Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a weak note throughout the day on Friday and selling pressure accelerated in late trade largely forced the markets to close at day’s low. Markets made a pessimistic start on account of weak cues from global markets on renewed concerns over US-China trade tiff. Sentiment remained dull with disappointing third quarter number by Tata Motors. The company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 26,960 crore for the third quarter of this fiscal due to asset impairment in its British arm Jaguar Land Rover (JLR).  Investors failed to take any sense of relief with Finance Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the rate cut by the RBI will give a boost to the economy by providing affordable credit to small businesses and homebuyers. The RBI has reduced repo rate (at which RBI lends to banks) by 0.25% to 6.25%, a move that will translate into softening interest rates.

Local barometer gauges added losses and were hovering at the intraday low points in last hour of trade, as sentiment on the street weakened further with report that India is unlikely to achieve its target of 100 gigawatt (GW) solar electricity capacity as it faces short-term uncertainty due to imposition of various taxes. Traders shrugged off report that India has jumped eight places to 36th position on the International Intellectual Property (IP) Index, which analyses the IP climate in 50 global economies, this year. India's eight-point jump in 2019 from 44th position in 2018 is the highest increase among 50 nations mapped by the index. The report said the improvement reflects important reforms implemented by Indian policy-makers towards building and sustaining an innovation ecosystem for domestic entrepreneurs and foreign investors alike.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red on Friday, following losses on Wall Street as fresh doubts emerged over the prospects for US-China trade talks and global growth outlook. However, European markets were trading in green, after Germany's exports rebounded at a faster-than-expected pace in December, exceeding expectations, while imports followed suit. Exports rose a calendar and seasonally adjusted 1.5 percent from November, when they declined 0.3 percent. Street had expected 0.5 percent growth. Imports climbed 1.2 percent month-on-month, recovering from a 1.3 percent slump in November. Back home, auto stocks ended lower, impacted with data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) that Domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales declined 1.87 percent to 2,80,125 units in January from 2,85,467 units in the same month last year.

The BSE Sensex ended at 36500.08, down by 471.01 points or 1.27% after trading in a range of 36480.62 and 36885.58. There were 5 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.52%, while Small cap index was down by 1.03%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.11% and Realty up by 0.95%, while Auto down by 3.55%, Metal down by 3.52%, Industrials down by 2.57%, PSU down by 2.16% and Basic Materials down by 2.11% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.00%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.75%, HCL Tech. up by 0.36%, HDFC Bank up by 0.15% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.06%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 17.63%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 14.09%, Vedanta down by 5.69%, Tata Steel down by 4.18% and ONGC down by 3.28% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cut repo rate in its latest bi-monthly policy, Finance Minister Piyush Goyal has said the RBI’s this move will give a boost to the economy by providing affordable credit to small businesses and homebuyers. He added that it will further boost employment opportunities.

Goyal said that the rate cut would also impact bank's business by boosting demand in the economy. Expounding on the benefits of the rate cut, he said banks would come out of trouble faster this way. Cheaper loans would boost demand and already banks are witnessing a rise in credit growth rates.

The RBI surprisingly reduced the repo rate by 25 basis points to 6.25 percent and also changed the policy stance to 'neutral' from the earlier 'calibrated tightening', signalling further softening on its approach to rates if the inflation prints at the projected lower levels.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10927.40, down by 142.00 points or 1.28% after trading in a range of 10925.45 and 11041.20. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 8.17%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 0.86%, HCL Tech. up by 0.57%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.55% and UPL up by 0.37%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 17.66%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 6.94%, Vedanta down by 5.57%, Eicher Motors down by 5.07% and Grasim Industries down by 4.92% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.08 points or 0.14% to 7,103.66 and France’s CAC increased 3.79 points or 0.08% to 4,989.35.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday amid growth and trade worries after the European Commission lowered its growth forecasts for euro zone and US President Donald Trump said he did not plan to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping before the March 1 deadline for reaching a trade deal. Japanese shares led regional losses to hit a one-month low as the yen strengthened on fresh worries about the US-China trade dispute. Weak earnings results also sapped investors' appetite for risk. On the economic front, a government report showed that Japan posted a current account surplus of 452.8 billion yen in December, down 43.1 percent year on year. That was shy of expectations for a surplus of 458.5 billion yen and down from 757.2 billion yen in November. Japan's trade balance in December showed a surplus of 216.2 billion yen, exceeding forecasts for 132.4 billion yen following the 559.1 billion yen deficit in the previous month. Meanwhile, markets in Taiwan and China remained closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.