Post Session: Quick Review

Key benchmark indices ended with cut of over a percent on Monday. Traders were cautious ahead of the US presidential elections on November 5 followed by the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting scheduled for November 7 and 8.  Further, positive HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data failed to cheer the markets. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended deep in red.

Markets made a cautious start and extended their losses amid sustained foreign fund outflows. Foreign investors pulled out a massive Rs 94,000 crore (around $11.2 billion) from the Indian stock market in October, making it the worst-ever month in terms of outflows, triggered by the elevated valuation of domestic equities and attractive valuations of Chinese stocks. Sentiments remained down-beat as the RBI stated that India's forex reserves dropped by $3.463 billion to $684.805 billion in the week ended October 25. The overall reserves had dropped by $2.163 billion to $688.267 billion in the previous reporting week. In end-September, the reserves had hit an all time high of $704.885 billion. Indices remained lower in afternoon session even after government data showed that the gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in October rose 8.9 per cent to Rs 1,87,346 crore, the second-highest ever, on pick-up in domestic sales and improved compliance. In October 2023, the mop-up was at Rs 1.72 lakh crore. In late afternoon session, markets come off from day’s low points but continued to trade in red. Investors overlooked commerce ministry in its latest data has stated India's export competitiveness has witnessed healthy gains in multiple sectors -- particularly petroleum, gemstones, agrochemicals and sugar -- during the last five years, as these segments have increased their share in global trade.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green amid interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and Bank of England. Asian markets ended mostly in green, after China's manufacturing activity returned to growth in October as companies ramped up production and purchasing to meet higher demand amid improving confidence. The survey results from S&P Global showed that the Caixin manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 50.3 in October from 49.3 in September. A reading above the neutral mark of 50.0 indicates expansion. Back home, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has exuded confidence that the country will export more than Rs 50,000 crore defence items by 2029-30, adding that the government is committed to collaborate with the academia for self-reliance in defence production.

The BSE Sensex ended at 78,782.24, down by 941.88 points or 1.18% after trading in a range of 78,232.60 and 79,713.14. There were 6 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 1.31%, while Small cap index was down by 1.65%. (Provisional)

The top losing sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty down by 3.00%, Oil & Gas down by 2.54%, Energy down by 2.51%, Utilities down by 2.22% and Telecom was down by 2.11%, while there were no gaining sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.00%, Tech Mahindra up by 1.94%, SBI up by 1.08%, HCL Tech up by 0.27% and Infosys up by 0.12%. On the flip side, Adani Ports down by 3.23%, Reliance Industries down by 3.00%, Sun Pharma down by 2.68%, Bajaj Finserv down by 2.53% and NTPC down by 2.45% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, government data has showed that the gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in October rose 8.9 per cent to Rs 1,87,346 crore, the second-highest ever, on pick-up in domestic sales and improved compliance. In October 2023, the mop-up was at Rs 1.72 lakh crore.

The Central GST collection stood at Rs 33,821 crore, State GST at Rs 41,864 crore, Integrated GST at Rs 99,111 crore and cess at Rs 12,550 crore during the month. October 2024 recorded the second-best GST mop-up. The highest ever collection was in April 2024 at over Rs 2.10 lakh crore.

During the month under review, GST from domestic transactions grew 10.6 per cent to Rs 1.42 lakh crore, while revenues from tax on imports rose about 4 per cent to Rs 45,096 crore. Refunds worth Rs 19,306 crore were issued during the month, registering 18.2 per cent growth over the year-ago period. After adjusting refunds, net GST collection grew 8 per cent at over Rs 1.68 lakh crore.

The CNX Nifty ended at 23,995.35, down by 309.00 points or 1.27% after trading in a range of 23,816.15 and 24,316.75. There were 8 stocks advancing against 42 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.35%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.17%, Cipla up by 1.61%, SBI up by 1.05% and Dr. Reddy's Lab up by 0.69%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 4.27%, Grasim Industries down by 4.01%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.55%, Adani Ports down by 3.24% and BPCL down by 3.05% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 48.3 points or 0.59% to 8,225.45, France’s CAC rose 33.98 points or 0.46% to 7,443.09 and Germany’s DAX was up by 18.99 points or 0.1% to 19,273.96. 

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday tracking a positive lead from Wall Street in spite of the uncertainty caused by the US presidential election outcome and the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement later in the week. Chinese and Hong Kong shares were gained ahead to a meeting of China's National People's Congress, that is expected to unveil a new fiscal stimulus measures to stabilize the Chinese economy through local government debt swaps and injections of capital into banks. South Korean shares rose after the country's opposition Democratic Party leader agreed to support the government's move to scrap a planned tax on financial investments. Meanwhile, Japanese market shut for Culture Day holiday.