Sensex, Nifty close Monday’s trading in green terrain

Indian equity bourses closed Monday’s trading in green terrain, with Sensex & Nifty reclaiming their crucial levels of 38,200 & 11,300, respectively. After a positive start, indices slipped into red, as the World Bank slashed its economic growth forecast for India to 6% for the current fiscal (FY20) from its April projection of 7.5%. It also warned that the severe slowdown could further weaken the country’s stuttering financial sector. But soon, recovery staged over markets, as India’s Wholesale price index (WPI) inflation fell sharply at 0.33% in the month of September 2019 as against 1.08% (provisional) for the previous month and 5.22% during the corresponding month of the previous year.

In second half of the trading session, key markets traded near their intraday high points, amid Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) report which showed that India’s foreign exchange reserves increased by $4.239 billion to hit a record high of $437.833 billion as on October 4. However, most of the gains got trimmed in the last leg of the trade, amid reports India's factory output growth, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), contracted by 1.1% in August, recording the poorest performance in seven years due to a sharp decline in production of capital goods and consumer durable. The IIP had shown a growth of 4.8% in August 2018.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, despite Eurozone industrial production expanded in August after easing for two straight months. The data from Eurostat showed that industrial output grew 0.4 percent month-on-month, offsetting a 0.4 percent fall in July. This was the first rise in three months. Production was forecast to climb 0.3 percent. Asian markets ended in green, even though China's exports declined more than expected in September reflecting weak global growth and trade disputes with the US administration. In dollar terms, exports fell 3.2 percent year-on-year in September.

Back home, the telecom industry stocks ended higher, amid reports that Fair trade regulator the Competition Commission of India (CCI) will conduct a study about the Indian telecom sector to assess various competition aspects as the market dynamics have undergone significant changes in the recent past. Further, stocks related to the banking sector also gained, even after the scheduled commercial banks (SCBs) credit growth moderated to single digit and 24-months low of 8.79% Y-o-Y to Rs 9771310 crore as on September 27, 2019, compared with 10.38% growth a fortnight ago.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 87.39 points or 0.23% to 38,214.47, while the CNX Nifty was up by 36.10 points or 0.32% to 11,341.15.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 38,513.69 and 38,066.13, respectively and there were 26 stocks advancing against 05 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.44%, while Small cap index was up by 0.12%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.24%, Realty up by 1.99%, Auto up by 1.63%, Oil & Gas up by 1.07% and Metal up by 1.04%, while IT down by 0.90%, TECK down by 0.50%, Power down by 0.20% and Capital Goods down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 5.32%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 4.74%, ONGC up by 4.73%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.61% and Indusind Bank up by 2.23%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.68%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.37%, Power Grid down by 1.09%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.34% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to achieve the target of more than doubling the share of natural gas in its energy base to 15 percent by 2030, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said India is investing over $60 billion in developing natural gas supply and distribution infrastructure. Natural gas currently constitutes 6.2 percent of all energy consumption in the country. He said natural gas is gradually becoming a bridging fuel for low carbon economy in India. He added city gas distribution network will soon cover 70 percent of India's population.

The minister said the government is giving special impetus to develop gas infrastructure across the length and breadth of the country connecting north to south and east to west parts of India. He also stated government is exploring strategic partnerships for overall development of oil & gas sector. The role of private sector - both domestic and from abroad, for bringing in investments with necessary innovations for future energy landscape in the country, will remain crucial.

Besides, he said energy is integral to achieving the target of early doubling the size of Indian economy to $5 trillion by 2024. Talking of key challenges confronting the energy sector, he said ‘the foremost challenge of our time is the Energy Trilemma. It is about providing - sustainably, securely, and affordably-sufficient energy to our growing population’. Secondly, in recent times, significant uncertainty and challenge were witnessed in the global energy markets. He said ‘we have seen the most disruptive developments. US sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, attacks on Saudi oil processing units, volatile conditions in Strait of Hormuz, unrest in the Middle-East, and US-China trade war, to name a few.’

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 11,420.45 and 11,290.05. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 5.50%, Tata Motors up by 5.03%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.62%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.55% and Sun Pharma up by 2.38%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 3.50%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.65%,. Bajaj Finserv down by 1.22%, Power Grid down by 1.00% and UPL down by 0.91% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 42.46 points or 0.59% to 7,204.62, France’s CAC decreased 56.95 points or 1.01% to 5,608.53 and Germany’s DAX was down by 111.28 points or 0.89% to 12,400.37.

Asian markets ended higher on Monday. Chinese shares ended higher as signs of improvement in trade relations between the United States and China helped investors shrug off concerns about the country's economic health. United States and China reached a phase 1 trade deal last week and US agreed to hold off on tariff hikes planned for this week, providing a temporary reprieve for global markets. Seoul shares closed up after Samsung Electronics last week posted better-than-expected third-quarter profit. Meanwhile, Japanese markets were closed for a holiday.