Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended in red on Wednesday’s trading session. After a negative start, weak trade continued over Dalal Street during trading session. Some worries came with Rating agency Crisil’s statement that States' indebtedness will remain high this fiscal at 33 per cent, which is only a notch below the record high of 34 per cent of their gross domestic products in FY21, as tax buoyancy will be offset by higher revenue expenditure and capital outlays.

Traders ignored reports that Sebi approved frameworks for gold and social stock exchanges, and changes to delisting norms to make M&As more rational as well as to superior voting rights and various other proposals, mainly aimed at deepening the securities market. In the last hour of the trade, key indices cut losses, taking support with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that measures to reduce compliance burden by simplifying and decriminalising several laws can have a multiplier effect on ease of doing business.

Some support also came with rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) statement that high-frequency indicators suggest a strong rebound during the July-September quarter after a steep contraction in activity in the previous three months on the back of a severe Covid-19 wave. The agency retained India’s economic growth projection at 9.5 per cent for the current fiscal year.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher. Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday, after Hong Kong's merchandise exports grew at a softer pace in August. The data from the Census and Statistics Department showed that exports rose 25.9 percent year-on-year in August, after a 26.9 percent increase in July. Imports gained 28.1 percent annually in August, after a 26.1 percent increase in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 59413.27, down by 254.33 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 59111.41 and 59678.66. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.62%, while Small cap index up by 0.40%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 3.87%, Power up by 3.52%, PSU up by 2.88%, Metal up by 2.48% and Realty up by 1.21%, while FMCG down by 0.57%, Bankex down by 0.54%, Capital Goods down by 0.46%, Consumer Disc down by 0.41% and Auto down by 0.37% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were NTPC up by 6.52%, Power Grid up by 6.18%, Sun Pharma up by 4.09%, SBI up by 3.37% and Titan Co up by 1.23%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.96%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.75%, Asian Paints down by 1.72%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.63% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.45% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, calling upon all private sector players to focus on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and become green companies of the future which would help them access capital at low rates, Niti Aayog chief executive officer Amitabh Kant has said that the private sector and industry is an extremely important partner to meet the country's sustainable development goals and the government needs their support to translate policies into actions.

Besides, Amitabh Kant said that to meet the targets under the SDG framework on time, India needs to progress faster on nutrition, learning outcomes, women's active participation in the economy, employment for all and reducing pollution.

Niti Aayog chief executive officer further said that the government has already rolled out various initiatives in these areas and has established a system to monitor and review the progress. Kant also urged Indian companies to invest into innovation and research and development (R&D).

The CNX Nifty ended at 17711.30, down by 37.30 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 17608.15 and 17781.75. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were NTPC up by 6.59%, Coal India up by 6.39%, Power Grid up by 6.03%, Sun Pharma up by 4.67% and Indian Oil Corp. up by 3.66%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.09%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.83%, Asian Paints down by 1.68%, Ultratech Cement down by 1.63% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.42% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 63.74 points or 0.91% to 7,091.84, France’s CAC increased 76.52 points or 1.18% to 6,583.02 and Germany’s DAX increased 166.73 points or 1.09% to 15,415.29.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday due to heavy selling pressure tracking slide on Wall Street overnight amid heightened inflation woes. Concerns around Evergrande’s debt crisis and widening power crunch in the world's second-largest economy China also weighed on market sentiments. China Evergrande announced it would raise over one-and-a-half billion US dollars by offloading part of Shengjing Bank in an attempt to meet its enormous financial obligations. Chinese shared declined ahead to the release of the manufacturing, non-manufacturing and Caixin manufacturing PMIs on Thursday. Meanwhile, Japan’s former foreign minister Fumio Kishida won a ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership election, virtually ensures that Fumio Kishida would become next prime minister within days.