Post Session: Quick Review

No Respite came to the Indian equity markets, which for seventh straight session witnessed heavy drubbing and ended with a cut of close to half a percent, below the crucial 20,200 (Sensex) and 6,000 (Nifty) levels respectively. After getting gap-down start on account of dismal set of macro-economic data, benchmarks witnessed some additional selling pressure tailing negative Asian counterparts, although recovery was witnessed in very morning deals but that too proved short lived. Overall, in the volatile session of trade, barometer gauges altering between green and red zone, finally settled in negative territory in absence of any positive catalyst.

Besides dismal macro-economic data, speculations that the US Federal Reserve is on course to start reducing its stimulus as early as December, mainly spilled pessimism for markets. On the macro-front, in a recipe of yet another rate hike, retail inflation measured in terms of consumer price index (CPI), entering double digits after seven months, rose to 10.09% in October, while in another blow, industrial production grew way below expectation at 2% in September.

Meanwhile, on the global front, Asian shares tumbled to six-week lows on Wednesday as mixed signals from Federal Reserve officials raised fresh concerns about an imminent rollback of the US central bank's asset-buying stimulus. Meanwhile, imitating similar dour mood, European shares were trading downbeat as investors weighed corporate earnings and awaited data that could show drop in euro-area industrial output.

Closer home, the trade at Dalal Street took a hit for the worse after State Bank of India (SBI), the country's largest lender, posted its steepest fall in quarterly net profit in more than two years due to worsening asset quality and a slump in treasury operations. The bank’s net profit fell 35% to Rs 2375 crore in the quarter ended September as compared to Rs 3658.14 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.

Sectorally, while massive buying interest was witnessed in Auto, Consumer Durables and Public Sector Undertaking counters, which were the flavor of the session, selling pressure took off heavily on Realty, Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Banking counter. The market breadth on the BSE ended in red; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1061: 1379, while 157 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex lost 75.50 points or 0.37% to settle at 20206.41.The index touched a high and a low of 20365.59 and 20161.64 respectively. Among the 30-share Sensex, 12 stocks gained, while 18 stocks declined. (Provisional)

The BSE Mid cap and Small cap indices ended lower by 0.51% and 0.63% respectively. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Metal up by 0.54%, Auto up by 0.41%, PSU up by 0.22% and Consumer Durables up by 0.15%, were the only gainers, while Realty down by 1.04%, FMCG down by 0.97%, IT down by 0.67%, Oil & Gas down by 0.57% and Capital Goods down by 0.56% were the top losers in the space. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.15%, Hindalco Industries up by 2.34%, Sun Pharma up by 1.98%, Tata Motors up by 1.60% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.54%, while, Cipla down by 2.54%, Gail India down by 2.47%, HDFC Bank down by 2.16%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.95% and SSLT down by 1.85% were the top losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a recipe of another rate hike, the provisional annual inflation rate based on all India general Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Combined) for October 2013 on point to point basis (October 2013 over October 2012) accelerated to 10.09%, higher than expectation of over 10% and much higher as compared to 9.84% for the previous month of September 2013. The corresponding provisional inflation rates for rural and urban areas for October 2013 stood at 10.11% and 10.20% respectively, compared to 9.71% and 9.93% respectively in September. 

The surge in retail Inflation data is mainly on account of spike up of food inflation, which accelerated to 12.56% against 11.44% in September. Meanwhile, Fuel and Light; Clothing, bedding and foot-ware segment registered growth of 6.97% and 9.18% over a period ago.

The data has added to the concern of policy makers, which are already struggling to combat inflation, thereby hinting that 25 basis points hike would be in store for markets, as Reserve Bank of India gears up for next monetary policy review in mid-December. Reacting on the higher-than-expected CPI number, C Rangarajan of PMEAC too has said, 'CPI at over 10% is a disturbing sign.India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility lost 1.96% at 20.45  from its previous close of 20.86 on Tuesday. (Provisional)

The CNX Nifty lost 22.65 points or 0.38% to settle at 5,995.40. The index touched high and low of 6,042.25 and 5,972.45 respectively. Out of the 50 stocks on the Nifty, 21 ended in the green, while 28 ended in the red and one stock remains unchanged.

The major gainers of the Nifty were Tata Steel up 3.02%, Hindalco up by 2.61%, Sun Pharma up by 2.07%, SBI up by 1.95% and Tata Motors up by 1.81%. The key losers were CIPLA down by 2.54%, Gail down by 2.47%, HDFC Bank down by 2.17%, IndusInd Bank down by 2.09% and SSLT down by 2.08%. (Provisional)

Most of the European markets were trading in red with, France’s CAC 40 down by 0.39%, the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 down by 0.90% and Germany’s DAX down by 0.32%.

The Asian markets concluded Wednesday’s trade in red after China’s leaders failed to provide a clear direction on policy over the coming decade. Stocks in China in particular reacted badly to Tuesday’s conclusion of the Third Plenum while the Nikkei’s strong upward streak in the last two sessions came to a halt. China’s leaders pledged to enact fiscal and land reforms, relax investment controls and let the market play a decisive role in allocating resources, following a four-day Communist Party policy meeting. The Third Plenum was important because it gave an opportunity for the new government to present a plan on how it would reshape the economy in order to achieve sustainable growth. The negative market reaction points toward dissatisfaction over the lack of details after the meeting.

Chinese banks’ non-performing loan ratio rose slightly to 0.97% at the end of September from 0.96% a quarter earlier, the China Bank Regulatory Commission reported. Non-performing loans totaled 563.6 billion yuan ($92.5 billion) at the end of third quarter, compared with CNY539.5 billion at the end of June. Japan’s Core Machinery Orders fell more-than-expected and stood at -2.1% from 5.4% in the preceding month. South Korea’s jobless rate stood at 3% in October, unchanged from the previous month even as government data showed an increase in job creation from a year ago. But unemployment among young people aged 15-29 was up marginally to 7.8% from 7.7% in September.