Post Session: Quick Review

Paring all of their early losses, Indian equity benchmarks saw a strong relief rally in the second half of the day which helped to close the session at intraday high levels on Wednesday. Sensex settled above crucial 34,400 mark, while Nifty ended just shy of 10,400 mark. Domestic indices made a cautious start and traded marginally in red amid concerns that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) governor Urjit Patel may resign today owing to differences with the central government. Selling further crept in with RBI’s report showing that India Inc’s foreign borrowing more than halved to $1.71 billion in September. Meanwhile, the high level the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) meeting chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley discussed liquidity issues being faced by the non-banking financial companies. Traders remained concerned with a report stating that Indian stocks are over-valued and that earnings growth could slow in the wake of macro headwinds, foreign funds have been taking risk off the table. The chances of capital losses in the bond markets, as yields rise, has seen money move out of the debt market too.

However, markets taken a turn towards the positive zone in the second half of the day and traded with full traction, as sentiments turned optimistic with report that Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu hinted at improvement in India’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business report, to be released on Wednesday. India jumped 30 places to rank 100th among 190 nations in the last year’s World Bank’s ease of doing business index. Local investors also cheered with DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek’s statement the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) is working with the tax department and regulators to ease the rules and laws for startups to support budding entrepreneurs. Sentiments remained up-beat with SBI study report showing that inflation is likely to remain below 4% in the coming months, notwithstanding possible increase in onion prices. Sentiments got boost with a private report stating that India's long-term growth story remains robust despite global headwinds as well as rupee depreciation and high oil prices.

On the global front, Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday, as investors digested a raft of economic data and corporate earnings results. European markets were trading in green, despite euro area economy grew at a slower pace in the third quarter. The preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed that gross domestic product expanded only 0.2% sequentially after rising 0.4% in the second quarter. The rate was forecast to remain at 0.4%. Back home, power sector stocks remained in focus with report that the government is looking to execute at least two mergers among central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) in the power sector to step up the disinvestment process and meet its target. Stocks related to rubber industry too remained in focus with report that the projected growth in the rubber consumption which is a corollary to overall economic development of the country necessitates the need to expand rubber production though the current prolonged phase of natural rubber price crash has impacted the growers deeply.

The BSE Sensex ended at 34418.27, up by 527.14 points or 1.56% after trading in a range of 33587.24 and 34463.38. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.57%, while Small cap index was up by 1.31%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 3.69%, TECK up by 3.32%, Consumer Durables up by 2.37%, Healthcare up by 1.87% and Oil & Gas up by 1.65%, while Metal down by 1.49% was the lone index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 5.91%, Infosys up by 4.23%, Indusind Bank up by 4.22%, Yes Bank up by 3.38% and Axis Bank up by 3.19%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.53%, Tata Steel down by 2.30%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.68%, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.04% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.75% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s ease of doing business ranking, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu indicated at improvement in the country’s ranking in the World Bank’s ease of doing business report. He added that the country has improved substantially. Besides, improvement is expected in parameters, including construction permit, starting a business, and trading across borders.

The World Bank’s last year’s 'ease of doing business' index had showed that India jumped 30 places to rank 100th among 190 nations. The World bank ranks countries based on 10 parameters, including starting a business, construction permits, getting electricity, getting credit, paying taxes, trade across borders, enforcing contracts, and resolving insolvency.

Talking about India-US trade relations, Prabhu said that New Delhi is actively engaged with Washington to resolve the issues. He said that India would like to work with the US on global challenges to multi-lateral trading system and matters related to existential issues of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).  He added that India is a growing economy and it offers huge advantages for the US companies.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10381.20, up by 182.80 points or 1.79% after trading in a range of 10105.10 and 10396.00. There were 38 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 8.80%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 8.05%, HDFC up by 5.95%, UPL up by 5.83% and HCL Tech. up by 5.40%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Coal India down by 3.55%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab down by 2.21%, Tata Steel down by 1.98%, Hindalco down by 1.81% and Maruti Suzuki down by 1.51% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 99.39 points or 1.39% to 7,135.24, France’s CAC surged 101.02 points or 1.99% to 5,079.55 and Germany’s DAX rose 126.63 points or 1.11% to 11,414.02.

Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday as investors digested a raft of economic data and corporate earnings results. Stocks in China ended higher despite the country reporting lower-than-expected manufacturing growth in October. China's official manufacturing PMI fell to 50.2 in October, the lowest since July 2016 and down from 50.8 in September, in a sign of further loss of momentum in the world's second-largest economy. The services PMI dropped from 54.9 to 53.9, marking the weakest pace of expansion since August 2017. Japanese shares hit a one-week high and the yen edged lower against the dollar after the Bank of Japan left interest rates steady, cut its inflation forecasts and signaled it was a long way off from exiting its massive stimulus program. Investors shrugged off weak data showing that industrial production in the country fell 1.1 percent in September from the previous month, missing expectations for a decline of 0.3 percent. Meanwhile, Hong Kong shares rose following a rebound on Wall Street, but logged their worst monthly loss since January 2016 amid a global equity sell-off triggered by concern over the impact of a Sino-American trade war.