Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended the Thursday’s trade in red terrain as Fitch slashed India’s GDP growth forecast to 7% from 7.8% for this year. Markets made an optimistic start as traders took support with revenue secretary Tarun Bajaj’s statement that he expects GST collection to top the Rs 1.5-lakh-crore-mark from October.  Bajaj said ‘for the last couple of months, we’ve been trying very hard to reach that milestone of Rs 1.5 trillion (lakh crore). But we have been failing a bit sometimes by Rs 2,000 crore and sometimes by even Rs 6,000 crore.’ But, the initial buying get fizzled out as market participants turned cautious with report that Fitch expects the Indian economy to slow down and said in a statement that it would cut the country’s gross domestic product growth forecast for the current fiscal year through March 2023 to 7% from 7.8%. It also projected a further slowdown in growth to 6.7% in FY24 from its earlier estimate of 7.4%.

Markets extended losses to breach their crucial 60,000 (Sensex) and 17,900 (Nifty) levels, as Apex body for exporters Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) stating that with global trade facing headwinds due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, merchandise exports from India are expected to grow at a slower pace during the current fiscal. It may rise about 11 per cent to over $470 billion. Exports grew 45 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to $422 billion in 2021-22. Besides, foreign institutional investors offloaded Rs 1,397.51 crore from the domestic equities on Wednesday.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green as traders opted to buy beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. However, gains remain capped as the likelihood of a further jump in global borrowing costs, including a possible 100 basis point U.S. rate hike next week, kept the bears on the prowl. Asian markets ended mostly in green as markets adjusted following a rout this week on higher-than-expected US inflation data. Back home, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the government will take a serious note if an auto company does not allow its component suppliers to locally manufacture the components. He also expressed hope that the industry will continue to promote manufacturing of components in India.

The BSE Sensex ended at 59,934.01, down by 412.96 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 59865.75 and 60676.12. There were 7 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.31%, while Small cap index was up by 0.06%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Power up by 2.06%, Utilities up by 1.99%, Auto up by 0.84%, Industrials up by 0.52% and PSU up by 0.28%, while IT down by 1.63%, TECK down by 1.50%, Metal down by 1.09%, Realty down by 1.01% and Healthcare down by 0.88% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.28%, Power Grid up by 2.15%, NTPC up by 1.69%, HDFC up by 0.28% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.17%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.21%, Infosys down by 2.92%, Indusind Bank down by 1.84%, Tata Steel down by 1.83% and Bajaj Finserv down by 1.83% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the commerce ministry in its latest data has showed that India’s merchandise exports rose marginally by 1.62 per cent to $33.92 billion in August 2022 as compared to $33.38 Billion in August 2021. Merchandise imports in August 2022 were $61.90 Billion, which is an increase of 37.28 per cent over imports of $45.09 Billion in August 2021. Merchandise trade deficit more than doubled to $27.98 billion in August as against $11.71 Billion in August 2021 due to increased crude oil imports.

As per the data, merchandise exports for the period April-August 2022 were $193.51 Billion as against $164.44 Billion during the period April-August 2021, registering a positive growth of 17.68 per cent. Merchandise imports for the period April-August 2022 were $318.03 Billion as against $218.22 Billion during the period April-August 2021, registering a positive growth of 45.74 per cent. The merchandise trade deficit for April-August 2022 was estimated at $124.52 Billion as against $53.78 Billion in April-August 2021, which is an increase of 131.52 per cent.

Data further showed that non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports in August 2022 were $24.88 Billion, registering a negative growth of (-) 1.64 per cent over non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports of $25.29 Billion in August 2021. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports were $37.53 Billion in August 2022 with a positive growth of 40.63 per cent over Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery imports of $26.69 Billion in August 2021.

It also stated that non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports during April-August 2022 was $135.57 Billion, an increase of 8.47 per cent over non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery exports of $124.99 Billion in April-August 2021. Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery (gold, silver & precious metals) imports were $185.05 Billion in April-August 2022, recording a positive growth of 37.64 per cent, as compared to Non-petroleum, non-gems & jewellery imports of $134.44 Billion in April-August 2021.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17877.40, down by 126.35 points or 0.70% after trading in a range of 17861.50 and 18096.15. There were 11 stocks advancing against 39 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.70%, Eicher Motors up by 2.27%, Adani Ports up by 2.18%, Power Grid up by 2.17% and NTPC up by 1.60%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 3.98%, Infosys down by 2.89%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.84%, Cipla down by 2.51% and Hero MotoCorp down by 2.15% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 35.89 points or 0.49% to 7,313.19 and Germany’s DAX was up by 46.55 points or 0.36% to 13,074.55. On the flip side, France’s CAC was down by 7.99 points or 0.13% to 6,214.42.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday tracking modest gains on Wall Street overnight. Japanese shares gained slightly with travel-related stocks leading the recovery on expectations of a rebound in global tourism. Hong Kong shares rose after the Chinese megacity of Chengdu eased lockdown restrictions in some areas as Covid-19 cases decline, while China’s property developers in the Hong Kong stock market rallied on signs of relaxation measures to boost the embattled sector. Although, Chinese shares declined after the country's central bank PBoC kept its key policy rate unchanged. Investors are now cautiously awaiting to US Fed's two-day policy meeting next week for cues about the course of monetary tightening in the United States. The rating agency Fitch cut its global economic growth forecast to 2.4% in 2022 and 1.7% in 2023 due to the European gas crisis, high inflation and a sharp acceleration in the pace of global monetary policy tightening.