Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded in red terrain throughout the day and ended Thursday’s session with losses of over half a percent, as investors awaited earnings reports from major IT services companies. Key indices opened in red, as traders remain concerned about a private report that a workforce analysis of listed companies reveals that the job loss in public sector was one of the worst in the recent times. In contrast to an increase of 9.2 per cent headcount in private sector, the public sector saw a decline of 2.6 per cent in FY19. Selling further crept in with a private report that Indian retail inflation probably reached a 12-month high in September, but still leaving room for further interest rate cuts because it's expected to remain below the Reserve Bank of India's target.

Local bourses added losses in afternoon session, as Moody’s Investors Service cut India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast for 2019-20 to 5.8% from the earlier estimate of 6.2%. It attributed the deceleration to an investment-led slowdown that has broadened into consumption, driven by financial stress among rural households and weak job creation. Some cautiousness also remained amongst the market-men with World Bank stating that Asia Pacific economies are expected to slow this year due to uncertainty around U.S.-China trade tensions and slowdowns in major global economies could further hurt the region's exports.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday, while European markets were trading mostly in green, as news reports raised hopes that the US and China would settle some economic disputes, but investors were kept on edge by an earlier report that trade talks due to begin on Thursday could be cut short. Back home, logistics industry were in focus with Ratings agency ICRA stating that the domestic logistics industry is likely to grow at 8-10% over the medium term with the outlook remaining largely stable.

The BSE Sensex ended at 37923.54, down by 254.41 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 37802.93 and 38130.23. There were 8 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.92%, while Small cap index was down by 0.59%.(Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.53%, Energy up by 1.71%, TECK up by 0.21%, Oil & Gas up by 0.12% and Consumer Durables up by 0.01%, while Bankex down by 2.36%, Realty down by 2.34%, Metal down by 1.66%, PSU down by 1.16% and Auto down by 1.04% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 4.41%, Reliance Industries up by 2.70%, HCL Technologies up by 1.25%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.13% and Power Grid up by 0.99%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 5.99%, Yes Bank down by 5.09%, Tata Motors down by 3.39%, Vedanta down by 3.29% and ICICI Bank down by 2.81% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Defence minister Rajnath Singh has said the government has taken a host of measures to attract investments in the defence manufacturing sector and is ready for further tax rationalisation that may be needed to encourage the 'Make in India' initiative in the sector. He noted that the government has undertaken significant economic reforms to improve the ease of doing business in India and open up the economy for investments.

The minister stated the government has opened up defence sector manufacturing to a large extent under the 'Make in India' initiative. He also highlighted that the government has implemented across the country a single Goods and Services Tax (GST), which is biggest tax reform since independence and has recently reduced corporate tax significantly.

Singh also said India is open to explore opportunities of co-production of high-end defence equipment and seeks collaborations to modernize shipyards and defence platforms by the infusion of technology. He pointed out that French firms can make India its base for production of defence equipment, not only for India's large market but also for export to other countries. Stressing on India's substantial requirements of aero engines, both in civil and military domains, he said the country is open to explore an aero engine complex on a government-to-government basis. 

The CNX Nifty ended at 11239.25, down by 74.05 points or 0.65% after trading in a range of 11208.55 and 11293.35. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 4.34%, Grasim Industries up by 3.67%, Reliance Industries up by 2.67%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.64% and HCL Technologies up by 1.23%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 6.07%, Yes Bank down by 5.32%, GAIL India down by 3.63%, Tata Motors down by 3.39% and Vedanta down by 3.23% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 15.03 points or 0.27% to 5,514.17 and Germany’s DAX rose 10.63 points or 0.09% to 12,104.89, while UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 14.43 points or 0.2% to 7,152.07.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Thursday. Chinese shares ended higher as a dim services sector survey reinforced hopes that Beijing will roll out more stimulus measures to prop up growth. Japanese shares ended higher after reports emerged that the United States will soon issue licenses allowing some US companies to supply non-sensitive goods to China’s Huawei Technologies Company in a bid to resolve the trade war. Investors shrugged off official data showing that core machine orders in Japan fell a seasonally adjusted 2.4 percent on month in August. That missed expectations for a flat reading following the 6.6 percent decline in July. Meanwhile, Taiwan's market is closed for a holiday today.