Benchmarks end higher on Friday

Indian equity benchmarks ended higher with gains over a percent on Friday led by gains in IT, Banking and TECK stocks amid positive cues in the global market. Key gauges made a gap up start and stayed in green for whole day, as traders took some support from Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement 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 S&P Global Ratings’ statement that growth in large Asia Pacific economies like China, India and Indonesia will be less affected as their economies are more domestically oriented. Traders took a note of World Bank President David Malpass’ statement that India has taken good advantage of digitisation to create social protection programmes that reach the poor, noting that the country can do a lot more on the administrative side to create efficiencies.

Sentiments remained up-beat in afternoon deals, after 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. However, key gauges trimmed some gains in late afternoon deals, as some concern came with provisional data available on the NSE showed that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,636.43 crore on October 13. Some concern also came as India failed to unseat the UK and missed being the fifth-largest economy by $10 billion in 2021-22. It’ll have to wait another year before it gets that coveted spot in 2022-23, overtaking the UK by $27 billion.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as investors cheered reports of potential fiscal plan U-turn. Media reports suggest that the British government will announce a U-turn on elements of its 43-billion-pound package of unfunded tax cuts that sparked turmoil in financial markets over the past few weeks. Asian markets settled mostly higher on Friday following the broadly positive cues from global markets, as a sharp increase in the price of crude oil contributed to significant strength.

Back home, auto stocks were in focus as auto industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers said 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, as compared to the same month last year. Logistics industry stocks were in watch, as Union Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles, Piyush Goyal said that PM GatiShakti National Master Plan (NMP) has the potential to save over Rs 10 lakh crore annually by improving logistics efficiency.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 684.64 points or 1.20% to 57,919.97 and the CNX Nifty was up by 171.35 points or 1.01% to 17,185.70.

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 58,435.12 and 57,848.23, respectively. There were 19 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining, while 1 stock remains unchanged on the index.

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.01%.

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 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% and Realty down by 0.77% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 3.82%, HDFC Bank up by 3.40%, HDFC up by 2.69%, HCL Technologies up by 2.08% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.90%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.40%, Asian Paints down by 0.80%, Reliance Industries down by 0.54%, Wipro down by 0.47% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.41% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s growth prospects, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India is setting the global benchmarks on the digital front and there is a sense of confidence in the country that it will be able to face geopolitical and economic uncertainties and still perform. On India's economic prospects in the face of global uncertainty, Sitharaman said India is now setting global standards and countries around the world recognise this scale of achievement.

Regarding India's economic resilience amid global uncertainty, she said ‘There were times when global benchmarks and global standards were ones India looked up to... but on the digital front, be it payment, be it identity, health or education, India has actually set the benchmarks. There are countries which recognise that this scale of achievement is absolute watertight proof that it is unfailing over the years...’. She added ‘There are countries which recognise that this scale of achievement is absolute watertight proof that it is unfailing over the years, over the numbers...’.

The finance minister explained that the Indian economy is doing good business largely because the confidence in what has happened in the last two years is ‘palatably felt’. She said the Indian economy's revival is on a sustained path and it will continue to be resilient in the face of a possible global recession. She said ‘Because of the global recession, if my demand is going fall, exports are going to suffer and because of the strong dollar my Indian rupee would suffer -- all this taken on board -- there is a sense of confidence in India, we will go through this and we will be able to still perform’.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 17,348.55 and 17,169.75. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Infosys up by 4.02%, HDFC Bank up by 3.76%, HDFC up by 2.91%, HCL Technologies up by 2.17% and ICICI Bank up by 2.16%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.69%, JSW Steel down by 1.33%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.26%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.13% and Adani Enterprises down by 1.01% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 91.11 points or 1.33% to 6,941.38, France’s CAC increased 97.04 points or 1.65% to 5,976.23 and Germany’s DAX increased 157.49 points or 1.27% to 12,513.07.

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.