Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended flat erasing most of their initial losses on Thursday, with frontline gauges holding their crucial 39,700 (Sensex) and 11,900 (Nifty) levels. Domestic indices made a negative start, tracking tepid global cues. Traders remained cautious with data showing that retail inflation spiked to a seven-month high of 3.05 percent in May, though remaining within RBI's comfort level, as kitchen items like vegetables, meat and fish turned dearer. Markets extended their losses in early noon session, as sentiments on the street weakened further with a private report that deal making through the private equity/venture capital routes saw a sharp 54 percent dip in May at a low $2.8 billion due to fewer large deals. The dip comes amid data release of sagging GDP growth fuelled largely by a fall in consumption which has been the one of the favourite for investors as well.

However, markets reversed their losses in last leg of trade, as trades found some support with data showing that India's industrial output grew to a six-month high of 3.4 percent in April mainly on account of improvement in mining and power generation. Traders also took some solace with United Nations trade report that India received foreign direct investments worth $42 billion in 2018, helped by robust inflows in manufacturing, communication and financial services. India attracted over 77 per cent of the total foreign direct investments that came to the South Asian region.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday as investors fretted on uncertainty over a trade deal between the US and China. Tumbling oil prices and caution ahead of the upcoming G20 summit too kept investors on the sidelines. European markets were trading in green, as Germany's consumer price inflation moderated as estimated in May from a five-month high on air tickets and holiday packages. Back home, telecom stocks were in focus with report that the Telecom regulator TRAI extended the timeline for implementation of revised Mobile Number Portability (MNP) norms, by more than three months to September 30, providing relief to operators. Sugar stocks too were buzzing with a private report indicating that sugar output in India may drop to a three-year low next season from a record as dry weather shrivels cane plants in some major growing areas of the country.

The BSE Sensex ended at 39731.67, down by 25.14 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 39461.27 and 39800.81. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.32%, while Small cap index was down by 0.55%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 0.54%, Realty up by 0.51%, Consumer Durables up by 0.35%, Capital Goods up by 0.26% and Telecom up by 0.22%, while IT down by 0.80%, TECK down by 0.58%, Auto down by 0.43%, Energy down by 0.31% and Healthcare down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 1.57%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.54%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.30%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.26% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.13%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 13.55%, Indusind Bank down by 4.96%, Infosys down by 1.52%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.12% and Hero MotoCorp down by 0.91% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in its report ‘The World Investment Report 2019’ has said that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to India surged by 6% to $42 billion in 2018, with strong inflows in the manufacturing, communication and financial services sectors, and cross-border merger and acquisition activities. The report ranked India among the top 20 host economies for FDI inflows in 2017-18. It also emphasized that prospects for FDI inflows into South Asia are largely determined by expectations of growing investment into India.

The report mentioned that India has historically accounted for 70 to 80% of inflows to the subregion. Further, the growth in cross-border M&As for India from $23 billion in 2017 to $33 billion in 2018 was primarily due to transactions in retail trade ($16 billion), which includes e-commerce, and telecommunication ($13 billion). The report added that India and the UAE, not traditionally in the top 20 outward investor countries, were also considered as among the top 10 most important sources of FDI for the 2019 to 2021 period.

Besides, the report showed that FDI inflows to developing countries in Asia rose by 3.9% to $512 billion in 2018, with growth occurring mainly in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and other ASEAN countries, as well as India and Turkey. The Asian region remained the world's largest FDI recipient, absorbing 39% of global inflows in 2018, up from 33% in 2017. FDI inflows to South Asia increased by 3.5 per cent to $54 billion. However, global FDI flows slid by 13% in 2018 to $1.3 trillion from $1.5 trillion the previous year -the third consecutive annual decline.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11914.00, up by 7.80 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 11817.05 and 11931.35. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 11.59%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.93%, BPCL up by 1.93%, Grasim Industries up by 1.61% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.55%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 13.25%, Indusind Bank down by 4.93%, Infosys down by 1.55%, UPL down by 1.35% and Indian Oil Corp. down by 1.26% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 21.49 points or 0.29% to 7,389.11, France’s CAC rose 13.10 points or 0.24% to 5,388.02 and Germany’s DAX added 67.14 points or 0.55% to 12,182.82.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Thursday in cautious trade, with tumbling oil prices and caution ahead of the upcoming G20 summit keeping investors on the sidelines. Hang Seng shares ended marginally lower as investors kept a close eye on violent protests in Hong Kong over an extradition bill that would allow people to be sent to mainland China for trial. Further, Japanese shares ended lower, dragged down by chipmakers after the Philadelphia Semiconductor index dropped 2.3 percent on concerns of a slowdown in China. Meanwhile, Chinese shares ended on a flat note as Vice-Premier Liu called for more measures to support the economy and central bank data showed the country's bank lending increased in May. Banks extended Yen 1.18 trillion new loans in May compared to Yen 1.02 trillion in April. However, this was below the forecast of Yen 1.3 trillion.