Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets ended higher on Thursday. After a positive start, markets remained higher for the most part of the session, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the government expects the Indian economy to grow by 7.5 per cent this year. Modi also said the value of the Indian digital economy will reach $1 trillion by 2025. Traders also took note of a private report that sowing of kharif crops like soyabean, paddy, cotton has picked up in the country amid an advancing monsoon. Meanwhile, an Indian ministerial panel will meet next week to discuss a goods and services tax on cryptocurrency transactions.

However, in late afternoon session, indices cut all of their gains and turned negative, as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report has showed that India witnessed a current account deficit (CAD) of 1.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22) against a surplus of 0.9 per cent in FY2020-21 due to a wider trade deficit. Traders got cautious after another private report that India is opposed to providing any capital gains tax waivers to overseas debt investors even if it delays its goal of getting its bonds included in global bond indexes.

But, in the last hours of the trade, markets came back in green to end day on a higher note, amid a private report stating that the corporate profit to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio rebounded to a decade high of 4.3 per cent and 4.5 per cent for the Nifty-500 universe and listed India companies, respectively. The recovery was driven by the expansion in the economy, after a Covid-led contraction in 2021, while corporate profit rose at a faster rate of 48 per cent year-on-year for the Nifty 500 companies.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower after a survey showed euro zone business activity slowed significantly in June, adding to fears of a sharp economic downturn, while sliding oil and metal prices hit commodity-linked stocks. Asian markets ended mixed, after the manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in June, albeit at a slower rate, the latest survey from Jibun Bank revealed on Thursday with a manufacturing PMI score of 52.7. That's down from 53.3 in May, although it remains above the boom-or-bust line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.

The BSE Sensex ended at 52265.72, up by 443.19 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 51632.85 and 52516.79. There were 27 stocks advancing against 3 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.40%, while Small cap index up by 1.18%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 4.42%, Consumer Disc up by 2.40%, IT up by 1.87%, TECK up by 1.85% and Telecom up by 1.81%, while Energy down by 0.47% and Oil & Gas down by 0.29% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 6.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.41%, Asian Paints up by 3.39%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.96% and TCS up by 2.70%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.62%, NTPC down by 0.94% and Power Grid down by 0.90% were the only losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in line with the practice adopted by other countries, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) is working on a proposal to move towards a risk-based capital framework to ensure optimum utilisation of capital.

Irdai chairman Debasish Panda also noted that the regulator is also trying to move away from the traditional supervision-based framework to a risk-based supervision framework which will be enabled by technology. He further noted that so, these two major programmes are already launched within the Irdai in consultation with industry and other stakeholders.

The chairman said 'I hope the risk-based supervisory framework, we should be able to do this within 6-9 months. And the risk-based capital regime will take maybe around 2-3 years. And that is the estimate that the international experts also (express)...but we are fast-tracking that as well.’

The CNX Nifty ended at 15556.65, up by 143.35 points or 0.93% after trading in a range of 15367.50 and 15628.45. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 6.27%, Hero MotoCorp up by 5.93%, Eicher Motors up by 5.87%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.46% and Bajaj Auto up by 4.10%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.62%, Coal India down by 1.23%, Power Grid down by 1.00%, NTPC down by 0.84% and Grasim Industries down by 0.67% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 55.89 points or 0.79% to 7,033.33, France’s CAC decreased 68.49 points or 1.16% to 5,848.14 and Germany’s DAX decreased 180.51 points or 1.37% to 12,963.77.

Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday after US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he believed the world's largest economy is strong enough to handle coming interest-rate hikes, but also noted that a recession is certainly a possibility. Chinese shares gained as Chinese tech companies and automakers jumped on Beijing’s policy support. Reports showing that Beijing is considering extending a purchase tax exemption for new energy vehicles in a bid to boost the auto sector. Additionally, Chinese President Xi Jinping signaled support to the country’s leading payment and fintech firms in the latest indication that Beijing is easing its regulatory crackdown on the sector. Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended almost flat as data showed Japanese factory output grew at its slowest rate in three months.