Post Session: Quick Review

Extending northward journey for second straight session, Indian equity benchmarks ended Monday’s trade on optimistic note, on the back of buying by participants amid mostly positive trade in other Asian equities. Key indices made a weak start, as traders remain concerned with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showing that the country's foreign exchange reserves fell by $446 million to $428.604 billion in the week to August 30, mainly on account of a drop in foreign currency assets. However, markets soon erased losses and started trading on positive route, as sentiments turned optimistic with Environment and forest minister Prakash Javadekar terming the present economic slowdown as a “cyclical process”, the government remains optimistic about near-doubling the economy size to $5 trillion by 2024. Sentiments also got boost with Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant’s statement that states will have to become key agents of growth to help achieve India’s target of becoming a $5 trillion economy.

Buying further crept in with a report that the government has taken upon itself the task of giving the much-needed boost to the economy, by fast-tracking public spending, particularly CAPEX. Traders also took a note of  private report stated that with an aim to invest Rs 100 lakh crore over the next five years in the infrastructure sector, the Finance Ministry has constituted a task force to draw up National Infra Pipeline. But, markets trimmed some of their gains in late trade, as market-men got anxious after India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) revised its sector outlook on non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) to negative from stable. Besides, the agency maintained its negative outlook on large ticket housing finance companies (HFCs).

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, while European markets were trading mostly in green on optimism for upcoming Sino-US trade talks, and on hopes the European Central Bank (ECB) would announce new stimulus measures during its meeting slated for Thursday to boost growth. Back home, majority of auto stocks ended in green despite data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showing that India's domestic passenger vehicle sales fell for the tenth straight month in August, declining 31.57 percent to 1,96,524 units from 2,87,198 units in the year-ago period. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 37163.86, up by 182.09 points or 0.49% after trading in a range of 36784.47 and 37244.08. 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 1.02%, while Small cap index was up by 0.92%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.98%, Capital Goods up by 1.71%, Industrials up by 1.37%, Bankex up by 1.08% and Auto up by 1.04%, while IT down by 0.80%, TECK down by 0.50% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 4.22%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.72%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.28%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.21% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.15%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 1.49%, Infosys down by 1.28%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.05%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.79% and TCS down by 0.70% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to achieve India's target of becoming a $5 trillion economy, Niti Aayog Chief Executive Officer Amitabh Kant has said that states will have to become key agents of growth. He added that states have to work together and learn from each other to radically transform India.

He further said that the government is focusing on the target of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024 and subsequently a $10 trillion economy by 2030. Therefore, he said ‘our challenge really is that it will not be possible for India to achieve this until states do not aim to double and triple their GDPs. And this would require major structural reforms and structural reforms over a vast range of sectors.’

He pointed out sectors like agriculture and labour where structural reforms are required. The current size of the Indian economy is estimated at $2.7 trillion. Besides, the central government has announced and initiated several steps to make India a $5 trillion economy over the next few years.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11005.10, up by 58.90 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 10889.80 and 11028.85. There were 37 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 4.14%, UPL up by 3.71%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.75%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.27% and Bharti Airtel up by 2.20%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 1.39%, HCL Technologies down by 1.37%, Infosys down by 1.32%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.07% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.79% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 1.40 points or 0.02% to 5,605.39 and Germany’s DAX rose 42.98 points or 0.35% to 12,234.71, while UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 16.95 points or 0.23% to 7,265.39.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday on optimism for upcoming Sino-US trade talks, and on hopes the European Central Bank (ECB) would announce new stimulus measures during its meeting slated for Thursday to boost growth. Market sentiment improved further after Friday’s soft US jobs report raised expectations for a Fed rate cut. Chinese shares ended higher as the country's central bank pumped 120 billion yuan (about 16.94 billion US dollars) into the financial system to shore up the flagging economy, shrugged off data showing China's exports fell unexpectedly in August amid escalating trade dispute with the US. Meanwhile, Malaysia's stock market was closed for Yang Dipertuan Agong's Birthday.