Post Session: Quick Review

Breaking a five-day winning streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended the volatile day of trade marginally in red on Tuesday due to selling in frontline blue chip stocks, despite strong trend seen in other Asian markets. After making positive start, markets turned cautious amid SBI report stating that India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth is likely to slow further in the July-September quarter of this financial year to below 5 per cent amid decline in consumption, weak investments and an under-performing service sector. Some cautiousness also came in with report that India has decided not to join the mega Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal as negotiations failed to address the government’s concerns.

Markets extended their losses in afternoon trade, as a private survey showed India’s service sector activity declined for the second straight month in October, the first back-to-back reduction since the second quarter of 2017-18, dragging business confidence to its lowest level in close to three years. Although the IHS Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 49.2 in October from 48.7 in September, it remained below the 50-mark threshold that separates contraction from expansion. But, key indices managed to trim some of their initial losses in dying hour of trade, taking support from private report that India is expected to see M&A deals of over $52 billion in 2019 as mergers and acquisitions in the country are expected to remain stable despite global headwinds.

On the global front, Asian markets ended higher on Tuesday, while European markets were trading in green as hopes that Washington may roll back some of the tariffs it has imposed on imports from China shored up optimism on the global economic outlook. Back home, jewellery stocks such as PC Jeweller, Rajesh Exports ended lower after the World Gold Council said gold jewellery demand in India fell to 101.6 tonnes during July to September, down 32 percent from 148.8 tonnes in the same period of last year. The demand suffered as consumer confidence fell further over concerns around the slowing economy.

The BSE Sensex ended at 40264.46, down by 37.50 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 40053.55 and 40466.55. There were 16 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 1.16%, while Small cap index was down by 0.88%. (Provisional)

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.63% and FMCG up by 0.28%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.20%, Healthcare down by 0.98%, Capital Goods down by 0.98%, Metal down by 0.85% and Basic Materials down by 0.80% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 3.18%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.06%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.76%, SBI up by 1.69% and Bajaj Auto up by 1.37%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.97%, Indusind Bank down by 1.95%, Sun Pharma down by 1.80%, Tata Steel down by 1.45% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.24% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India has decided not to join the mega Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal as negotiations failed to address the government’s concerns. India’s stand at RCEP is a strong reflection of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strong leadership and India’s rising stature in the world. India’s decision will greatly help Indian farmers, MSMEs and dairy sector.

The RCEP agreement was against India’s economic interest and national priorities. The country’s stand is a mixture of pragmatism, the urge to safeguard interests of the poor and the effort to give an advantage to India’s service sector. While not shying away from opening up to global competition across sectors, India made a strong case for an outcome which is favourable to all countries and all sectors.

The RCEP comprises 10 ASEAN nations and six of its FTA (free trade agreement) partners - China, India, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. The RCEP aims to facilitate the creation of the biggest free-trade region in the world as the 16-nation grouping is home to 3.6 billion people, or nearly half the world’s population.

Earlier, the trade ministers from 16 RCEP countries failed to resolve the outstanding issues identified by India, though back-channel talks continued on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit to resolve the sticky issues. India has been forcefully raising the issue of market access as well as protected lists of goods mainly to shield its domestic market as there have been fears that the country may be flooded with cheap Chinese agricultural and industrial products once it signs the deal.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11921.65, down by 19.65 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 11861.90 and 11978.95. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 4.21%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.26%, Yes Bank up by 3.17%, UPL up by 1.80% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.80%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 3.82%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.29%, Eicher Motors down by 2.15%, Indusind Bank down by 2.03% and Infosys down by 1.94% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 26.58 points or 0.36% to 7,396.27, France’s CAC rose 0.02 points or 0% to 5,824.32 and Germany’s DAX was up by 16.68 points or 0.13% to 13,152.96.

Asian markets ended higher on Tuesday on hopes of an interim trade deal between the United States and China. Sentiment improved further after report showed that Trump administration officials are debating removing some existing tariffs on Chinese goods to help seal a partial deal that would pause the trade war with Beijing as early as this month. Japanese shares closed up as traders returned to their desks after a long holiday weekend. Further, Chinese shares ended higher after China's Foreign Ministry said that President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump have been in continuous touch through ‘various means’. On the economic front, a private survey of China’s services sector showed activity slowing to an eight month low in October. The Caixin/ Markit services Purchasing Managers’ Index for October came in at 51.1, its lowest reading since February.