Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended near day’s high points on Tuesday. After a positive start of the day, key indices remained higher for the whole day, taking support with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal’s statement Indian exports will automatically increase if the products are good and competitively priced and that products are entrepreneurs should not think that subsidies are the only solution. Traders took support with IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s statement that artificial intelligence (AI) has massive potential to generate development and India is well-poised to tap into the opportunity with its large pool of skilled professionals. He also said the proposed data protection legislation will give a big fillip to the country's data economy.

Markets extended their gains in the last hour of the trade, as India’s service sector activity stabilised in the month of September, with the relaxation of coronavirus pandemic 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions. As per the survey report, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index rose to 49.8 in September from 41.8 in August. Further, the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services - surged to 54.6 in September from 46.0 in August. The Street took note of report that the government appointed Ashima Goyal, Jayanth R Varma and Shashanka Bhide as members of the rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The monetary policy review scheduled last week was cancelled as term of previous members of MPC had expired.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday, even after consumer prices in South Korea were up 1.0 percent on year in September, Statistics Korea said on Tuesday - exceeding expectations for a gain of 0.7 percent, which would have been unchanged from August. On a monthly basis, inflation rose 0.7 percent - again beating forecasts for 0.4 percent and up from 0.6 percent in the previous month. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, rose 0.1 percent on month and 0.6 percent on year after rising 0.2 percent on month and 0.4 percent on year in August.

The BSE Sensex ended at 39574.57, up by 600.87 points or 1.54% after trading in a range of 39191.10 and 39623.76. There were 24 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.55%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.41%, Bankex up by 2.06%, Auto up by 1.25%, Consumer Disc up by 0.86% and Industrials up by 0.74%, while Metal down by 0.58%, Oil & Gas down by 0.22%, Power down by 0.19%, Capital Goods down by 0.11% and Energy down by 0.11% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC up by 8.35%, Indusind Bank up by 3.44%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.42%, Asian Paints up by 3.16% and HDFC Bank up by 2.70%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 1.14%, Nestle down by 1.00%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.46%, Sun Pharma down by 0.36% and NTPC down by 0.06% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India’s service sector activity stabilised in the month of September, with the relaxation of coronavirus pandemic 2019 (COVID-19) restrictions. As per the survey report, the seasonally adjusted Nikkei Services Business Activity Index rose to 49.8 in September from 41.8 in August. Further, the Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index -- which measures both manufacturing and services - surged to 54.6 in September from 46.0 in August.

The report said that service sector output broadly stabilised during September. New orders from abroad contracted at the slowest pace in six months, but here the reduction was sharp. There was a sharp rise in outstanding business at companies operating in the Indian service sector at the end of the second quarter of fiscal year 2020/21. Moreover, the rate of backlog accumulation was little-changed from August's survey record.

On the price front, input prices rose in September, with monitored companies citing higher fuel, meat and vegetable costs. The overall rate of inflation was at a seven-month high, but remained below its long-run average. Besides, prices charged for the provision of services in India increased during September, as was the case in August. The rate of inflation was broadly similar to that seen in the preceding survey period, thereby remaining modest by historical standards. Companies that lifted their fees indicated that additional cost burdens had been shared with clients.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11662.40, up by 159.05 points or 1.38% after trading in a range of 11564.30 and 11680.30. There were 36 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 8.36%, Tata Motors up by 8.10%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 3.58%, Indusind Bank up by 3.53% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.36%. On the flip side, Britannia Inds down by 1.69%, Coal India down by 1.35%, Tata Steel down by 1.28%, Hindalco down by 1.20% and Wipro down by 1.17% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 33.31 points or 0.56% to 5,909.63, France’s CAC decreased 12.53 points or 0.26% to 4,859.34 and Germany’s DAX was down by 32.60 points or 0.25% to 12,795.71.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday as investors' risk appetite was improved by renewed optimism surrounding stimulus negotiations in the United States with reports that US President Donald Trump returned to the White House after being treated for corona virus for three days at the hospital. Data showed the US services sector grew for a fourth consecutive month in September as the country attempts to re-open from earlier corona virus shutdowns, too supported market sentiment. Meanwhile, markets in China were closed for the National Day holiday.