Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks failed to hold gains on Thursday, with both Sensex and Nifty ending in red terrain. The start of the trading day was in green, as domestic sentiments remained optimistic, after RBI Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) Member Ashima Goyal has said that eight years of systemic economic reforms under the Modi government have increased India's macroeconomic stability and its capacity to withstand any external shocks.

Traders took note of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma’s statement that inflation must be brought down to the medium-term target of 4 percent as quickly as possible while ensuring rate increases do not hurt the economy drastically. Besides, Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said that India should aim at $20 billion of marine export in the next five years.

Positive trade continued over the Dalal Street for the most part of the session. Traders remained positive, as per the latest ASSOCHAM- D&B Small Business Confidence Index, with pick-up in demand, as many as 80 per cent of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) anticipate increase in their domestic order book in third quarter of calendar year, sequential improvement of five percentage points from the second quarter, leading to rise in the sales revenue.

However, markets witnessed fall in the last hour of the trade. The street got cautious amid reports that India’s business and consumption activity showed conflicting signs of recovery in July as elevated inflation, rising borrowing costs and fears of a global slowdown weighed on Asia’s third-largest economy. Some concerns acme with Crisil's report that States' revenue growth will slide to 7-9 per cent in FY23 even as handsome GST collections will help in the accretion.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher. Asian markets ended mostly in green, even after producer prices in South Korea were up 0.3 percent on month in July. That was down from the upwardly revised 0.6 percent increase in June (originally 0.5 percent). Individually, prices for agricultural, forestry & marine products rose 4.1 percent on month; manufacturing products fell 0.6 percent; utilities advanced 3.9 percent; and services rose 0.6 percent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58774.72, down by 310.71 points or 0.53% after trading in a range of 58666.41 and 59484.35. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.20%, while Small cap index up by 0.17%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.52%, Consumer Durables up by 0.89%, PSU up by 0.53%, Consumer Disc up by 0.31% and Metal up by 0.07%, while TECK down by 0.88%, IT down by 0.88%, FMCG down by 0.45%, Oil & Gas down by 0.40% and Industrials down by 0.35% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 0.46%, SBI up by 0.27%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.20% and Titan Co up by 0.02%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 1.81%, Power Grid down by 1.33%, Infosys down by 1.20%, TCS down by 1.14% and Indusind Bank down by 1.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Steel and Rural Development, Faggan Singh Kulaste has said that mineral and metal sector has played a key role in the development of the country and will transform India from a developing to a developed country.

The Minister further said that the sector should be more innovative, competitive and research friendly to enhance its capability of production of minerals and metals to meet the country’s needs as well as to export them. Kulaste said natural resources and their maximum possible exploration without harming the environment will be the key factors for march towards development.

The minister also noted that steel sector is playing a major role for the infrastructural development in every sector in the country. He underlined various programs like PLI Scheme, FDI etc. introduced by the Ministry of Steel to encourage the players of the sector.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17522.45, down by 82.50 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 17487.45 and 17726.50. There were 17 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Shree Cement up by 1.71%, Divi's Lab up by 1.12%, Hindalco up by 0.91%, Eicher Motors up by 0.89% and HDFC Life Insurance up by 0.78%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 2.43%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.81%, Power Grid down by 1.37%, Infosys down by 1.26% and NTPC down by 1.18% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 rose 51.36 points or 0.69% to 7,523.35, France’s CAC gained 43.62 points or 0.68% to 6,429.26 and Germany’s DAX was up by 96.34 points or 0.74% to 13,317.86.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday tracking modest gains in US stocks overnight, even as investors cautiously awaiting Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole symposium on Friday for further cues on the monetary policy outlook. Chinese shares rose sharply after China unveiled fresh measures to boost its economy. China’s energy administration has pledged to alleviate electricity shortages in Sichuan and Chongqing, while China's state cabinet announced Rmb300bn ($44bn) in credit support by its policy banks. Hong Kong shares gained as trading resumed in the afternoon after a halt due to a typhoon warning. Seoul shares rallied after the Monetary Policy Board of the Bank of Korea decided to hike the Base Rate by 25 basis points to 2.50% from 2.25% as expected.