Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended Wednesday’s trading session with strong gains. Indices made a slightly positive start of the day, as Chief Economic Advisor Krishnamurthy Subramanian exuded confidence that the country would be back to a high growth path through reforms announced by the government, after overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic. Adding more optimism, a private report stated that consumer confidence index has shown a marginal uptick of 1.1 percentage points in September 2020. Key indices faced some volatility during the first half of the trading session, impacted with the government data showing that contracting for the sixth straight month, India's exports slipped 12.66% to $22.7 billion in August, on account of decline in the shipments of petroleum, leather, engineering goods and gems and jewellery items. The trade deficit for August this year was estimated at $6.77 billion, against $4.8 billion in July 2020 and $13.86 billion in August 2019.

However, Indian markets extended their gains in the second half of the trading session, taking support with Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla’s statement that India has received over $20 billion in FDI amid the coronavirus pandemic, showcasing the country as one of the most attractive destinations for investment globally. Traders also took solace with RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das’s statement that India has seen some stabilisation in economic activity in the ongoing fiscal’s second quarter. He added that the economic recovery will be gradual, but some of the high-frequency indicators such as agriculture activity, manufacturing PMI, and private estimates of unemployment point to some stabilisation of economic activity in the second quarter.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green, as Zara-owner Inditex posted a quarterly profit, although UK blue-chip stocks came under pressure after a surge in the previous session. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday despite Japan had a merchandise trade surplus of 248.299 billion yen in August. The Ministry of Finance said that was well above expectations for a deficit of 37.5 billion following the 11.6 billion yen surplus in July. Exports were down 14.8 percent on year to 5.232 trillion yen, beating forecasts for a fall of 16.1 percent after sinking 19.2 percent in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 39302.85, up by 258.50 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 39037.96 and 39359.51. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.44%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.37%, Healthcare up by 1.58%, Auto up by 1.49%, IT up by 1.02% and Basic Materials up by 0.82%, while Utilities down by 0.94%, Telecom down by 0.90%, PSU down by 0.55%, Power down by 0.53% and Oil & Gas down by 0.47% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.96%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.44%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.50%, HDFC Bank up by 2.11% and Infosys up by 1.95%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.80%, NTPC down by 1.43%, SBI down by 0.95%, ONGC down by 0.88% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.83% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, Union Labour and Employment Minister Santosh Gangwar has said that a number of unprecedented steps have been taken by the Union Government for labour welfare and employment  including for migrant workers across India.

Highlighting various initiatives taken for the welfare of migrant workers during lockdown, Labour Minister noted that immediately after the lockdown, directions were sent from Ministry of Labour & Employment to all the State Governments/UTs instructing them to provide financial assistance to construction workers from Building & Other Construction Workers’ Cess Fund.

Besides, the Minister said that the government has also announced the measures to strengthen Infrastructure Logistics, Capacity Building, Governance and Administrative Reforms for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food Processing Sectors.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11604.55, up by 82.75 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 11516.75 and 11618.10. There were 31 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.24%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 4.18%, Hindalco up by 3.99%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.42% and Britannia Inds up by 2.96%. On the flip side, Indusind Bank down by 1.86%, NTPC down by 1.59%, Bharti Infratel down by 1.16%, ONGC down by 1.02% and SBI down by 0.97% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green, France’s CAC increased 6.19 points or 0.12% to 5,074.12, Germany’s DAX increased 24.49 points or 0.19% to 13,242.16. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 1.87 points or 0.03% to 6,103.67.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as investors cautiously focusing to the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due later in the day for clues on the monetary policy outlook after the world's largest economy adopted a more accommodative approach to inflation. South Korean shares snapped a four-day winning streak on profit taking. Though, Japanese shares ended higher as Yoshihide Suga was elected Japan's prime minister in a parliamentary vote, succeeding Shinzo Abe, but the Japanese yen’s surge pressured exporters. Japan posted a merchandise trade surplus of 248.299 billion yen in August, following the 11.6 billion yen surplus in July. Exports were down 14.8 percent on year to 5.232 trillion yen, after sinking 19.2 percent in the previous month. Imports tumbled an annual 20.8 percent to 4.984 trillion yen following the 22.3 percent decline a month earlier.