Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Tuesday’s trading session. After a cautious start, markets remained weak during the trading session, as traders were cautious, after the World Bank said that East Asia and Pacific region's recovery has been undermined by the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, which is likely slowing economic growth and increasing inequality in the region. Economic activity began to slow in the second quarter of 2021, and growth forecasts have been downgraded for most countries in the region, according to the World Bank's East Asia and Pacific Fall 2021 Economic Update.

The street paid no heed towards reports that the Finance Ministry has set up two committees of state finance ministers which would rework rate slabs, review GST exempt items and identify potential evasion sources. Four years after the rollout of the national Goods and Services Tax (GST), which replaced the complex indirect tax structure, the center and states have started work on moving towards a ''simpler rate structure in GST'' by reviewing the current rate slabs, including special rates and merger of rate slabs.

In the last hour of the trade, key indices cut some of their losses, taking support with domestic rating agency Crisil Ratings’ report that the monthly collection ratios of its rated securitised pools has seen improvement due to the gradual easing of COVID-19 related restrictions. The ratios had declined between April and June 2021 following the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Some support also came with labour survey finds that employment in nine selected sectors, including construction, manufacturing and IT/BPO, was at 3.08 crore in the April-June quarter of 2021-22, reflecting a growth of 29 per cent compared to 2.37 crore reported in the Economic Census of 2013-14.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower with high-growth tech stocks pressured by rising bond yields, while investors digest the inconclusive German election and Chinese property group Evergrande’s ongoing debt crisis. Asian markets settled mostly lower on Tuesday, after China's industrial profits continued to grow at a slower pace as higher input prices as well as shortage of materials lifted production cost. The National Bureau of Statistics reportedly said that industrial profits increased 10.1 percent year-on-year in August, following an annual growth of 16.4 percent in July. During January to August period, industrial profits advanced 49.5 percent from the same period last year.

The BSE Sensex ended at 59667.60, down by 410.28 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 59045.53 and 60288.44. There were 10 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.71%, while Small cap index down by 0.62%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were PSU up by 2.06%, Utilities up by 1.74%, Power up by 1.49%, Oil & Gas up by 1.45% and Energy up by 1.21%, while Realty down by 3.02%, Telecom down by 2.60%, TECK down by 2.12%, IT down by 1.98% and Consumer Disc down by 0.75% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 4.40%, NTPC up by 3.94%, Sun Pharma up by 2.19%, Titan Co up by 1.84% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.62%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.68%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.41%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.22%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.73% and HCL Tech. down by 2.03% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, underlining that the ‘Rules of Business’ have to be the same for all stakeholders, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs & Food & Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal has said “Irrespective of whether they are big or small business houses, or where they are from or any other differentiating factor, we would like everybody to have equal opportunity to do their businesses honestly, and grow their businesses.”

The Commerce Minister also said that accountability and stipulated timelines should be there and Best Practices of various States or Ministries in Exports Development must be shared. Without setting a timeline, Piyush Goyal said the Government plans to scale $1 trillion exports in both Merchandise and Services. He said “We must position India as a global player by becoming competitive”.

While launching the ‘Ease of Logistics’ portal, the Minister said that it will bring in transparency. Besides, Goyal said that the world is looking at India as the Favoured Investment Destination. He also said that Innovation, Quality and Competition by Exporters is going to define the Brand India.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17748.60, down by 106.50 points or 0.60% after trading in a range of 17576.10 and 17912.85. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Power Grid up by 4.52%, Coal India up by 4.49%, NTPC up by 4.02%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 3.62% and BPCL up by 2.14%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 3.65%, Tech Mahindra down by 3.44%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.23%, Divi's Lab down by 3.01% and Bajaj Finserv down by 2.67% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 31.09 points or 0.44% to 7,032.31, France’s CAC decreased 91.59 points or 1.38% to 6,559.32 and Germany’s DAX was down by 133.40 points or 0.86% to 15,440.48.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Tuesday, tracking lacklustre trading on Wall Street overnight. Further, concerns over potential impact of a widening power shortage in China, surging corona-virus cases and a rise in US treasury yields also kept the market sentiments bearish. While, global investors look ahead to speeches from several US Fed officials this week for cues on the central bank’s plan on hiking interest rates. Japanese shares ended slightly lower, despite expectations for a steady economic growth momentum under a new political leadership in the run-up to a ruling party election. However, Chinese markets gained after the Chinese central bank PBoC pledged to ensure a ‘healthy property market’ and protect homebuyers amid the China Evergrande Group debt crisis.