Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Monday with notable gains. Key indices made a positive start of the trading day, taking support with Finance Ministry’s report that important structural reforms undertaken by the government to combat risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic will strengthen the country's economic fundamentals and ensure long-term sustained growth. Adding more optimism among Traders, a report stated that the CEOs of top 115 companies who met at CII's National Council earlier this week indicated a revival of business sentiment and a gradual rise in expected corporate performance in a poll, raising hopes that a steady recovery of India's economy is on the anvil.

Traders remained positive with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that quality, technology and scale of production -- not government subsidies -- will help India take its annual exports to $1 trillion. He exhorted exporters and the industry as a whole to target $1 trillion worth of shipments. He said there is a need to identify areas where sensible policies can help take exports to $1 trillion. Some optimism also came as commerce ministry data showed that after contracting for six months in a row, the country's exports grew by 5.27 percent year-on-year to $27.4 billion in September, while imports slipped by 19.6 per cent to $30.31 billion. The trade deficit during the month under review narrowed to $2.91 billion as against $11.67 billion in the same period of 2019.

Firm trade continued over the Dalal Street for the whole day, as the Finance Ministry said the month of September has exhibited credible signs of economic growth towards normalcy and the government is not averse to taking any further measures to ameliorate the suffering of people. It said during the last six months of COVID-19 crisis while pushing the fiscal stimulus and packages to boost recovery process of the economy it has taken every possible measure to address the concerns of all the stakeholders and the citizens and has progressively extended help on both the demand and supply side to bring the economy back on track. Sentiments remained up-beat as in a relief to individual borrowers and medium and small industries, the Centre has agreed in the Supreme Court to waive compound interest (interest on interest) charged on loans of up to Rs 2 crores for a six-month moratorium period announced due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher on hopes for one last economic stimulus boost to the economy before the U.S. election, as well as a clear result on election day. Asian markets ended higher on Monday, after the manufacturing sector in Taiwan continued to expand in September, and at a faster pace, the latest survey from IHS Markit showed on Monday with a PMI score of 55.2. That's up from 52.2 in August, and it moves further above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction. Individually, output rose at a sharper pace and there was a substantial increase in new work. Employment expanded at the quickest rate in nearly two and a half years.

The BSE Sensex ended at 38973.70, up by 276.65 points or 0.71% after trading in a range of 38819.89 and 39263.85. There were 14 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining, while 1 stock remain unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.38%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 4.06%, TECK up by 3.23%, Metal up by 2.31%, Healthcare up by 1.44% and Bankex up by 0.65%, while Telecom down by 1.28%, Utilities down by 0.51%, Consumer Durables down by 0.47%, Consumer Disc down by 0.40% and Energy down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 7.30%, Tata Steel up by 4.71%, Sun Pharma up by 3.23%, Infosys up by 3.00% and Tech Mahindra up by 2.26%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.70%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.86%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.85%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.27% and Power Grid down by 1.15% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection rose to Rs 95,480 crore in September. The revenues for the month are 4% higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year. During the month, the revenues from import of goods were 102% and the revenues from domestic transaction (including import of services) were 105% of the revenues from these sources during the same month last year.

The gross GST revenue collected in the month of September, 2020 is Rs 95,480 crore of which CGST is Rs 17,741 crore, SGST is Rs 23,131 crore, IGST is Rs 47,484 crore (including Rs 22,442 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 7,124 crore (including Rs 788 crore collected on import of goods).

The government has settled Rs 21,260 crore to CGST and Rs 16,997 crore to SGST from IGST as regular settlement. The total revenue earned by Central Government and the State Governments after regular settlement in the month of September, 2020 is Rs 39,001 crore for CGST and Rs 40,128 crore for the SGST.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11503.35, up by 86.40 points or 0.76% after trading in a range of 11452.30 and 11578.05. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were TCS up by 7.23%, Wipro up by 6.68%, Tata Steel up by 4.75%, Sun Pharma up by 3.20% and Infosys up by 3.05%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.85%, Shree Cement down by 2.32%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.83%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.74% and GAIL India down by 1.58% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 27.32 points or 0.46% to 5,929.44, France’s CAC increased 38.07 points or 0.79% to 4,862.95, Germany’s DAX was up by 81.84 points or 0.64% to 12,770.88.

Asian markets ended higher on Monday as investors were encouraged by positive reports about US President Donald Trump’s health after he was hospitalized for corona virus, eased some of the political uncertainty surrounding the US presidential election in November. Further, optimistic statements by US officials related to the new $2.2 trillion stimulus proposal also supported investors' sentiment. Hong Kong-listed shares of Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, China’s largest chipmaker declined after the firm announced Sunday it has undertaken preliminary exchanges with the US Bureau of Industry and Security on export restrictions. Meanwhile, the markets in China remain closed for the National Day holiday.