Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended in deep red on Wednesday. Markets made a positive start of the day, after Nilesh Shah, a part-time member of the economic advisory council to the Prime Minister, said the GDP contraction will improve to higher single digits in the September quarter, and the economy will be back to positive growth by the March quarter. Besides, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the results of the second quarter of major companies show that profitability of most of them has gone up, indicating that the Indian industry has utilized the Covid period to do the belt-tightening, improve the product-mix, and focus on quality and productivity.

But soon, key indices cut all of their early gains to turn negative, after a senior finance ministry official said that India's score on protection of minority investors compiled by the World Bank as part of the Ease of Doing Business rankings has slipped recently and there is a need for stakeholders to improve on this aspect. Additional Secretary Anand Mohan Bajaj said brokers need to look beyond the short-term benefits and look at long-term strategies focused on attracting, retaining and motivating investors in the capital markets, which are very important tool for nation building.

Markets remained lower for the rest of the day, with S&P Global Ratings’ statement that non-performing loans in the Indian banking sector is likely to witness an uptick and may shoot up to 11 per cent of gross loans in the next 12-18 months. Traders overlooked CII National Committee on Retail Chairman Shashwat Goenka’s statement that a cohesive national retail policy would go a long way in reviving the sector and help generate up to 30 lakh additional jobs in the country by 2024, He said a thorough national retail policy would help the sector bounce back and grow exponentially in the years to come.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, as growing political certainty in the U.S. and positive coronavirus vaccine news boosts global sentiment. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday, after Business Confidence in South Korea improved in November, the latest survey from the Bank of Korea showed on Wednesday with an index score of 85.0 - up from 79.0 in October. The outlook for the following month also rose by 5 points to 81. In the non-manufacturing sector, the index on business conditions for November 2020 was 73, up 4 points from the previous month, and that for the outlook for the following month also rose by 3 points to 72. The Economic Sentiment Index for November was 89.1, up 3.2 points from October.

The BSE Sensex ended at 43828.10, down by 694.92 points or 1.56% after trading in a range of 43757.97 and 44825.37. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.76%, while Small cap index was down by 1.13%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 0.33% and Oil & Gas up by 0.08%, while Telecom down by 2.20%, Realty down by 2.19%, Bankex down by 2.00%, Healthcare down by 1.89% and Auto down by 1.74% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ONGC up by 6.25%, Power Grid up by 0.33% and Indusind Bank up by 0.10%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.22%, Axis Bank down by 3.16%, Sun Pharma down by 2.61%, HDFC Bank down by 2.50% and Bajaj Finance down by 2.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, calling upon the Indian industry to focus on improving Quality and Productivity, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that quality and productivity can help in converting the crisis into an opportunity.

Interacting with the Office bearers of various industry associations, the minister called upon them to designate a few days next month, to do brainstorming on these aspects so that the Country starts getting recognition as high quality, efficient manufacturer, trader and service-provider. The Minister also said that this could be done sectoraly or regionally, so that there is knowledge sharing among the stakeholders, and these two aspects are focussed.

Besides, Goyal said that the results of the second quarter of major companies show that profitability of most of them has gone up, indicating that the Indian industry has utilized the Covid period to do the belt-tightening, improve the product-mix, and focus on quality and productivity.

Further, Commerce & Industry Minister said that the Indian  industry has shown resilience and confidence during the difficult times, which has helped the country fight the pandemic. He said that the economy is showing strong signals of comeback, and even in the international arena, India’s reputation has gone by several notches and it is being seen as a trusted partner. He expressed confidence that India will make up the for the time, and emerge stronger and victorious.

The CNX Nifty ended at 12858.40, down by 196.75 points or 1.51% after trading in a range of 12833.65 and 13145.85. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were ONGC up by 6.18%, GAIL India up by 1.99%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.71%, SBI Life Insurance up by 1.20% and Coal India up by 0.57%. On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 3.65%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 3.24%, Axis Bank down by 3.20%, Sun Pharma down by 2.68% and Bajaj Finance down by 2.51% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 34.82 points or 0.54% to 6,466.99, France’s CAC increased 30.06 points or 0.54% to 5,588.48 and Germany’s DAX was up by 40.74 points or 0.31% to 13,333.18.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday. However, Japanese shares climbed with vaccine optimism and fading US election uncertainty, despite news that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to ask restaurants that serve alcohol to shorten operating hours for three weeks amid a surge in corona virus cases. The formal start of US president-elect Joe Biden’s transition to the White House eased some of the political uncertainty.