Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended near intraday low points on Monday. After a cautious start, markets remained lower during the trading session, amid reports about continues foreign fund outflow. The exchange data showed that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) remained net sellers for Rs 3356.17 crore in the Indian markets. Some concern also came with India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) stating that tightening of norms may increase non-banking finance companies' (NBFCs) headline non-performing advances (NPA) by around one third. However, the impact on provisioning could be modest, given NBFCs are using 'IND-As' and generally for higher rated NBFCs, provision policy is more conservative than 'IRAC' requirements.

Key indices added more losses in the second half of the trading session to end in red terrain. Traders remained cautious, after the former UK government scientific advisor and director of Wellcome Trust, Jeremy Farrar, said that the emergence of the Omicron coronavirus variant brought the world back to square one in dealing with the pandemic. Besides, amid global scare due to new coronavirus variant Omicron, the RBI is likely to maintain status quo in its upcoming monetary policy and wait for a more opportune time to calibrate benchmark interest rate to promote growth without sacrificing the main objective of containing inflation.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher after sharp losses late last week when fears about the Omicron variant and the U.S. monetary policy outlook weighed on investor sentiment. Asian markets settled mostly lower on Monday, even after Singapore retail sales grew in October. The data from the Department of Statistics showed that retail sales grew 7.5 percent year-on-year in October, after a 6.8 percent rise in September. Motor vehicle sales declined 13.1 percent annually in October, following a 2.0 percent fall in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 56747.14, down by 949.32 points or 1.65% after trading in a range of 56687.62 and 57781.46. All 30 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.35%, while Small cap index down by 1.35%. (Provisional)

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were IT down by 2.49%, TECK down by 2.44%, Telecom down by 1.98%, Energy down by 1.92% and Healthcare down by 1.78%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top losers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank down by 3.75%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.43%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.96%, HCL Tech. down by 2.94% and TCS down by 2.89%. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, calling upon the captains of Indian industry to set ambitious targets as the economy is poised for a sustained spell of rapid growth, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India's foreign trade is in comfortable position and the time has come for India to engage more with the world.

Minister said the industry has a huge role to play in the uplift of the poor and underprivileged. Goyal encouraged the Industry to have a greater appetite for taking risks, to invest in Industries that may be less profitable at the start, but are labour oriented and create lakhs of jobs. He also urged the Industry to promote tribal handicraft products as part of their CSR activities.

Besides, Commerce and Industry Minister said there is big scope in the expansion of labour intensive Plastics, Footwear and Textiles industry. He further added that India cannot be truly Aatmanirbhar, without empowering its poor to be Aatmanirbhar. Goyal also conveyed his appreciation for the Industry’s positive approach in FTA consultations.

The CNX Nifty ended at 16912.25, down by 284.45 points or 1.65% after trading in a range of 16891.70 and 17216.75. There was 1 stock advancing against 49 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The only gainer on Nifty was UPL up by 0.53%, while Coal India down by 7.01%, Indusind Bank down by 3.73%, Tata Consumer Products down by 3.45%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.40% and HCL Tech. down by 2.98% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 50.33 points or 0.71% to 7,172.65, France’s CAC increased 26.79 points or 0.4% to 6,792.31 and Germany’s DAX was up by 113.32 points or 0.75% to 15,283.30.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Monday, as the sell-off in technology sector stocks and the looming concerns over rapid spreading Omicron virus variant saddled the market sentiments. Rising Bond yields also pressured the equity buying. China’s Shanghai ended lower after China’s property giant Evergrande hits 11 year low rate in the indices. Evergrande failed to pay coupons totalling $82.5 million due on November 6 and investors are on tenterhooks eyeing whether it can pay back its obligations before a 30-day grace period ends on December 6. The company reported to have plans to Include all offshore bonds in restructuring. Semiconductor and energy stocks also paced declines. Heng Seng tumbled the most in the session extending losing streak to third straight session, while Japan’s benchmark also ended modestly lower.