Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets witnessed volatility in Monday’s session and ended near day’s high levels. In volatile trading session, markets most part of day traded in green amid foreign fund inflows. Foreign investors infused nearly Rs 11,000 crore in domestic equities in the first week of the month owing to resilience of the Indian market and expectations of rate cut in the US. Investors were braced for India’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) and India Industrial Production data to be out later in the week. 

Markets made negative start weighed down by concerns over a potential recession in the US following weaker-than-expected jobs data. However, markets managed to recover from losses as traders took some support with RBI data showing that India's forex reserves jumped by $2.299 billion to a new high of $683.987 billion for the week ended on August 30. In the previous reporting week, the forex reserves had jumped by $7.023 billion to a high of $681.688 billion. Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has suggested that the government should have a working group on tourism between the nations of the Mediterranean and India, as there is a huge potential for cooperation and mutual benefit. He said that India offers a large market for Mediterranean goods and services given the close connection both nations have shared over the decades. In afternoon session, markets traded near neutral lines but further gained some traction to touch day’s high levels. Traders got relief with a private report stating that food inflation, which has moderated a bit lately is further expected to come down in the coming months, citing progressing Southwest monsoon and sufficient water in reservoirs across regions. Finally, Nifty and Sensex settled above the psychological 81,500 and 24,900 levels, respectively.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher ahead of consumer price inflation figures from Germany, Spain and France due later in the week. Asian markets ended mostly in red due to lingering worries about U.S. and Chinese growth. Responding to Friday's weak jobs data, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that the U.S. economy remains strong and that recent months of cooler jobs data is a signal of a soft landing, not a recession. Back home, Ministry of Commerce and Industry in its latest data has showed that India’s trade with Kuwait has surged remarkably, with Indian exports to the Gulf nation reaching an impressive $2.10 billion in the fiscal year 2023-24. The surge in trade marks a significant increase of 34.78 per cent in FY-2023-24 compared to the $1.56 billion reported in the previous fiscal year.

The BSE Sensex ended at 81,559.54, up by 375.61 points or 0.46% after trading in a range of 80,895.05 and 81,653.36. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.28%, while Small cap index was down by 0.65%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.65%, Bankex up by 1.15%, Consumer Durables up by 0.73% and Consumer Disc was up by 0.04%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.63%, Energy down by 1.22%, PSU down by 1.11%, Metal down by 0.77%, IT down by 0.61% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.95%, ICICI Bank up by 2.43%, ITC up by 1.96%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.59% and Indusind Bank up by 1.40%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.68%, NTPC down by 1.32%, Tata Steel down by 1.22%, Tata Motors down by 0.96% and Power Grid Corp down by 0.41% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal has suggested that the government should have a working group on tourism between the nations of the Mediterranean and India, as there is a huge potential for cooperation and mutual benefit. He said that India offers a large market for Mediterranean goods and services given the close connection both nations have shared over the decades. He stated that India and Mediterranean countries have a huge common interest in the shipping sector, whether in shipbuilding, ownership, the maritime sector, or the cruise business. He added that the Centre sees a huge opportunity in developing ports and has doubled the port capacity in the last decade. He also hopes to double the capacity of ports in the next 5 years. 

Goyal stated that he is optimistic about the India-Mediterranean partnership and will work towards economic prosperity and mutual growth for Mediterranean countries and India for a cleaner, sustainable, more resilient, secure, inclusive, and brighter future for all. He said that the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is an important initiative that can add to India’s maritime security and faster movement of goods between Europe and Asia.  He noted that lower logistics costs, faster connectivity, and secure movement of goods are dependent on better cooperation in this area. He noted that initiatives like the PLI scheme, Centre’s efforts towards Ease of Doing Business (EoDB) through FTAs and economic partnerships have boosted India’s manufacturing growth story, and the nation’s efforts to promote agri-value chains can support the initiatives between India and Mediterranean countries.

The minister said India is one of the fastest growing economies with young demography and that it will drive global growth for decades to come. India is expected to become the third largest economy in the next few years. Further, he said that India has embarked on Make in India and digitisation of the economy and has initiated a holistic effort to make doing business in India easier. Areas like renewable energy, manufacturing, maritime and blue economy, digitisation, pharma, information technology, agriculture, and tourism have huge potential in the country, and investors have the opportunity to be a part of this growth story.

The CNX Nifty ended at 24,936.40, up by 84.25 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 24,753.15 and 24,957.50. There were 26 stocks advancing against 24 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.92%, Shriram Finance up by 2.47%, ICICI Bank up by 2.22%, ITC up by 2.00% and Britannia up by 1.64%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 3.21%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.71%, Hindalco down by 1.28%, NTPC down by 1.25% and BPCL down by 1.24% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 58.12 points or 0.71% to 8,239.59, France’s CAC rose 53.94 points or 0.73% to 7,406.24 and Germany’s DAX was up by 128.46 points or 0.7% to 18,430.36.

Asian markets settled mostly down on Monday tracking Friday's weakness on Wall Street with caution ahead of August US inflation data due this week and the US central bank's policy meeting on September 17 and 18, while weaker than expected US job growth fuelled worries that the central bank might have waited too long to cut interest rates. Moreover, lingering worries over US and Chinese growth has also dampened sentiments. Chinese and Hong Kong shares led regional losses as weaker than forecasted inflation figures deepened economic worries. Japanese markets declined in cautious trade as technology shares followed their U.S. peers lower. Revised data from the Cabinet Office showed that, Japan's GDP expanded by an annualised 2.9% in the second quarter against preliminary estimate of 3.1%.