Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended volatile session in red on Monday. Markets started the trading session in red, as a periodic labour force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO) showed that unemployment rate for all ages in urban areas rose to 10.3 per cent in October-December 2020 as compared to 7.9 per cent in the corresponding months a year ago. Market participants overlooked report that Industrial production surged 11.5 per cent in July mainly due to a low-base effect and good performance by manufacturing, mining and power sectors but the output remained slightly below the pre-pandemic level.

Benchmarks remained volatile during the trading session, after India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that salaried and wages earners will be a drag on overall economic recovery in medium term due to tepid recovery of household consumption. It said that an environment of pandemic-led uncertainty and elevated inflation can impact the level of spending, and hence the overall demand. However, downside remained capped, as industry body Assocham said that there are signs of improved consumer confidence in several key sectors, including hospitality, of the economy. It said that activities in construction and renovation have been on a pick-up for the past few months leading to return of migrant workers for gainful deployment.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher with investors buying into the idea of a strong economic recovery in the region following last week’s European Central Bank policy decision. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday, even after confidence among Japanese larger companies turned positive in the third quarter. The survey data from the Ministry of Finance showed that the Business Survey Index, or BSI, of larger companies climbed to +3.3 in the September quarter from -4.7 in the June quarter. The confidence index for the fourth quarter is forecast to rise to 6.8.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58177.76, down by 127.31 points or 0.22% after trading in a range of 57944.63 and 58314.64. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.32%, while Small cap index up by 0.80%.(Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.47%, Utilities up by 1.20%, Basic Materials up by 1.08%, Telecom up by 0.71% and IT up by 0.68%, while Energy down by 1.51%, Bankex down by 0.50%, Consumer Durables down by 0.18% and Capital Goods down by 0.05% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.36%, TCS up by 1.31%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.21%, Tata Steel up by 1.09% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.08%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.22%, ICICI Bank down by 1.83%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.93%, HDFC Bank down by 0.69% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.63% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in the wake of the pandemic, industry body Assocham in its latest report has said that there are signs of improved consumer confidence in several key sectors, including hospitality, of the economy. It also noted that activities in construction and renovation have been on a pick-up for the past few months leading to return of migrant workers for gainful deployment.

The industry body said ''Our feedback from our member companies, including those in the SMEs points towards steady pick-up in economic activities with notable gains visible in retail trading, malls, food business and inter-state travel''.

According to the industry body Assocham, though on a low base, the Indian economy should close the financial year 2021-22 with a double-digit growth, sustaining the catch-up mode.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17355.30, down by 13.95 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 17269.15 and 17378.35. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.00%, Hindalco up by 3.19%, BPCL up by 1.42%, TCS up by 1.42% and Wipro up by 1.27%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.23%, ICICI Bank down by 1.78%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.86%, HDFC Bank down by 0.83% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.69% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 35.15 points or 0.5% to 7,064.35, France’s CAC increased 38.00 points or 0.57% to 6,701.77 and Germany’s DAX was up by 118.46 points or 0.76% to 15,728.27.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Monday due to lingering concerns over the impact of corona-virus pandemic in Asian region. Meanwhile, US dollar marched higher on cautious mood amid uncertainty about US inflation coupled with China's crackdown on tech companies. Chinese shares ended higher, despite the latest moves from Beijing to reshape online businesses with reports showing that Beijing wants to break up Ant Group's Alipay and create a separate app for the company's highly profitable loans business. Meanwhile, Chinese banks extended 1.22 trillion yuan ($189.51 billion) in new yuan loans in August, up from July but falling short of expectations. Japanese shares settled higher amid raising bets that Taro Kono will become the country's next prime minister.