Post Session: Quick Review

Bears held a tight grip over the Dalal Street on Monday, with both Sensex and Nifty ending in deep red. After a cautious start, markets remained lower, as RBI data showed the country’s foreign exchange reserves declined by $ 763 million to $640.112 billion in the week ended November 12. Adding more pessimism, the government increased goods and services tax (GST) applicable on finished products such as apparel, textiles and footwear from 5 percent to 12 percent, effective January 2022.

Markets added more losses in the second half of the trading session, as traders got cautious after the Commerce Ministry's foreign trade arm DGFT will deactivate all importer-exporter codes (IECs) that have not been updated after January 1, 2014, with effect from December 6, 2021, a move which would help in knowing the actual number of real traders in the country. The street paid no heed towards reports that retirement fund body EPFO net added 15.41 lakh subscribers in September 2021, reflecting a growing trend in net payroll additions post the second wave of the pandemic.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher despite Austria's return to lockdown as the region raced to curb soaring Covid infections. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, after China maintained its benchmark loan prime rates for the 19th consecutive month, as widely expected. The one-year loan prime rate was kept unchanged at 3.85 percent and the five-year LPR at 4.65 percent.

Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to pharma and medical equipment sectors remained in focus as Union Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said the PLI schemes for the pharma and medical equipment sectors would go a long way in making the country secure when it comes to critical drugs.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58465.89, down by 1170.12 points or 1.96% after trading in a range of 58011.92 and 59778.37. There were 3 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 2.62%, while Small cap index down by 2.96%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 2.92% and Metal up by 0.07%, while Realty down by 4.45%, Energy down by 3.99%, Consumer Durables down by 3.22%, Auto down by 3.07% and Oil & Gas down by 3.00% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 3.70%, Asian Paints up by 1.14% and Power Grid up by 0.60%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 5.74%, Bajaj Finserv down by 4.69%, Reliance Industries down by 4.42%, NTPC down by 3.73% and Titan Co down by 3.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Retirement fund body, Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its latest ‘Provisional Estimate of Net Payroll’ data report has showed that India created 1541396 new jobs in the month of September 2021.

As per the report, the maximum jobs were created in the age bracket of 22-25 and in this bracket the top sectors which have created more fresh jobs include Expert Services; Trading-Commercial Establishments; Establishment Engaged in Manufacture, Marketing Servicing; Engineers- Engineering Contractors; Building & Construction Industry; Financing Establishment and Hospitals. In the similar age bracket, Maharashtra was the first among the States to create maximum payroll, followed by Karnataka, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Haryana and Delhi.

According to the data report, 6312 new jobs were created in less than 18 age group category, while 318308 jobs in 18-21 age group category. Further, 22-25 age, 26-28 age, 29-35 age and more than 35 age group category witnessed 412152, 220147, 310654 and 273823 new payrolls, respectively in September 2021.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 17416.55, down by 348.25 points or 1.96% after trading in a range of 17280.45 and 17805.25. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 3.88%, Asian Paints up by 1.07%, JSW Steel up by 0.99%, Power Grid up by 0.88% and Hindalco up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 5.70%, ONGC down by 5.02%, Bajaj Finserv down by 4.73%, Tata Motors down by 4.63% and Reliance Industries down by 4.43% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 23.54 points or 0.33% to 7,247.11, France’s CAC increased 20.36 points or 0.29% to 7,132.65 and Germany’s DAX was up by 17.21 points or 0.11% to 16,177.18.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday despite some US Fed policymakers signalled that the topic of a faster taper might be on the table at the Fed’s next meeting in December. Chinese stocks gained as the country's central bank signalled possible easing measures to aid the economy's recovery after a sharp downturn in recent months fuelled by a property slump. Seoul stocks rallied after data showed South Korea's exports logged double-digit growth in the first 20 days of November. However, Hong Kong shares declined after reports that advisers to the Chinese central bank were pointing to risks of inflation and slow growth leading to ‘quasi-stagflation’ signalled the conflicting pressures Beijing is facing. Resurgence of coronavirus cases in the United States and Europe and renewed lockdown measures in Austria has made investors cautious. While, investors are waiting to see if Joe Biden decides to keep Jerome Powell at the US Fed’s helm.