Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks witnessed a worst fall on Monday, with both Sensex and Nifty ending lower by over 2%. Markets made a negative start of the day, as global sentiment remained cautious amid rising Omircon coronavirus cases worldwide. India's Omicron COVID count rose to 151 on Sunday after Maharashtra reported six more cases. Traders remained concerned with continuous foreign fund outflow. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out Rs 17,696 crore from the Indian markets in December so far amid uncertainty due to a new coronavirus strain, Omicron, and expectations of faster tapering by the US Federal Reserve.

Key indices remained lower during the trading session, as bears held a tight grip over the Dalal Street. Domestic sentiments remain dampened as a private report estimated 6.3 per cent real GDP expansion in FY23, among the lowest within the analyst community and stated that there is uncertainty on the growth trajectory. Adding more worries among traders, the RBI data showed declining for the third consecutive week, India’s forex reserves dipped by $77 million to reach $635.828 billion for the week ended December 10.

Markets staged some recovery but ended in red terrain, as dues on the listing fees against a company are 'regulatory dues' in nature and cannot be recovered under 'operational debt' through insolvency proceedings, said the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) while dismissing an appeal by stock exchange BSE. Besides, a parliamentary panel has expressed concern over delay in disposal of pensioners’ grievances beyond the stipulated time limit of 60 days, and asked the Centre to constitute social audit panels to identify core complaints prone areas and streamline their systems.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as the rapid spread of the omicron Covid-19 variant triggers stricter containment measures across the continent. Asian markets settled lower on Monday, after China cut its benchmark loan prime rate for the first time in 20 months. The one-year loan prime rate was lowered to 3.80 percent from 3.85 percent. At the same time, the five-year LPR was maintained at 4.65 percent. The one-year and five-year loan prime rates were last reduced in April 2020. The one-year loan prime rate was cut by 20 basis points and five-year rate by 10 basis points in April 2020.

The BSE Sensex ended at 55822.01, down by 1189.73 points or 2.09% after trading in a range of 55132.68 and 56538.15. There were 2 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 3.42%, while Small cap index down by 3.31%. (Provisional)

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 4.74%, Oil & Gas down by 3.80%, Metal down by 3.71%, PSU down by 3.62% and Basic Materials down by 3.31%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The only gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 1.70% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.94%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 5.20%, SBI down by 3.97%, Indusind Bank down by 3.93%, Bajaj Finance down by 3.89% and HDFC Bank down by 3.14% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, signaling improvement in business albeit worries around Omicron variant spread and the third wave of the pandemic, the Retailers Association of India (RAI) in its latest report has showed that retail sales in India in November grew by 9 per cent over the pre-pandemic levels of the same month in November 2019

The industry body RAI further said that West India signaled 11 per cent increase, followed by East and South India at 9 per cent while North India indicated a growth of 6 per cent each as compared to sales levels in November 2019.

According to the report, in terms of categories, consumer durables and electronics, which did not show great growth in October, showed a good growth of 32 per cent in November as compared to the same month in 2019 on the back of Diwali sales, while the sports goods category reported a growth of 18 per cent and apparels indicated a consistent growth at 6 per cent compared to November 2019.

Besides, RAI said that food and groceries, and quick service restaurants (QSR) continue to indicate growth, while other categories such as footwear, beauty, wellness and personal care, and furniture are inching towards recovery.

The CNX Nifty ended at 16614.20, down by 371.00 points or 2.18% after trading in a range of 16410.20 and 16840.10. There were 3 stocks advancing against 47 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The only gainers on Nifty were Cipla up by 3.91%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.74% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.95%. On the flip side, BPCL down by 6.42%, Tata Steel down by 5.22%, Tata Motors down by 4.92%, Indusind Bank down by 4.18% and SBI down by 3.98% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 138.04 points or 1.9% to 7,131.88, France’s CAC decreased 136.96 points or 1.98% to 6,789.67 and Germany’s DAX was down by 384.60 points or 2.48% to 15,147.09.

Asian markets settled lower on Monday with expectations that the US central bank Fed would hike interest rates more aggressively next year. Besides, concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant of the corona-virus also weighed on investors' sentiments. Chinese shares ended lower despite the People's Bank of China cutting its lending benchmark loan prime rate for the first time in more than one-and-a-half years, in a bid to prop up slowing Chinese growth. Japanese shares tumbled tracking Wall Street's weak finish over the weekend. Seoul shares declined as worries about the Omicron coronavirus variant and tighter curbs in Europe and elsewhere triggered a steep sell-off by foreign investors.