Bourses manage to end volatile session at record closing highs

Indian equity bourses managed to end Friday’s volatile session at record closing highs, on account of firm cues from other Asian markets. The trading day was started on firm note, as DPIIT Secretary Guruprasad Mohapatra expressed optimism that India will soon break into the top 50 in the World Bank's ease of doing business ranking. Adding some relief among market participants, a private report indicated that it expects the Reserve Bank of India to cut the repo rate to 4.9% by March 2020 and 4.35% by September 2020 if global growth slows, and also said fiscal deficit is anticipated to slip to 3.8% of the GDP this year.

But, volatility hit the street in noon deals, after investments through participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market dropped to Rs 69,670 crore at the end of November. The total value of investments via P-notes in the Indian markets (including equity, debt, and derivatives) declined by Rs 7,103 crore to Rs 69,670 crore by the end of November from Rs 76,773 crore at October-end. Finally, benchmarks settled the day with only marginal gains, as credit rating agency, Fitch Ratings cut India's GDP growth forecast for 2019-20 fiscal year to 4.6 percent on the deterioration in business and consumer confidence.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red territory, as German consumer confidence is set to weaken in January. The survey data from market research group GfK showed that the forward-looking consumer sentiment index fell to 9.6 in January from 9.7 in December. The score was forecast to rise marginally to 9.8. Asian markets ended in green terrain, despite Japan's consumer price inflation accelerated in November after the sales tax hike but remained well below the central bank target. Core inflation that excludes fresh food rose to 0.5 percent in November from 0.4 percent in October.

Back home, the realty sector stocks ended in green, amid a private report stating that investment in Indian real estate sector is estimated to have increased by 9 per cent to Rs 43,780 crore during this calendar year on higher inflow from foreign funds. Office properties attracted 46 per cent of the total inflow and received nearly Rs 20,000 crore this year. Further, aviation stocks remained in focus, with rating agency ICRA’s report that domestic passenger traffic growth is expected to decline to a six-year low of 4.5 percent in the current fiscal and the financial health of the aviation industry will continue to deteriorate.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 7.62 points or 0.02% to 41,681.54, while the CNX Nifty was up by 12.10 points or 0.10% to 12,271.80.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 41,809.96 and 41,636.11, respectively and there were 13 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.15%, while Small cap index down was by 0.03%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.20%, PSU up by 1.02%, Telecom up by 0.92%, Realty up by 0.63% and Utilities up by 0.59%, while Healthcare down by 0.42%, Auto down by 0.37%, Energy down by 0.24%, Capital Goods down by 0.10% and Oil & Gas down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.23%, SBI up by 2.96%, Yes Bank up by 2.91%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.22% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.45%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.75%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.10%, Tata Motors down by 1.76% and ITC down by 1.27% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Textiles Ministry is in the process of formulating a New Textiles Policy 2020, which aimed at developing in the country a competitive textile sector which is modern, sustainable and inclusive. This new policy will have a special focus on manufacturing of apparel and garment, technical textiles, Man-made fibre products and exports.

The Ministry has sought suggestions for formulating the much-awaited new Textiles Policy for the next 10 years, which will envisage positioning India as a fully integrated, globally-competitive manufacturing and exporting hub. The policy will entail the strategy and action plan for the country's textile and apparel segments, while maintaining pre-eminent position in handicraft and handloom sectors. The entire effort is being made to realize the government’s vision of 'Make in India' for the country and for identifying one strong product with export potential from every district and cluster.

The Ministry is requesting substantive inputs and suggestions from all stake-holders including individuals and associations on various topics like wool, cotton, silk, jute, man-made fibre, handloom, handicraft, powerloom, infrastructure, investment, apparel, exports, branding and quality control, technical textiles, human resource, technology and machinery up-gradation to take forward various sub sectors of Textiles Industry to a level where production, exports and employment grows at faster pace.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 12,293.90 and 12,252.75. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Titan up by 3.51%, Tata Steel up by 3.36%, UPL up by 3.07%, SBI up by 2.77% and Nestle up by 2.20%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.71%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.04%, Tata Motors down by 1.45%, Eicher Motors down by 1.37% and ITC down by 1.19% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 3.08 points or 0.04% to 7,570.74 and France’s CAC decreased 3.47 points or 0.06% to 5,968.81, while Germany’s DAX was up by 6.04 points or 0.05% to 13,218.00.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday after US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that a preliminary trade deal with China was ready for signing in early January. Mnuchin said the documentation was completely finished and just undergoing a technical ‘scrub’, though Beijing has so far dodged all details of the deal. China on Thursday unveiled a new list of import tariff exemptions for six chemical and oil products from the United States too supported the market sentiment. Chinese shares posted their third straight weekly gain on expectations of a growth recovery and a potential thawing in Sino-US trade relations ahead of the 2020 US presidential election. Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended lower on profit taking ahead of the year-end holiday after Japanese shares hit a 14-month high earlier this week on news of the tentative trade deal being finalised between Washington and Beijing.