Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks failed to sustain early gains and ended in red terrain on Monday, thereby taking losing streak into 6th day. After making a cautious start, markets gained traction and traded in fine fettle, as traders reacted positively to NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar’s statement that the government expects economy to grow by 6.5% in the current fiscal and that all efforts were focused on bringing India to a higher growth trajectory. Traders took note of India Inc’s statement that the reduction in key policy rate by the RBI is expected to revive investment and encourage consumption, thereby kick-starting the sluggish economy. Markets continued their trade in positive territory in late afternoon session, taking support from Finance Ministry’s statement that the Reserve Bank's decision to lower benchmark lending rate will complement recent measures taken by the government to accelerate growth. However, markets failed to remain in the green territory, as market-men got anxious with the RBI’s survey showing that the consumer sentiment declined further, and people are less optimistic about their income to rise over the year ahead. The consumer confidence in September registered a steep fall to 89.4 from 95.7 in July this year. The consumer confidence has touched the lowest level in at least the last six years. 

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday after data showed the US unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to a nearly 50-year low, offsetting concerns about a potential recession. European markets were trading mostly in red, as weak data on German industrial orders underscored concerns of a looming recession in the country. Back home, shipping sector were in focus with the Indian Ports Association (IPA) data showing that India’s top-12 major ports have recorded a marginal 1.48 percent upswing in cargo handling at 348.44 million tonnes (MT) in the April-September period of the current financial year. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 37491.09, down by 182.22 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 37481.86 and 37919.47. There were 9 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.26%, while Small cap index was down by 0.68%. (Provisional)

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.01%, Telecom up by 0.31% and Bankex up by 0.16%, while Healthcare down by 2.48%, Oil & Gas down by 1.96%, PSU down by 1.70%, Capital Goods down by 1.54% and Industrials down by 1.35% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 7.47%, Axis Bank up by 2.26%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.06%, Bharti Airtel up by 0.53% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.38%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.99%, ONGC down by 2.93%, ITC down by 2.41%, Tata Steel down by 2.22% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.94% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s economic growth, Niti Aayog Vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar has said with several steps taken by the government in the past couple of months to boost the economy, the country’s growth is expected to be around 6.5% this year (FY20), although it is lower than expected. He added that the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) fifth consecutive rate cut reflects the country’s overall ambition to accelerate economic growth to touch 8% sooner rather than later.

He said ‘Given all the work done in the last couple of months and today’s RBI’s fifth consecutive rate cut you can see that everything is focused now in accelerating growth further. ‘And we do want to have this growth probably at 6.5 per cent this year, which is lower than what we expect. We want it to go up to 8 per cent sooner rather than later.’

Highlighting that India is achieving progress on raising the growth rate to higher trajectory and sustaining it there, Kumar said ‘We have a very ambitious growth target’. He also said the bottom line is, there is going to be a continued focus on improving investment and business climate in India across states. On building up India’s infrastructure, he said ‘The only thing we want to do now is to attract more long-term funding’.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11117.25, down by 57.50 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 11115.50 and 11233.85. There were 18 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 7.35%, Zee Entertainment up by 5.55%, Britannia Industries up by 3.84%, Axis Bank up by 2.36% and Nestle up by 1.20%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, BPCL down by 5.00%, ONGC down by 2.97%, JSW Steel down by 2.89%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.77% and Cipla down by 2.43% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC decreased 8.23 points or 0.15% to 5,480.09 and Germany’s DAX fell 2.80 points or 0.02% to 12,010.01, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 1.29 points or 0.02% to 7,156.67.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday after data showed the US unemployment rate unexpectedly dropped to a nearly 50-year low, offsetting concerns about a potential recession. Meanwhile, the investors are now cautiously awaited the outcome of trade talks between the United States and China. Japanese shares ended lower as exporters fell on a stronger yen. Markets in China and Hong Kong were closed for public holidays.