Post Session: Quick Review

In choppy session of trade, Indian equity benchmarks gave up all of their gains to end flat on Wednesday, with Nifty ending just shy of 10,900 mark. Domestic stocks saw a positive opening, tracking buying by domestic institutional investors after the government said that the country's trade deficit had narrowed to a 10-month low. Traders also took some encouragement with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statement that it would inject Rs 10,000 crore into the system through purchase of government securities on January 17 to increase liquidity. The purchase will be made through open market operations (OMOs). The RBI plans to inject liquidity under OMOs for Rs 50,000 crore in January 2019. The central bank has so far injected Rs 20,000 through OMOs in January.

However, markets reversed their entire gains and traded flat in late hour of trade, as sentiments turned pessimistic with ICRA’s latest report indicating that a recent policy change favouring advanced degree holders for visas in US will lead to a hit on IT companies' profitability as the number of H1-B visas approved gets reduced. Traders remained concerned as exports grew at at 0.34 per cent in December, marking the slowest pace in three months.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday, despite poor Japanese data and worries about global growth. Japan said its core machinery orders were flat in November at 863.1 billion yen, compared with October's 7.6 per cent rise. This was also lower than analysts' expectations of a 3 per cent increase. European markets were trading mostly in red. Back home, Pharma stocks were in spotlight with a private report penning that the domestic pharma retail market registered a healthy growth rate of around 10% in 2018, nearly doubling year-on-year, maintained by higher volumes and launch of new drugs. In 2017, the market was impacted by the introduction of GST, resulting in a growth rate of 5.5%.

The BSE Sensex ended at 36310.93, down by 7.40 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 36278.61 and 36462.03. There were 13 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.06%, while Small cap index was up by 0.08%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.69%, Oil & Gas up by 0.65%, Utilities up by 0.57%, TECK up by 0.41% and Healthcare up by 0.40%, while Telecom down by 0.94%, FMCG down by 0.76%, Metal down by 0.69%, Auto down by 0.40% and Consumer Disc down by 0.37% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 2.59%, Indusind Bank up by 1.89%, Infosys up by 1.42%, ONGC up by 0.65% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 0.61%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.41%, Vedanta down by 1.31%, Asian Paints down by 1.21%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.12% and HCL Tech. down by 1.06% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a bid to increase liquidity in the market, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has said that it will inject Rs 10,000 crore into the system through purchase of government securities on January 17, 2019. The purchase will be made through open market operations (OMOs).

The Central Bank stated that based on an assessment of prevailing liquidity conditions and also of the durable liquidity needs going forward, the RBI has decided to conduct purchase of government securities under OMOs for an aggregate amount of Rs 100 billion on January 17, 2019.

The eligible participants should submit their offers in electronic format on the RBI Core Banking Solution (E-Kuber) system on January 17. The result of the auction will be announced on the same day and payment to successful participants will be made on the following day.

Besides, the Central Bank plans to inject liquidity under OMOs for Rs 50,000 crore in January 2019. So far, the central bank has injected Rs 20,000 crore into the system through OMOs in January.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10888.60, up by 1.80 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 10876.90 and 10928.15. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.79%, Yes Bank up by 2.54%, Wipro up by 2.30%, Indusind Bank up by 2.00% and BPCL up by 1.62%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, JSW Steel down by 2.09%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.61%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.48%, UPL down by 1.43% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.40% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 37.26 points or 0.54% to 6,857.76 and Germany’s DAX fell 0.47 points or 0% to 10,891.32, while France’s CAC increased 12.60 points or 0.26% to 4,798.77.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday even as the UK House of Commons voted down Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal by a crushing margin, stoking fresh uncertainty. Investors now focus on a no-confidence vote on May's government by Britain's parliament later in the day. Chinese shares ended little changed amid the political turmoil surrounding Brexit. Japanese shares ended lower, as the dollar remained defensive against the yen amid a partial government shutdown in the US and the ‘very uncertain and unstable’ political situation in Britain over its divorce from Europe. Weak Japanese data also pulled the shares lower. Reports showed Japan's core machine orders, considered a leading indicator of capital expenditure, held largely unchanged month-on-month in November, well below forecasts for an increase of 3.0 percent and down sharply from 7.6 percent in October.