Post Session: Quick Review

The Indian benchmarks ended flat on Monday amid profit-taking after hitting to all-time high levels in past week. Markets made negative start, as traders were worried ahead of RBI Monetary Policy Committee meeting starting today. Financial markets will be keenly watching the committee's rate hike stance. Traders overlooked Economic Advisory Council member Sanjeev Sanyal’s statement that India is capable of sustaining an economic growth of 9 per cent for many years, even as he asserted that a high sustained GDP growth rate is key for the world to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indices have magnified their losses to touch day’s lowest points even after private survey showed India's output in the services sector expanded at the quickest pace in three months owing to demand strength, successful marketing and a sustained upturn in sales. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 56.4 in November from 55.1 in October, as the new orders placed with service providers in India rose for the sixteenth straight month.

However, markets recovered from losses in afternoon session, as traders got some solace after Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly statistical supplement showed India's foreign exchange reserves rose for the third straight week, to $550.14 billion in the week through November 25. For the week ended November 18, the country's reserves were at $547.25 billion. Key gauges managed to hit green terrain couple of time during second half of the session, as some support came after private report stated that foreign investors have upgraded India as a dedicated allocation in their investment portfolios given the strong economy, stable government and significant reforms undertaken over the last eight years.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in red ahead of the release of key activity data, with caution key even as more Chinese cities relaxed mobility restrictions. Asian markets ended mostly in green as investors increased their bets that China would reopen to the world early next year after Beijing eased its growth-dampening zero-Covid policies. Back home, oil and gas sector remained in limelight after OPEC+ nations held their output targets steady ahead of a European Union ban and a price cap kicking in on Russian crude. Besides, after pulling out money from Indian equities market in the past two months, FPIs made a strong come back in November with a net investment of Rs 36,329 crore on weakening of the US dollar index and positivity about overall macroeconomic trends.

The BSE Sensex ended at 62,834.60, down by 33.90 points or 0.05% after trading in a range of 62,507.88 and 62,939.63. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.10%, while Small cap index was up by 0.25%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.37%, PSU up by 0.90%, Realty up by 0.74%, Bankex up by 0.46% and Industrials was up by 0.12%, while Healthcare down by 0.47%, IT down by 0.36%, Auto down by 0.31%, TECK down by 0.29% and Telecom was down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.99%, NTPC up by 1.60%, Indusind Bank up by 1.49%, SBI up by 1.46% and Power Grid up by 0.61%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.45%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.31%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.76%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 0.71% and Axis Bank down by 0.70% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over India’s economic prospects, Economic Advisory Council member Sanjeev Sanyal has said India is capable of sustaining an economic growth of 9 per cent for many years, even as he asserted that a high sustained GDP growth rate is key for the world to achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). He said India has a per capita income of only $2,200 and that has been achieved after several years of very high growth rate.

He said ‘Particularly for the Global South, sustaining high GDP growth rate is critical to achieving SDGs and without that, all we are doing will be re-distributing poverty. Even for relatively advanced countries, most of them have very high debt levels. For them also, sustained high level of GDP growth will be very important.’ Adopted in 2015 by the UN General Assembly, the SDGs are a collection of 17 global goals ‘for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future’ that are intended to be achieved by 2030.

The goals are: no poverty, zero hunger, good health and well being, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry, innovation and infrastructure and reduced inequalities. The remaining goals are: sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace, justice and strong institutions and partnerships for the goals.

He said that the GDP growth rate has been good for India despite the recent global crises, but there was still a scope to do better. As per the latest data, India's economic growth slowed to 6.3 per cent in the September quarter of 2022-23 on account of contraction in output of manufacturing and mining sectors, but the country continues to remain the fastest-growing major economy ahead of China which registered an economic growth of 3.9 per cent in July-September 2022.

The CNX Nifty ended at 18,701.05, up by 4.95 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 18,591.35 and 18,728.60. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.36%, Tata Steel up by 3.44%, UPL up by 2.44%, Coal India up by 2.05% and ONGC up by 2.02%. On the flip side, Apollo Hospital down by 1.91%, Tata Motors down by 1.53%, Reliance Industries down by 1.46%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.35% and SBI Life down by 0.82% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red, France’s CAC decreased 14.66 points or 0.22% to 6,727.59 and Germany’s DAX was down by 53.32 points or 0.37% to 14,476.07. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 10.86 points or 0.14% to 7,567.09.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday as Hong Kong shares led the gains as businesses reopened and testing rules were relaxed in major cities of China. Chinese shares gained in spite of disappointing service sector data, with the Caixin/S&P Global services purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 46.7 in November, marking the lowest level in six months. Japanese shares rose marginally after the latest survey from Jibun Bank showed the services sector in Japan continued to expand in November, albeit at a slower rate. However, Seoul shares declined as robust US jobs data added to uncertainty about the pace of US rate hikes in the future.