Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher on Monday’s trading session. Key indices made a strong start of the day, amid the report that concerted efforts by the Reserve Bank to move to a non/less-cash economy by pushing digital payments have begun to pay rich dividends as the volume of such payments has jumped manifold in the past five years. Some support also came in with report that foreign portfolio investors (FPI) have invested Rs 1,086 crore on a net basis so far in October in Indian markets, tracking encouraging factors including improved GST collection, acceleration in economic activity and positive global cues.

In noon deals, markets turned volatile, as investors remained on sidelines ahead of industrial production data for August and CPI inflation for September which are due later in the day.  However, markets managed to end in green terrain, taking support with NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant’s statement that India's massive digital footprint is one of its biggest strengths for Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, and established platforms like Aadhaar, UPI along with massive digital infrastructure create a unique opportunity for this futuristic technology to be leveraged to enhance transparency and improve governance.

Domestic sentiments were positive, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the 'Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas' (SVAMITVA) scheme will bring ‘historical changes’ in the villages across the country. Some support also came as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that between 2015-16 and 2019-20, digital payment volumes have grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 55.1 per cent - from 5.93 billion transactions in the year to March 2016 to 34.35 billion transactions in the year to March 2020.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as investors focused on the prospect for more stimulus and improving corporate earnings. The offshore yuan fell after China’s central bank took steps to restrain a recent rally. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, after the value of core machine orders in Japan gained a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent on month in August, standing at 752.5 billion yen. That beat forecasts for a decline of 1.0 percent following the 6.3 percent increase in July. On a yearly basis, core machine orders sank 15.2 percent - beating expectations for a loss of 15.6 percent following the 16.2 percent drop in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 40593.80, up by 84.31 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 40387.40 and 40905.49. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.48%, while Small cap index was down by 0.40%.(Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.48%, TECK up by 0.99%, Healthcare up by 0.46% and FMCG up by 0.27%, while Metal down by 3.68%, Telecom down by 1.75%, Basic Materials down by 1.21%, Oil & Gas down by 1.12% and Realty down by 1.01% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 2.59%, Infosys up by 2.23%, Asian Paints up by 1.69%, HCL Tech. up by 1.21% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.07%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.33%, ONGC down by 1.78%, HDFC Bank down by 1.65%, Indusind Bank down by 1.44% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.42% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, as part of plans to increase consumer spending to spur demand in the economy, the government has unveiled a one-time Rs 10,000 interest-free festival advance to all its officers and employees.

Further, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said festival advance was discontinued from 6th Pay Commission for central government employees. But as a one-time measure, an interest-free advance will be given to all officers and employees of the central government.

This Rs 10,000 advance will come as a pre-paid rupay card, which can be availed and spent by March 31, 2021. Finance Minister also noted that the repayment will be in 10 installments, adding that Rs 4,000 crore is likely to be spent on this.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11930.95, up by 16.75 points or 0.14% after trading in a range of 11867.20 and 12022.05. There were 25 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 2.59%, Infosys up by 2.29%, UPL up by 1.97%, Asian Paints up by 1.33% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.31%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.39%, JSW Steel down by 2.35%, GAIL India down by 2.16%, Tata Motors down by 1.84% and HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.81% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 0.86 points or 0.01% to 6,017.51, France’s CAC increased 18.90 points or 0.38% to 4,965.71, Germany’s DAX increased 50.43 points or 0.39% to 13,101.66.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday as investors kept an eye on US fiscal stimulus negotiations, despite worries about surging corona virus infections across the globe. Chinese shares ended higher as the country returned from an eight day Mid-Autumn festival, while the offshore yuan fell after China’s central bank (PBoC) took steps to restrain a recent rally. Seoul shares ended higher in line with the government's decision to loosen quarantine measures against the new corona virus pandemic. Though, Japanese shares ended slightly lower as the yen strengthened and profit-booking by investors due to caution prevailed ahead of the earnings season.