Sensex, Nifty add gains in late afternoon session

Indian equity benchmarks added gains in late afternoon session, despite weak cues from European markets. Traders got some relief, as the Reserve Bank of India remained a net purchaser of the US dollar in November, buying $6.928 billion from the spot market on a net basis. The RBI had bought $7.458 billion of the greenback and sold $530 million in the spot market in the reporting month. However, anxiety remained on the street, amid reports that the deepening slowdown has it impact on the deal market in 2019 with mergers and acquisitions (M&As) plummeting over 34 per cent to $67.1 billion but still making it the second best, on the back of the $6-billion ArcelorMittal takeover of Essar Steel.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in red, after Finland consumer price inflation rose in December. The data from Statistics Finland showed that the consumer price index rose 0.9 percent year-on-year in December, following a 0.6 percent increase in November. However, Asian markets were trading in green, as the measure of the public assessment of the Japanese economy improved for the second straight month in December. The current conditions index of the Economy Watchers' Survey, which measures the current situation of the economy, increased to 39.8 in December from 39.4 in November.

Back home, the realty sector stocks were in watch, amid a private report stating that housing sales declined 30 per cent during the third quarter of this fiscal year to around 64,000 flats across nine major cities on poor demand amid economic slowdown.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 41925.40, up by 65.71 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 41770.90 and 41951.89. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.86%, while Small cap index was up by 0.67%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.40%, Metal up by 0.81%, Consumer Discretionary up by 0.78%, Auto up by 0.68% and Utilities was up by 0.65%, while Energy down by 0.51%, Realty down by 0.36%, Bankex down by 0.24% and Capital Goods was down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 1.78%, Axis Bank up by 1.63%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.55%, NTPC up by 1.31% and Mahindra & Mahindra was up by 1.17%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 2.44%, Reliance Industries down by 0.95%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.85%, SBI down by 0.82% and Larsen & Toubro was down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with spiraling prices of vegetables, India’s retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) jumped to an over five-year high of 7.35% in December 2019. The CPI was 2.11% in December 2018 and 5.54% in November 2019. The previous high in retail inflation was witnessed at 7.39% in July 2014. The inflation was above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) upper tolerance limit of 6% at the time of economic growth slowdown. The overall food inflation rose to 14.12% in December as against (-) 2.65% in the same month of 2018. It was also significantly higher than the 10.01% recorded in November 2019.

As per the data of the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base 2012=100 for December 2019, stood at 7.26%, 7.46% and 7.35%, respectively, compared to 1.50%, 2.91% and 2.11%, respectively in December 2018. The index value of CPI for combined stood at 150.4. The data also showed that consumer food price index (CFPI) for all India Rural and Urban for December 2019 stood at 12.97% and 16.12%, respectively, compared to -2.99% and -1.89%, respectively in December 2018. The index value of CFPI for combined stood at 155.2 for the month of December.

The spike in inflation in the vegetable segment was 60.5% during the month compared to December 2018. Onion prices were above the Rs 100 per kg mark in many major cities last month, due to a 26% fall in production. The inflation in 'pulses and products' was recorded at 15.44%, while in case of 'meat and fish' it was nearly 10%. Household goods and services grew by 1.75% from 2.2% in November. Health inflation grew by 3.80% as against 5.5% in the preceding month. Housing inflation stood at 4.3% compared to 4.5% last month. Fuel and light inflation stood at 0.7% compared to a contraction of 1.9% last month.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 12361.85, up by 32.30 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 12308.70 and 12363.10. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 2.68%, Britannia up by 2.33%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.09%, ITC up by 1.80% and Axis Bank was up by 1.73%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 8.19%, Indusind Bank down by 2.96%, UPL down by 1.28%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.90% and SBI was down by 0.88% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in green; Nikkei 225 surged 174.60 points or 0.73% to 24,025.17, Taiwan Weighted strengthened 66.39 points or 0.55% to 12,179.81, Straits Times advanced 13.62 points or 0.42% to 3,264.69, Jakarta Composite soared 10.41 points or 0.17% to 6,306.98 and KOSPI was up by 9.62 points or 0.43% to 2,238.88. On the flip side, Shanghai Composite declined 3.23 points or 0.1% to 3,112.34 and Hang Seng was down by 88.15 points or 0.3% to 28,866.79.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 lost 3.80 points or 0.05% to 7,613.80 and France’s CAC fell 22.10 points or 0.37% to 6,014.04, while Germany’s DAX was up by 6.28 points or 0.05% to 13,457.80.