Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks managed to end in green terrain on Thursday. Markets made slightly negative start of the day, as Fitch Ratings said that the Indian economy will suffer lasting damage from the coronavirus crisis and after an initial strong rebound in FY22 (fiscal year ending March 2022) growth will slow to around 6.5 per cent a year over FY23-FY26. Fitch said India’s coronavirus-induced recession has been among the most severe in the world, amid a stringent lockdown and limited direct fiscal support. In late morning deals, indices staged recovery, taking support with private report that economic activity continued with its pace of normalisation and the festivities helped narrow the deficits as compared to the year-ago period in December. It also revised up wits FY21 GDP forecast to a contraction of 6.7 per cent, as against the official estimate of a 7.7 per cent contraction in the pandemic-impacted fiscal year.

Finally, markets ended the trading day in green terrain, after India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased to 1.22% (provisional) for the month of December 2020 as compared to 2.76% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62%, declined by (-3.11%) to 146.5 (provisional) in December 2020 from 151.2 (provisional) for the month of November 2020. Adding some comfort among traders, the Income Tax Department said it has issued refunds worth over Rs 1.73 lakh crore to more than 1.57 crore taxpayers in the ongoing fiscal till January 11. Of this, personal income tax refunds are worth Rs 57,139 crore, while corporate tax refunds are worth Rs 1.15 lakh crore.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as hopes of a large stimulus under incoming U.S. President Joe Biden and upbeat Chinese export data boosted sentiment. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, even after China's exports continued to log robust growth in December driven by higher global demand for pandemic-induced goods. The official data revealed that exports grew 18.1 percent on a yearly basis in December, faster than the expected growth of 15.0 percent, data from the General Administration of Customs, showed. Nonetheless, the rate of increase slowed from 21.1 percent posted in November. Driven by domestic demand, imports growth advanced to 6.5 percent from 4.5 percent a month ago.

The BSE Sensex ended at 49584.16, up by 91.84 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 49182.37 and 49663.58. 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 0.29%, while Small cap index up by 0.17%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.67%, Oil & Gas up by 1.38%, Energy up by 1.13%, Healthcare up by 1.07% and FMCG up by 0.84%, while Metal down by 1.24%, Basic Materials down by 0.59%, Consumer Durables down by 0.27%, Consumer Disc down by 0.26% and Bankex down by 0.20% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.89%, Indusind Bank up by 2.84%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.80%, ITC up by 1.35% and Reliance Industries up by 1.11%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 2.63%, Axis Bank down by 1.71%, Asian Paints down by 1.32%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.26% and Infosys down by 1.23% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased to 1.22% (provisional) for the month of December 2020 as compared to 2.76% during the corresponding month of the previous year. Component wise, primary articles index having weight of 22.62%, declined by (-3.11%) to 146.5 (provisional) in December 2020 from 151.2 (provisional) for the month of November 2020. Prices of Crude Petroleum & Natural Gas, Minerals and Non-food Articles increased in December 2020 as compared to November 2020, while prices of Food Articles declined in December 2020 as compared to November 2020.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by (3.18%) to 94.2 (provisional) in December 2020 from 91.3 (provisional) for the month of November 2020. Prices of Mineral Oils and Coal increased in December 2020 as compared to November 2020. But, prices of electricity remain unchanged.

Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by (1.40%) to 123.0 (provisional) in December 2020 from 121.3 (provisional) for the month of November 2020. Meanwhile, for the month of October 2020 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 123.6 and (1.31%) respectively.

The CNX Nifty ended at 14595.60, up by 30.75 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 14471.50 and 14617.80. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were UPL up by 3.60%, BPCL up by 3.59%, TCS up by 2.90%, Indusind Bank up by 2.86% and Indian Oil Corporation up by 2.23%. On the flip side, HCL Tech. down by 2.68%, Axis Bank down by 1.72%, JSW Steel down by 1.63%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.59% and Asian Paints down by 1.47% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 21.45 points or 0.32% to 6,766.97, France’s CAC increased 10.70 points or 0.19% to 5,673.37 and Germany’s DAX was up by 60.49 points or 0.43% to 14,000.20.

Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday tracking Wall Street overnight as investors await further stimulus support under the Biden Administration, while the House of Representatives started a debate on a historic second impeachment of President Donald Trump over his supporters’ attack of the Capitol. Chinese shares ended lower on profit taking as the country reported its biggest jump in Covid-19 cases in more than 10 months. While data showed Chinese exports continued to log robust growth in December driven by higher global demand for pandemic-induced goods. Exports rose 18.1% in December from a year earlier, slowing from a 21.1% jump in November but beating expectations for a 15% rise. Imports growth advanced 6.5% year-on-year last month, topping a 5% forecast and picking up pace from November’s 4.5% growth. Japanese shares gained after data showed better-than-expected core machinery orders.