Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended at fresh closing highs on Tuesday’s trading session. Benchmarks made a positive start of the day and maintained gaining rally during the whole trading session. Sentiments got a boost with optimism over Covid-19 vaccine as Pfizer Inc's said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was more than 90 percent effective based on initial trial results, and they have so far found no serious safety concerns, priming it for possible speedy regulatory approvals. Adding more positivity, SBI Research report stated that a number of green shoots are visible in the economy five months after easing restrictions. It also said assuming that India escapes a second wave, the pandemic will subside by February 2021.

Markets extended gains during last hour of trade, as showing signs of improvement, the country's exports grew 22.47 per cent year-on-year to $6.75 billion in the first week of November, mainly driven by healthy growth in pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery and engineering sectors. The exports during the first week of November last year was $5.51 billion. Sentiments were positive, amid private report stating that with economic activities gathering pace post easing of lockdowns across the country, hiring activities in most sectors have shown significant recovery in October over the previous month. Some support also came with oil minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement that India has invited global firms to invest in its strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) as the nation's energy consumption growth would be fastest among large economies in coming decades. 

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday, after consumer prices in China were up just 0.5 percent on year in October.  The National Bureau of Statistics said that was shy of expectations for 0.8 percent and down sharply from 1.7 percent. On a monthly basis, consumer prices sank 0.3 percent - again missing forecasts for an increase of 0.2 percent, which would have been unchanged. The bureau also said that producer prices were down 2.1 percent on year - unchanged from the previous month but missing expectations for a decline of 2.0 percent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 43277.65, up by 680.22 points or 1.60% after trading in a range of 42660.09 and 43316.44. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.10%, while Small cap index was down by 0.48%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 3.67%, Capital Goods up by 3.04%, PSU up by 2.69%, Realty up by 2.26% and Industrials up by 2.24%, while IT down by 3.71%, Healthcare down by 3.61%, TECK down by 3.27%, Telecom down by 0.87% and Basic Materials down by 0.30% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 8.84%, Indusind Bank up by 7.71%, Larsen & Toubro up by 6.99%, Bajaj Finserv up by 6.44% and HDFC up by 5.62%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 5.73%, HCL Tech. down by 5.36%, Nestle down by 4.08%, Infosys down by 3.98% and Sun Pharma down by 3.66% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, driven by healthy growth in pharmaceuticals, gems and jewellery and engineering sectors, India’s exports showed signs of improvement with growth of 22.47 per cent year-on-year to $6.75 billion in the first week of November. The exports during the first week of November last year was $5.51 billion.

Imports in November (1st - 7th) this year too increased by 13.64 per cent year-on-year to $9.30 billion as against $8.19 billion. Imports, excluding petroleum, jumped 23.37 per cent during the week. Trade deficit during the week stood at $ 2.55 billion.

Exports of pharmaceuticals, and gems and jewellery grew 32 per cent to $139.12 million and 88.8 per cent to $3,360.71 million, respectively. Similarly, the outbound shipments of engineering goods increased by 16.7 per cent to $215.13 million during the week.

Sectors which recorded negative growth include petroleum, marine products and leather goods. During the period, exports to the US, Hong Kong and Singapore rose by 53.91 per cent, 176.2 per cent and 90.76 per cent, respectively.

The CNX Nifty ended at 12631.10, up by 170.05 points or 1.36% after trading in a range of 12475.25 and 12643.90. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 8.89%, Indusind Bank up by 7.71%, Larsen & Toubro up by 7.02%, Bajaj Finserv up by 6.43% and HDFC up by 5.58%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 6.01%, Tech Mahindra down by 5.90%, HCL Tech. down by 5.30%, Divis Lab down by 4.68% and Nestle down by 4.20% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 38.48 points or 0.62% to 6,224.77 and France’s CAC was up by 16.65 points or 0.31% to 5,352.97. On the flip side, Germany’s DAX was down by 54.84 points or 0.42% to 13,041.13.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday after Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their vaccine candidate was more than 90 percent effective in preventing Covid-19 and that they have so far found no serious safety concerns, which fueled hopes for a quick global economic recovery from the pandemic-driven crisis. Japanese shares ended higher after its Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga instructed his ministers to compile a third extra budget for fiscal 2020, which will end in March, to finance a fresh stimulus package to fight the economic impact of the pandemic, while a cheaper yen has also supporting Japanese shares. Though, Chinese shares declined as the latest inflation data rekindled worries about deflation. Consumer prices in China were up just 0.5 percent year on year in October against expectations for 0.8 percent and down sharply from 1.7 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a report. The bureau also said that producer prices were down an annual 2.1 percent, unchanged from the previous month but missing expectations for a 2 percent decline.