Post Session: Quick Review

Bringing up sixth-day of gains, Indian equity benchmarks finished Friday’s session on a firm note, driven by strong buying across Power and Realty stocks. After making a cautious start, markets gained traction and traded in fine fettle, as traders reacted positively to Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that investors can find no better place in the world than India that has a democracy loving and capitalist respecting environment. Sentiments remained optimistic with a private report that corporate tax rate cut is clearly a positive for India which would move the country up the ladder in terms of attractiveness for foreign direct investment. Key indices added gains in last leg of trade, taking support from a report stating that India has emerged as third largest ecosystems for more successful start-ups right behind China and US but ahead of Britain and Israel. The market participants overlooked International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) statement that though India has worked on the fundamentals of its economy, there are problems, including the long-term drivers of growth that need to be addressed. 

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday, while European markets were trading mostly in red as worries about the health of the world's second-largest economy overshadowed optimism from a Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union. Back home, select jewellery stocks ended lower with Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) stating that the overall gems and jewellery exports is expected to decline of 5-10 percent in this financial year on the back of US-China trade war, protests in Hong Kong and the implementation of VAT in the Middle East. Besides, aviation stocks were in focus with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data showing that domestic air passenger traffic declined for the fourth consecutive month in September, amid a slowing economy and lean travel season.

The BSE Sensex ended at 39303.91, up by 251.85 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 38963.60 and 39361.06. There were 22 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.80%, while Small cap index was up by 1.66%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.58%, Realty up by 2.16%, Capital Goods up by 2.13%, PSU up by 2.07% ad Utilities up by 1.86%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 8.54%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.68%, Power Grid up by 2.40%, NTPC up by 2.15% and Larsen & Toubro up by 1.75%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 1.27%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.05%, ICICI Bank down by 0.81%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.60% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.44% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, assuring international investors, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said investors can find no better place in the world than India that has a democracy loving and capitalist respecting environment. She said ‘India is one of the fastest growing economies even today. It has the best skilled manpower and a government that is continuously doing what is required in the name of reforms, above all democracy and rule of law.’ She added that even if the court system is a bit delayed, India is a transparent and open society. Also, the rule of law works and there are a lot of reforms happening, even those to cut down delays.

For insurance companies, who urged her to remove the cap on investment in this sector, she said the government needs to understand what the expectations of the sector are other than removing of the cap. She would be quite open to it and they could send her the details. Asserting that the government is engaging with everyone on a weekly basis and there is no trust deficit with the corporate sector and investors, she said there is a greater understanding that this government is willing to hear and also wanting to respond. She said the government is committed to maintaining fiscal deficit in India.

Regarding the slowdown in the Indian economy, the finance minister said the government is taking steps to address problems in the stressed sectors. She said ‘though the budget was presented in July, in a year when there was interim budget present before the election, we didn't wait for the next budget to come in February of 2020, almost on a 10-day interval, we have been announcing one or the other intervention with which each of the stressed areas can be addressed.’ Overall in order to boost consumption, the government has very clearly said public expenditure for infrastructure will be clearly front loaded. She also said ‘similarly, for increasing money in the hands of the people so that consumption can improve, I've requested all the building sector banks together with their partners, non-banking, financial companies to reach out to villages, reach out to districts and extend every kind of credit that they would want.’

The CNX Nifty ended at 11662.65, up by 76.30 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 11553.15 and 11684.70. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 8.44%, Coal India up by 3.31%, Adani Ports &SEZ up by 3.15%, Grasim Industries up by 3.06% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.75%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 5.29%, Tata Motors down by 2.22%, Eicher Motors down by 1.33%, Hindalco down by 0.93% and ICICI Bank down by 0.81% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 11.37 points or 0.16% to 7,170.95 and France’s CAC fell 20.56 points or 0.36% to 5,652.51, while Germany’s DAX was up by 19.71 points or 0.16% to 12,674.66.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Friday as worries about the health of the world's second-largest economy overshadowed optimism from a Brexit deal between the UK and the European Union. Chinese shares ended lower after the release of China’s disappointing third-quarter growth data, that raising pressure on policymakers to roll out more measures. Reports showing China's GDP grew 6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter after rising 6.2 percent in the second quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics said. This was the slowest growth since early 1990s. Growth was forecast to slow marginally to 6.1 percent. Though, Japanese shares closed at a 10-month high as investor sentiment was bolstered by US shares trading higher overnight on the back of solid corporate earnings. Sentiment was also boosted after the government said the trade deal reached between the US and Japan will boost domestic growth by about 0.8 percent.