be captured in the global trading system and there is need to focus on reviewing norms for movement of professionals. He added that the government is working on a comprehensive strategy to boost services exports and $1 billion will be spent to promote 12 champion services sectors. He also said that the pre-requisite thing for delivery of services is movement of people and that must be recognised globally and they should work on that.

Talking about exports growth in India, the Minister said the ministry has prepared a detailed strategy to increase the shipments. He highlighted that exports of goods and services in 2017-18 grew by about 12%. Besides, on the Indian economy he said the country’s economy would touch $5 trillion in next eight years and definitely need to have dollar one trillion from exports of goods and services and they are ready with the strategy for this.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10711.30, down by 88.55 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 10701.20 and 10789.45. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 1.20%, GAIL India up by 1.14%, ITC up by 0.59%, HDFC up by 0.46% and HDFC Bank up by 0.19%. (Provisional)
On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.51%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 3.05%, HPCL down by 2.89%, UPL down by 2.64% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.29% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 182.64 points or 1.44% to 12,651.47, France’s CAC decreased 63.30 points or 1.18% to 5,387.18 and UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 43.40 points or 0.57% to 7,587.93.

Asian equity markets ended in red on Tuesday as a trade dispute between China and the US intensified and oil turned volatile ahead of a critical meeting of crude-producing nations that will determine whether it's time to ramp up production. Traders eyed looming trade wars after US President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods and Beijing vowed to ‘immediately’ retaliate. Chinese stocks hit two-year low and the yuan weakened after the Ministry of Commerce vowed to retaliate with ‘strong’ counter measures against US companies, deepening a trade dispute between the world's two biggest economies. Further, Japanese shares posted their biggest single-day loss in three months to reach 2-1/2-week lows as a strong yen amid escalating global trade tensions soured investors' appetite for risk. Meanwhile, Indonesian markets remain closed for Eid-ul-Fitr holiday.