Post Session: Quick Review

Wednesday turned out to be a fabulous day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks, where frontline gauges garnered gains of more than one and half percent on the back of widespread buying by participants. The market indices snapped a six-session losing run, with Sensex and Nifty settling above their crucial 38,150 and 11,300 levels, respectively. Markets made cautious start and traded slightly in green as investors took some support with report that the Indian economy needs a boost and a slip in the fiscal deficit by 40 to 50 basis points will be a good trade-off if it propels demand. However, key indices witnessed some selling as traders reacted negatively to a report that India has moved down 10 places to rank 68th on an annual global competitiveness index, largely due to improvements witnessed by several other economies, while Singapore has replaced the US as the world’s most competitive economy.

Though, the selling proved short-lived as markets once again entered into green terrain and witnessed sudden spike in the second half of the day, taking support from World Bank’s report that in an era of slowing trade and growth, developing countries can achieve better outcomes for its people through reforms to boost their participation in global value chains. Traders also took note of a report that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman Ajay Tyagi saw keen interest from foreign investors in emerging areas such as REITs and InvITs, which have a total asset size of more than $10 billion.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red as tensions heightened between the United States and China ahead of their crucial trade negotiations. However, European markets were trading in green on the back of upbeat corporate earnings. Back home, auto stocks were in focus with rating agency Icra’s statement that its outlook for the domestic commercial vehicle industry remains negative for the rest of the fiscal due to subdued sales amid slowing economic growth and tight financing environment. The rating agency believes that demand headwinds would continue in the near-term with likelihood of limited pre-buying ahead of the roll-out of BS-VI emission norms.

The BSE Sensex ended at 38186.62, up by 654.64 points or 1.74% after trading in a range of 37415.83 and 38202.80. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.44%, while Small cap index was up by 0.68%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 5.25%, Bankex up by 3.67%, Metal up by 2.23%, Basic Materials up by 2.05% and Capital Goods up by 1.73%, while IT down by 0.94%, Consumer Durables down by 0.49% and TECK down by 0.17% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 5.42%, Indusind Bank up by 5.41%, SBI up by 5.04%, ICICI Bank up by 4.83% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.49%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 4.71%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.75%, HCL Technologies down by 2.17%, ITC down by 1.71% and TCS down by 1.61% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) has said that mobile tower installations have reached only 60% of intended target of 1,00,000 towers annually, mainly on account delay in permission from local authorities and other structural issues. COAI also said it is reasonable for regulator Trai to review service quality norms, especially at a time when technology is changing dramatically, but added that policy or regulatory actions need to be curative rather than penal.

COAI’s Director General, Rajan Mathews said ‘we expect that in any particular year there will be 1,00,000 mobile tower installations. But at the last count, it has reached 50,000 or 60,000 towers.’ He said the big impediment has been lack of crucial installation permissions. He asserted that customers' grouse on mobile service quality and call drops also need to be viewed in the backdrop of structural issues and infrastructural bottlenecks faced by operators.

He added that the recent initiative of Department of Telecom (DoT) to bring together various stakeholders, including MCD Commissioners in Delhi to resolve outstanding issues, is an approach that should be replicated and amplified in various states. Overall, he noted structural issues need to be identified and addressed at the earliest.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11316.25, up by 189.85 points or 1.71% after trading in a range of 11090.15 and 11321.60. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 5.49%, Bharti Airtel up by 5.34%, SBI up by 5.02%, ICICI Bank up by 4.82% and Ultratech Cement up by 4.57%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 4.71%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.73%, Titan Co down by 2.51%, Zee Entertainment down by 2.39% and HCL Techologies down by 2.16% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 37.49 points or 0.52% to 7,180.64, France’s CAC rose 43.70 points or 0.8% to 5,500.32 Germany’s DAX was up by 142.22 points or 1.19% to 12,112.42.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday amid rising anxiety ahead of talks between the United States and China aimed at resolving the trade war between the world's two biggest economies. The US imposed visa restrictions on Chinese officials and also expanded its trade blacklist to include some of China's top artificial intelligence firms, worsening market sentiments. Meanwhile, markets in South Korea were closed today for a holiday.