Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended flat with a negative bias on Wednesday. After a cautious start, markets remained volatile during the trading session, as Fitch Ratings said India continues to lag way behind in COVID vaccination, and the negative outlook on sovereign rating signifies the rising debt-to-GDP ratio. In April 2021, Fitch affirmed India's sovereign rating at 'BBB-' with a negative outlook. The outlook was changed to 'negative' from 'stable' in June last year on grounds that the pandemic had significantly weakened the country's growth outlook and exposed the challenges associated with a high public-debt burden.

Key indices added losses in afternoon deals but managed to stage recovery in the last hour of the trade. Support came with a survey report stating that notwithstanding the COVID-19 second wave hitting the nation hard, Indian organisations have displayed resilience, and the salary increment is being projected to grow from an average of 8.8 per cent this year to an estimated average of 9.4 per cent in 2022.  Traders got some support as India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has maintained a stable outlook on the banking sector for 2021-22 supported by the continuing systemic support that has helped manage the system-wide COVID-19 linked stress.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower, a day ahead of a European Central Bank meeting that will see policymakers debate a cut in its stimulus. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday, after Taiwan's consumer price inflation increased in August. The data released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting & Statistics revealed that consumer prices rose 2.36 percent year-on-year in August, following 1.95 percent increase in July. The indices for fuels and lubricants surged 23.24 percent due to a relatively lower comparison base and the index for transportation fees rose 13.1 percent due to the increase in airfares.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58250.26, down by 29.22 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 57924.48 and 58372.94. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.81%, while Small cap index up by 0.55%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 1.30%, Consumer Durables up by 1.13%, Bankex up by 1.02%, Utilities up by 0.91% and Oil & Gas up by 0.66%, while TECK down by 0.75%, IT down by 0.73%, Telecom down by 0.51%, Auto down by 0.47% and Metal down by 0.30% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.94%, Titan Co up by 1.13%, Sun Pharma up by 0.98%, Axis Bank up by 0.88% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.82%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.44%, NTPC down by 1.72%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.40%, Bajaj Finserv down by 1.28% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.22% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has said that the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund is set up to drive infra investments and will facilitate and drive speedy sanctions through a user friendly online portal. He urged the states to take advantage of the fund so that the benefits can percolate to the small and marginal farmers who lack warehousing and cold storage facilities at the farm gate.

While talking about digital agriculture mission, the Minister said “farmers’ database is our wealth and will usher in focused programme delivery, reducing seepages, better policy formulation and smart farming in the country.” Database with 5.5 crore farmers is ready and work is progressing for verifying others with land records.

Besides, Tomar said that the Union Cabinet recently approved National Edible Oil Mission (NMEO-OP) for palm oil with focus on the North-East regions and Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Through this, the production of edible oils will be accelerated in the country thereby reducing the import of edible oils. He also said that this mission will immensely benefit the palm oil farmers, increase capital investment, generate employment, reduce dependence on imports and increase the income of farmers.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17353.50, down by 8.60 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 17254.20 and 17383.40. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.86%, BPCL up by 1.58%, Grasim Industries up by 1.43%, Tata Consumer Products up by 1.32% and UPL up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 2.60%, Divi's Lab down by 2.40%, Wipro down by 1.79%, NTPC down by 1.55% and SBI Life Insurance down by 1.51% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 82.71 points or 1.16% to 7,066.66, France’s CAC decreased 92.97 points or 1.38% to 6,633.10 and Germany’s DAX was down by 233.12 points or 1.47% to 15,609.97.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday due to concerns over spreading of the Delta variant of corona-virus globally. Seoul shares extended losses as tech stocks came under selling pressure on concerns over regulations against online platform giants. Chinese shares ended on a flat note amid bets that the worst of Beijing's regulatory crackdown has passed, while China's yuan firmed after the Chinese central bank PBoC pledging to maintain a prudent stance on monetary policy. However, Japanese shares ended higher after GDP growth for April-June was revised up to an annual pace of 1.9% from an initial estimate of 1.3% rise.