Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks gave an excellent performance on Wednesday’s trading session. After a strong start, markets remained under a grip of bulls during trading session, as domestic sentiments remained up-beat with global rating agency S&P’s statement that the impact of the new coronavirus variant on India's economic outlook would be contained. It expects India's economy to grow 9.5% in FY22 and 7.8% in FY23.

Adding optimism among traders, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said public sector banks (PSBs) recovered over Rs 4.18 lakh crore in the last three financial years from incidents pertaining to frauds and defaults. Also, the amount related to frauds of Rs 1 lakh and above has declined over the period. He added that the government has taken comprehensive steps to tackle defaults and to effect recovery from defaulters.

Indices maintained their gaining rally in the second half of the trading session, as the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy Committee held repo rate at record low of 4 per cent and maintained accommodative policy stance to support growth for as long as necessary.  Traders got encouragement, after Reserve Bank Governor Das said that cut in excise duty on petrol, diesel to bring down inflation rate on durable basis.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, as Sweden's industrial production increased in October. Industrial production grew a calendar-adjusted 3.7 percent year-on-year in October, after a 3.5 percent rise in September. Asian markets ended mostly in green following big gains on Wall Street overnight amid easing fears surrounding the Omicron coronavirus variant.

Back home, on the sectoral front, automobile sector remained in focus, as automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest report has showed that automobile retail sales in the country dropped by around 3 per cent in November as chip shortage and heavy rains in South India impacted sales across various segments, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58649.68, up by 1016.03 points or 1.76% after trading in a range of 58122.27 and 58702.65. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.39%, while Small cap index up by 1.50%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.24%, TECK up by 2.00%, Telecom up by 1.97%, IT up by 1.96% and Consumer Disc up by 1.90%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.62%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.24%, SBI up by 3.11%, Bajaj Finserv up by 3.04% and Sun Pharma up by 2.60%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.85% and Power Grid down by 0.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) in its latest report has showed that automobile retail sales in the country dropped by around 3 per cent in November as chip shortage and heavy rains in South India impacted sales across various segments, including passenger vehicles and two-wheelers.

As per the report, the total registrations last month stood at 18,17,600 units, down 2.7 per cent from 18,68,068 units in November 2020. Passenger vehicle sales last month stood at 2,40,234 units, a drop of 19.44 per cent from 2,98,213 units in the same period last year. Similarly, two-wheeler sales last month dropped to 14,33,855 units as compared to 14,44,762 units in the year-ago period.

FADA further noted that tractor sales dropped to 45,629 units last month from 50,180 units in November 2020. Commercial vehicle and three-wheeler registrations, however, increased last month as compared to the year-ago period.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17469.75, up by 293.05 points or 1.71% after trading in a range of 17308.95 and 17484.60. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 3.64%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.46%, Hindalco up by 3.38%, SBI up by 3.12% and Bajaj Finserv up by 3.00%. On the flip side, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.15%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.86%, Power Grid down by 0.49%, Divi's Lab down by 0.43% and Indian Oil Corp. down by 0.17% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 34.46 points or 0.47% to 7,374.36, France’s CAC increased 33.84 points or 0.48% to 7,099.23 and Germany’s DAX was up by 7.95 points or 0.05% to 15,821.89.

Most of the Asian markets ended in green on Wednesday, as the risk appetite in the market got spurred with the waning worries about the impact of Omicron coronavirus spread on global economy. Chinese shares advanced after the People's Bank of China trimmed RRR, alleviating fears about debt laden property giants Kaisa and Evergrand. Consumer staples rose 2.7%, while Liquor giant Kweichow Moutai, the biggest stock in the A-share market by market cap, surged 4.5% to 2,043 yuan. In the session, hot sectors such as semiconductor and new energy climbed 2.8% and 1.8%. However, Real estate developers retreated 0.6%. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.55%. Japan’s Nikkei topped gains in the session, with major gains from technological sector.