Post Session: Quick Review

Key equity benchmarks ended flat with a positive bias on Tuesday. After a negative start of the day, markets traded in red terrain for the most part of the session, as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that the current agitation by farmers has led to supply chain disruptions, which will impact the economy in the coming days and may impinge upon the ongoing recovery from the economic contraction due to COVID-19. Traders overlooked the government data showing that retail Inflation has eased marginally to 6.93% in November due to considerable easing in vegetable prices. Retail inflation had remained above 7 per cent for two month in a row.

In the last hours of the trade, key indices cut all of their losses to trade in green, after Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal stated that Foreign direct investments (FDIs) into India have been continuously growing as the country has one of the most facilitative policies to attract overseas investors. He said that during April-September 2020, FDI increased 13 per cent to about $40 billion. Traders also got some relief, after the Finance Ministry highlighted the economic reforms for growth and development of the country. It said that from January 2021, taxpayers up to the turnover of Rs 5 crore will have the option of filing a quarterly Goods and Service Tax Returns (GSTR) under QRMP Scheme i.e. Quarterly Returns Monthly Payment Scheme.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, as post-Brexit trade deal negotiations and the latest coronavirus developments continue to dominate market attention. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday, after Hong Kong's manufacturing output declined at a faster pace in the third quarter. The provisional results of the Census and Statistics Department showed that manufacturing output fell 7.4 percent year-on-year, following a 5.1 percent decrease a quarter ago. Meanwhile, producer price inflation accelerated to 3.8 percent from 1.3 percent in the previous quarter. On a quarterly basis, manufacturing output was down 2.5 percent in the third quarter.

The BSE Sensex ended at 46263.17, up by 9.71 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 45841.67 and 46350.30. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.42%, while Small cap index was up by 0.07%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.17%, Auto up by 0.60%, Metal up by 0.56%, Basic Materials up by 0.52% and Consumer Disc up by 0.39%, while FMCG down by 1.25%, Oil & Gas down by 1.01%, Energy down by 0.86%, PSU down by 0.63% and IT down by 0.38% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 4.69%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.15%, HDFC up by 2.19%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.08% and HDFC Bank up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.12%, Nestle down by 2.12%, ICICI Bank down by 1.51%, Axis Bank down by 1.46% and SBI down by 1.33% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, urging all the stakeholders to urgently seek ways to end the ongoing protests, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has said that the current agitation by farmers has led to supply chain disruptions, which will impact the economy in the coming days and may impinge upon the ongoing recovery from the economic contraction due to COVID-19.

As per the industry body, the farmers' protest, which has intensified over the past couple of weeks, has led to obstruction of traffic and road blockades across multiple checkpoints in the northern states of Delhi-NCR, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, and in smaller measure in many other states. The already broken supply-chain which was recovering post the pandemic-induced lockdown has come under severe stress.

The CII also observed that the effect of the agitation is more acute for industries in hilly regions of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Jammu and Kashmir which are dependent on goods transported by road. There is also uncertainty around the transportation of farm products to the major markets of Delhi-NCR and it could lead to significant losses to the farm sector in these states.

The CNX Nifty ended at 13567.85, up by 9.70 points or 0.07% after trading in a range of 13447.05 and 13589.65. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 4.57%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.07%, Eicher Motors up by 3.11%, JSW Steel up by 2.35% and Shree Cement up by 2.27%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.16%, Hindustan Unilever down by 2.14%, BPCL down by 1.69%, ICICI Bank down by 1.47% and Axis Bank down by 1.43% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 8.06 points or 0.12% to 6,539.89, France’s CAC increased 25.16 points or 0.46% to 5,553.00 and Germany’s DAX was up by 61.12 points or 0.46% to 13,284.28.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday tracking mixed cues from Wall Street as optimism about Covid-19 vaccines was offset by concerns about the impact of new lockdown measures due to the spiking corona virus infections in the United States. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio both warned that a full shutdown is possible in the coming weeks. Japanese shares declined after its Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced that the ‘GoTo Travel’ domestic tourism campaign would be suspended nationwide from December 28 to January 11. Chinese shares ended marginally lower, despite slew of positive economic data. The data showed that Industrial production in China grew 7% year-on-year in November, in line with forecasts and up from 6.9 percent in October. Retail sales in China rose 5% in November as compared with a year ago, missing expectations for an increase of 5.2% but still up from 4.3% in the previous month. Meanwhile, Fixed asset investment gained 2.6% on year, in line with expectations and up from 1.8% a month earlier.