Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended lower on Friday. After a slightly positive start of the day, markets remained weak during trading session, as the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said India’s exports growth may slow to 15-17.5% in FY23 but containment of Covid-19 through massive vaccination across the globe and creation of required capacity will be the decisive factors. Adding pessimism, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy said that the outbreak of pandemic has led to an increase in the number of households with no earning members making them more vulnerable to the pandemic.

Traders remained cautious, amid reports that the Indian hospitality industry, battered by the pandemic, is on alert mode but not panicking yet in the face of the Omicron variant threatening to derail prospects of winter holiday season business. Besides, Automobile dealers' body FADA said passenger vehicle supplies may get affected further if chip-making countries go under lockdown due to the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19. The industry body, however, noted that it expects the semiconductor shortage situation to normalize by the second half of next year.

However, in the last hours of the trade, markets staged some recovery, amid a private report stating that India can generate $813 billion in revenue creating 152 million jobs, with an investment of $272 billion in agritech and allied segments by 2030, making it the largest private sector industry in the country. Adding some relief among traders, Jayant Sinha, Chairperson, Parliament Standing Committee on Finance, has said that the government is working to bring changes in the GST Act and other public platforms so that companies can utilise data to grow big in size and scale. 

On the global front, European markets were trading mixed ahead of the Christmas holiday amid thin trading volumes, with traders weighing risks from the omicron variant. Asian markets ended mostly higher, even after overall nationwide consumer prices in Japan were up 0.6 percent on year in November, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said - beating forecasts for 0.4 percent and up from 0.1 percent in October. Core CPI, which excludes volatile food prices, climbed an annual 0.5 percent - also exceeding expectations for 0.4 percent and up from 0.1 percent in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 57124.31, down by 190.97 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 56813.42 and 57623.69. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.15%, while Small cap index down by 0.60%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 0.74% and TECK up by 0.54%, while Power down by 2.04%, Utilities down by 1.96%, PSU down by 1.67%, Realty down by 1.43% and Oil & Gas down by 1.06% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 3.08%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.34%, Asian Paints up by 0.65%, Wipro up by 0.55% and Infosys up by 0.37%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.69%, Power Grid down by 2.47%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.71%, Axis Bank down by 1.59% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.57% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, amid increasing spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, Automobile dealers' body Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) has expressed worries that passenger vehicle supplies may get affected further if chip-making countries go under lockdown.

However, the industry body noted that it expects the semiconductor shortage situation to normalize by the second half of next year. Besides, the Automobile dealers' body anticipates that the second half of 2022 may see supply as well as demand slowly coming back to normalcy.

Further, FADA President Vinkesh Gulati said that autoiIndustry may fully recover only by 2023 and come back to its pre-COVID levels if COVID becomes a history. He, however, noted that the two-wheeler market which continues to face demand headwinds may further go into a slump if the third wave becomes a reality.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17003.75, down by 68.85 points or 0.40% after trading in a range of 16909.60 and 17155.60. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were HCL Tech. up by 3.08%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.38%, SBI Life Insurance up by 2.02%, Wipro up by 0.56% and Asian Paints up by 0.52%. On the flip side, Grasim Industries down by 2.93%, NTPC down by 2.65%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.72%, Eicher Motors down by 1.71% and Indian Oil Corp. down by 1.69% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mixed, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 13.13 points or 0.18% to 7,386.47. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 3.67 points or 0.05% to 7,102.48.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday due to easing worries of fallout from the Omicron coronavirus variant after data indicated that both Merck's and Pfizer's Covid-19 antiviral pills were effective against the Omicron variant. Separate studies have indicated the new strain Omicron poses a lower risk of severe disease and hospitalization than the Delta variant. Meanwhile, Wall Street’s overnight gains as another batch of upbeat U.S. economic data, including improved consumer sentiment, increased new home sales and better-than-expected durable goods sales also helped bolster market sentiments. Hong Kong shares gained after troubled Chinese developer China Evergrande Group said it would actively engage with offshore creditors following its recent missed debt repayments. However, Chinese shares fell due to worries of a local outbreak of Covid-19 weighed on some business operations and investor sentiment. Japanese shares ended on a flat note with negative bias as investors fretted on news that Tokyo’s first community spread of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus was confirmed on Christmas Eve.