Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended flat with a positive bias on Thursday. The start of the day was on cautious note, as sentiments got dulled with a report by India Ratings and Research stating that India Inc resorted to salary cuts to protect their profits in the June quarter, as revenues came under pressure due to the second pandemic wave that affected nearly the entire country. It added the weak wage growth will prove to be a drag on the overall economic recovery in the medium term as it will affect household consumption.

Key indices remained volatile during the trading day, amid reports that with goods and services tax (GST) officers under pressure to exceed the Rs 1-trillion collection mark per month, industry has faced a barrage of recovery notices and summons issued over the last one month across sectors. Industry bodies have claimed harassment by field officers, blocking of input tax credit, cancellation of GST registration, threats of arrest and steep penalties, impacting their working capital and operations.

However, markets managed to end higher, as S&P Global Ratings said India is expected to post strong economic growth in the coming quarters, even as inflation, led by food prices, is likely to remain elevated. It said the economy is expected to clock 9.5 per cent growth in the current fiscal year, followed by 7 per cent expansion in the next year. Traders found some solace with private survey stating that India Inc's business sentiments are drawing closer to pre-pandemic levels, hinting at a more robust performance in the next quarter.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as traders predicted that the European Central Bank would begin to discontinue financial stimulus to combat the crisis. Asian markets settled on a mixed note on Thursday, after China producer price inflation accelerated to a 13-year high in August on higher commodity prices, while consumer price inflation slowed unexpectedly. Producer prices advanced 9.5 percent annually, following an increase of 9 percent in July, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. The latest growth was the biggest since August 2008. Prices were forecast to climb again by 9 percent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58305.07, up by 54.81 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 58084.99 and 58334.59. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.56%, while Small cap index up by 0.52%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.40%, Power up by 1.63%, Utilities up by 1.18%, Capital Goods up by 0.96% and Metal up by 0.95%, while Realty down by 0.57%, Consumer Durables down by 0.34%, Bankex down by 0.25%, Healthcare down by 0.08% and Energy down by 0.01% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.77%, Nestle up by 2.39%, Tata Steel up by 1.23%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.08% and HCL Tech. up by 0.79%. On the flip side, Titan Co down by 0.97%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.79%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.70%, HDFC Bank down by 0.60% and Axis Bank down by 0.59% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to enhance the investment by power sector CPSEs in renewable Energy Projects, Power Minister has held a meeting to discuss the Action Plan. The various decisions were arrived during the meeting including in-principle approval to be accorded to CPSUs of MoP for bidding of RE power projects at the beginning of year for a pre-determined capacity based on strength of their balance sheet.

The matter of enhancement of power of investment approval of Board of mini Ratna CPSUs for upward revision will be taken up with Department of Public Enterprises. The proposal for reducing hurdle rate IRR for RE Sector from 10% to 8%, will be taken up with Ministry of Finance.

Besides, bundling of RE projects with New or untied/high tariff hydro projects to be allowed so as to bring down the tariff of hydro power to consumers and proposal for waiver of Transmission charges for RE capacity under Flexibility Scheme to be considered.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17369.25, up by 15.75 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 17302.70 and 17379.65. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Nestle up by 3.11%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.74%, ONGC up by 2.69%, Hindalco up by 1.59% and Grasim Industries up by 1.34%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 3.84%, Titan Co down by 1.05%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 0.85%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.67% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.66% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 76.27 points or 1.07% to 7,019.26, France’s CAC decreased 22.01 points or 0.33% to 6,646.88 and Germany’s DAX was down by 44.48 points or 0.28% to 15,565.80.

Asian markets settled on a mixed note on Thursday, tracking weakness in Wall Street indices overnight on worries about slowing US economic growth due to the fast-spreading Delta coronavirus variant. US businesses are experiencing escalating inflation that is being aggravated by a shortage of goods, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday in its latest Beige Book. Japanese shares ended lower in line with global markets, while the Japanese government said it plans to extend Covid-19 emergency restrictions in Tokyo and other regions until the end of this month. Hong Kong shares declined on worries over Beijing’s fresh crackdown on gaming industry. However, Chinese shares advanced after data showed consumer prices in the country rose 0.8 percent year-on-year in August against expectations of an increase of 1 percent.