Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks witnessed powerful performance by surging over a percent on last trading day of week amid positive cues from the global equities. Key indices made a gap-up start, as traders found solace after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India is setting the global benchmarks on the digital front and that there is a sense of confidence in the country that it will be able to face geopolitical and economic uncertainties and still perform. Some support also came with report that S&P Global Ratings said growth in large Asia Pacific economies like China, India and Indonesia will be less affected as their economies are more domestically oriented. Traders paid no heed towards US consumer prices advanced to a 40-year high in September, pressuring the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates even more aggressively to stamp out persistent inflation before it becomes entrenched.

Markets continued to trade with healthy gains in afternoon session, as sentiments remained upbeat after India's inflation based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) crashed to an 18-month low of 10.7 percent in September. WPI inflation was 12.41 percent in August. In September 2021, it stood at 11.80 percent. Traders took note of private report that UK government said intensive negotiations are ongoing to meet the target to conclude the majority of the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) talks by Diwali. In late afternoon session, markets trimmed some of their gains on account of profit booking but ended Friday’s session with chunk of gains.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher even as hotter-than-expected U.S. CPI data fanned worries about aggressive tightening by the Federal Reserve and a possible recession and investors cheered reports of potential fiscal plan U-turn. Asian markets ended mostly in green after U.S. stocks staged a remarkable turnaround to close sharply higher overnight despite higher-than-expected inflation numbers. The U.S. dollar also retreated and shed ground against most of its Asian major counterparts. Back home, investors awaited the financial results of Bajaj Auto, Tata Elxsi and Shree Cement due later in the day. Sector wise, automobile industry remained in limelight after auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) has said that riding on the back of strong festive season demand, passenger vehicle wholesales in India increased 92 per cent to 3,07,389 units last month (September), as compared to the same month last year.

The BSE Sensex ended at 57,919.97, up by 684.64 points or 1.20% after trading in a range of 57,848.23 and 58,435.12. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index declined y 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.72%, Bankex up by 1.71%, TECK up by 1.56%, Capital Goods up by 0.71% and Consumer Durables was up by 0.56%, while Power down by 1.34%, Utilities down by 1.34%, Oil & Gas down by 1.00%, Energy down by 0.77%, Realty down by 0.77% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 4.03%, HDFC Bank up by 3.71%, HDFC up by 2.82%, HCL Tech. up by 2.13% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.03%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.26%, Asian Paints down by 0.68%, Reliance Industries down by 0.50%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.41% and Power Grid down by 0.37% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) eased further to 10.7% in the month of September 2022 as against 12.41% in August 2022. But, September is the 18th consecutive month of double-digit WPI inflation, primarily contributed by rise in prices of mineral oils, food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, chemicals & chemical products, basic metals, electricity, textiles etc. as compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.

Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, declined by 1.34% to 176.2 (provisional) in September 2022 from 178.6 (provisional) for the month of August 2022, as prices of non-food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas and minerals declined in September 2022 as compared to August 2022. However, prices of food articles increased in September, 2022 as compared to August, 2022.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, increased by 0.13% to 157.8 (provisional) in September 2022 from 157.6 (provisional) for the month of August 2022, as prices of electricity increased in September 2022 as compared to August 2022. On the flip side, prices of mineral oils declined in September 2022 as compared to August 2022.

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, declined by 0.49% to 142.5 (provisional) in September 2022 from 143.2 (provisional) for the month of August 2022. Meanwhile, for the month of July 2022 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011-12=100) stood at 154.0 and 14.07% respectively.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17,185.70, up by 171.35 points or 1.01% after trading in a range of 17,169.75 and 17,348.55. There were 29 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 3.83%, HDFC Bank up by 3.26%, HDFC up by 2.64%, UPL up by 2.17% and HCL Tech. up by 2.08%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.73%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.43%, JSW Steel down by 1.25%, Hindalco down by 1.10% and Bajaj Auto down by 0.95% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 55.73 points or 0.81% to 6,906.00, France’s CAC increased 58.46 points or 0.99% to 5,937.65 and Germany’s DAX was up by 88.03 points or 0.71% to 12,443.61.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Friday tracking robust gains on Wall Street overnight, despite the latest US inflation data pointed to more hawkish moves by the US Federal Reserve. Chinese shares rose on expectations of more Chinese stimulus and possible relaxation of Covid-19 rules ahead of China's Communist Party Congress which could see President Xi Jinping win a third term. Data showed China's consumer price inflation accelerated at the fastest pace in more than two years in September, while producer price inflation eased further.