Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended with losses on Thursday’s trading session. After a cautious start, key indices remained volatile during trading session, as traders took a note of finance ministry stating that India’s external debt rose modestly by 2.1 per cent year-on-year to $570 billion as of March-end 2021, notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic. It said reserves to external debt ratio, however, increased to 101.2 per cent from 85.6 per cent during the same period, thereby consolidating the country’s position as a net creditor to the world. Some worries also came as India recorded a spike of 23,139 new Covid-19 cases in the past 24 hours. The country also witnessed 309 deaths, taking the death toll to 448,090.

In the first half of the trading session, losses remained capped as traders found some support with Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) Chairman A Sakthivel’s statement that the government's decision to expand the scope of the Rs 4.5 lakh crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) to support micro, small and medium enterprises would help deal with funds shortage and promote exports. Besides, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said that India and the US should engage in a much bigger way and New Delhi is ready and willing to expand the economic partnership with America. However, in the second half of the trading session, markets added losses to end lower.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher after the sharp losses earlier this week, helped by stronger than expected U.K. second-quarter growth and a sharp jump in French consumer spending. Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday, after the manufacturing sector in China was steady in September, the latest survey from Caixin showed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 50.0. That beat expectations for a score of 49.5 and it's up from 49.2 in August. It moves out of contraction territory and right onto the line that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex ended at 59126.36, down by 286.91 points or 0.48% after trading in a range of 59019.28 and 59557.24. There were 9 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.33%, while Small cap index up by 0.56%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.54%, Consumer Durables up by 1.03%, Utilities up by 0.60%, Power up by 0.50% and Healthcare up by 0.38%, while Bankex down by 0.99%, Metal down by 0.91%, Telecom down by 0.75%, TECK down by 0.68% and IT down by 0.59% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 2.19%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.05%, NTPC up by 0.92%, Sun Pharma up by 0.82% and Hindustan Unilever up by 0.60%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.67%, Asian Paints down by 2.34%, Axis Bank down by 1.87%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.69% and SBI down by 1.53% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to provide a boost to the exports sector, the Government has approved continuation of the National Export Insurance Account (NEIA) scheme and infusion of Rs 1,650 crore Grant-in-Aid over 5 years.

The capital infusion in NEIA Trust will help the Indian Project Exporters (IPE) to tap the huge potential of project exports in focus market. Support to project exports with Indian content sourced from across the country will enhance the manufacturing in India.

Corpus contribution of Rs 1,650 crore will enhance the underwriting capacity of the Trust and will enable NEIA to support project exports worth Rs 33,000 crore at full capacity utilization that in turn will translate into an estimated output of domestically manufactured goods to the tune of Rs 25,000 crore approximately.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17618.15, down by 93.15 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 17585.35 and 17742.15. There were 10 stocks advancing against 40 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 2.03%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.02%, Tata Motors up by 0.94%, Sun Pharma up by 0.86% and NTPC up by 0.85%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 2.64%, Asian Paints down by 2.36%, Axis Bank down by 1.99%, Eicher Motors down by 1.87% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.86% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 36.20 points or 0.51% to 7,144.36, France’s CAC increased 31.17 points or 0.48% to 6,591.97 and Germany’s DAX was up by 5.77 points or 0.04% to 15,371.04.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday after the US Senate announced it would vote on a stopgap funding bill later in the day to avert a government shutdown, while inflation and tightening concerns persisted. Chinese shares ended higher even after the release of mixed economic data. China’s official manufacturing PMI for September came in at 49.6, while Caixin/ Markit manufacturing PMI for the month rising to 50 for the month as compared with August's reading 49.2. Hong Kong shares declined as investors continued to monitor the situation at China Evergrande Group. Reports showing that China Evergrande Group missed paying bond interest due on Wednesday. Japanese shares ended a tad lower after the release of disappointing retail sales and factory activity data.