Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets ended flat ahead of inflation data. Subdued other Asian markets forced Key indices to make negative start, as traders were worried ahead to a Fed meeting and U.S. inflation data this week. Besides, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) were net sellers in the capital markets on Friday as they offloaded shares worth Rs158.01 crore, according to exchange data. However, markets trimmed most of their losses to altering between positive and negative territory in first half of the trade as markets participants were cautious ahead of the country’s November retail inflation data, October’s industrial production (IIP) data to be released later in the day. Though, traders took some solace with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statistical supplement showing that India's foreign exchange reserves rose for a fourth week to an over three-month high of $561.16 billion in the week through December 2. Some support came in after India's net direct tax collection grew 24% to Rs 8.77 lakh crore in the April-November of the ongoing fiscal. With this, the direct tax collection has reached around 61.79% of the full-year Budget Estimates (BE) for FY2023.

However, in later half of the trade, traders failed to hold their nerves and markets turned southward as sentiments got a hit after data provided by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal showed that the trade deficit, difference between import and exports, between India and China has touched $51.5 billion during April-October this fiscal. Recovery in last leg of the trade helped markets to cut most of their losses and ended flat as traders took note of report that UK Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch arrives in New Delhi on Monday to “kickstart” the sixth round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations and hold bilateral talks with her Indian counterpart Piyush Goyal. The new round marks the first formal meeting between the India-UK negotiating teams since July and the first since Rishi Sunak took charge as British Prime Minister.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as investors braced for interest rate decisions from the U.S. and European central banks later this week, while rising COVID-19 infections in China after restrictions were eased also weighed on sentiment. Asian markets ended mostly in red as investors worried that rising COVID-19 cases might disrupt consumption and manufacturing. Back home, traders took note of the first of a series of G20 Finance Track meetings under India’s presidency will begin from tomorrow. It will deliberate on a raft of critical issues, including global macro-economic challenges in the wake of the Ukraine war, infrastructure development, sustainable finance, health, international taxation and financial sector issues. The first G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies meeting is scheduled to be held from December 13 to 15 in Bengaluru. It will help shape the agenda for the Finance Track under the Indian G20 Presidency. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 62,130.57, down by 51.10 points or 0.08% after trading in a range of 61,676.15 and 62,239.42. 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 0.30%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.31%, Energy up by 1.02%, Industrials up by 0.61%, PSU up by 0.57% and Realty was up by 0.54%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.97%, TECK down by 0.66%, IT down by 0.57%, Telecom down by 0.32%, Auto down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 1.40%, Nestle up by 1.13%, Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 1.02%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.00% and Wipro up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.90%, Infosys down by 1.47%, Titan Company down by 1.16%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.05% and Power Grid Corp down by 0.87% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the data provided by commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal showed that the trade deficit, difference between import and exports, between India and China has touched $51.5 billion during April-October this fiscal. The deficit during 2021-22 had jumped to $73.31 billion as compared to $44.03 billion in 2020-21. According to the data, imports during April-October this fiscal stood at $60.27 billion, while exports aggregated at $8.77 billion.

Goyal said that the merchandise exports from India to China have increased from $11.93 billion in 2014-15 to $21.26 billion in 2021-22, showing an increase of 78.2 per cent over the last six years. On the other hand, imports from China have increased from $60.41 billion in 2014-15 to $94.57 billion in 2021-22. He noted that the trade deficit with China in 2004-05 was $1.48 billion, which increased to $36.21 billion in 2013-14, an increase of 2,346 per cent. He added that against this massive increase, the trade deficit with China has since increased by only 100 per cent to $73.31 billion in 2021-22.

He highlighted that most of the goods imported from China are capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials and are used for meeting the demand of fast expanding sectors like electronics, telecom and power in India. He said ‘the rise in import of electronic components, computer hardware and peripherals, telephone components, etc. can be attributed to transforming of India into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge economy. India's dependence on imports in these categories is largely due to the gap between domestic supply and demand.’

The CNX Nifty ended at 18,497.15, up by 0.55 points after trading in a range of 18,345.70 and 18521.55. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 3.12%, Divi's Lab up by 1.98%, Coal India up by 1.55%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.22% and UPL up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Asian Paints down by 1.88%, Infosys down by 1.41%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.18%, Titan Company down by 1.18% and Eicher Motors down by 1.12% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 21.00 points or 0.28% to 7,455.63, France’s CAC decreased 21.78 points or 0.33% to 6,655.86 and Germany’s DAX was down by 66.36 points or 0.46% to 14,304.36.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Monday as investors were cautiously awaiting US consumer inflation report as well as a slew of central bank decisions this week for additional clues on the economic and interest rate outlook. Chinese and Hong Kong shares led regional losses with worries that rising Covid-19 cases in China might disrupt consumption and manufacturing. Meanwhile, one of China's top health experts has warned of a surge in Covid-19 cases in the wake of the government's decision to abandon its hard-line coronavirus strategy. Moreover, Seoul shares declined notably tracking weakness in Wall Street shares last Friday following deepening fears about US recession.