Sensex, Nifty end marginally lower

Indian equity benchmarks recouped most of their losses to end marginally lower on Friday on select profit-taking in Energy, FMCG and Oil & Gas shares. After making a cautious start, key gauges slipped into red and consolidated during the day as investors reacted to mixed industrial output and retail inflation readings. India's Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation rose marginally in August to 3.65 per cent from 3.6 per cent in July, yet remained below the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s medium-term target of 4 per cent for the second time in nearly five years, mainly because of a high base during the same period a year ago. Separately, the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) also rose slightly to 4.83 per cent in July from 4.72 per cent in June. 

However, losses got trimmed as traders took support with G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant’s statement that India will be driving 20 per cent of the world's economic growth in the next decade as it continues its march to become the third largest economy globally. He noted that India continues to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world and is the fifth-largest economy. Some support also came with Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement that India has a growth potential of at least 7.5 per cent. This projection is slightly above the Reserve Bank of India’s estimate of 7.2 per cent growth for the current financial year, FY25. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has notified the new Foreign Exchange (Compounding Proceedings) Rules 2024 to simplify rules and regulations for foreign investments. The new rules are aimed at streamlining and rationalising existing rules and regulations to further facilitate ease of doing business.

On the global front, Asian markets finished mostly in green on Friday ahead of a widely expected interest-rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve next week. Markets expect a 25-bps cut after separate set of data showed the U.S. core consumer price index and producer price index rose slightly from a month earlier in August. European markets were trading higher as bond yields eased amid bets of an interest-rate cut at next week's Federal Reserve meeting. 

Back home, on the sectoral front, steel stocks were in focus as rating agency ICRA said domestic steel consumption is likely to witness 9-10 per cent growth this financial year. The demand for steel was robust in the first quarter of the ongoing financial year with consumption growing at a rate of 15 per cent on a year-on-year basis amidst competitively priced imports. There was some reaction in edible oil industry stocks as the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) said India's palm oil imports in August fell more than a quarter from a month ago, primarily driven by sufficient domestic stocks and negative margins that discouraged refiners from purchasing more of the tropical oil. As per the data, India's palm oil imports fell 26 per cent in August from July to 797,482 metric tons.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 71.77 points or 0.09% to 82,890.94, and the CNX Nifty was down by 32.40 points or 0.13% to 25,356.50.    

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 83,092.93 and 82,653.22 respectively. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.48%, while Small cap index was up by 0.95%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.78%, Consumer Durables up by 1.01%, Metal up by 0.74%, Basic Materials up by 0.72% and IT up by 0.49%, while Energy down by 0.64%, FMCG down by 0.55%, Oil & Gas down by 0.55%, Utilities down by 0.36% and Power down by 0.28% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.31%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.17%, Indusind Bank up by 1.46%, Axis Bank up by 1.19% and Tata Steel up by 1.09%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 1.37%, ITC down by 1.01%, NTPC down by 0.88%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.75% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant has said that India will be driving 20 per cent of the world's economic growth in the next decade as it continues its march to become the third largest economy globally. He noted that India continues to be the fastest-growing large economy in the world and is the fifth-largest economy.

He stated ‘In the next three years, we will overtake Japan and Germany to be the third largest economy in the world. In a world which is starved for growth, India is an outlier and has emerged as a very resilient powerhouse driving growth.’

Moreover, he said ‘What we are witnessing today is a once-in-a-generation shift in our economic position. Just a few years back, we were in the fragile five, and from the fragile five, we moved to the top five in a decade.’ He noted that the country needs to transform the lives of people living in rural areas, improve health outcomes and enhance nutritional standards to become a developed nation by 2047.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 25,430.50 and 25,292.45. There were 18 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index. 

The top gainers on Nifty were Wipro up by 3.78%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.33%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.26%, Grasim Industries up by 1.34% and Indusind Bank up by 1.33%. On the flip side, SBI Life Insurance down by 1.65%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.43%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 1.34%, ITC down by 1.13% and Coal India down by 1.08% were the top losers.

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 26.74 points or 0.32% to 8,267.71, France’s CAC rose 22.38 points or 0.3% to 7,457.45 and Germany’s DAX gained 95.28 points or 0.51% to 18,613.67.

Asian markets finished mostly in green on Friday. Decline in US producer prices braced softer inflation and bolstered 50 bps interest rate cut by Federal Reserve in its next week monetary policy meeting kindling investor sentiments. Hang Seng advanced to a one-week high level on China mortgage rate cut bets. Real estate stocks got boosted with the anticipations on dip in borrowing costs. Rally in technological sector stocks also whetted the local indices. However, Japan's Nikkei slipped in the session with the rally in local currency yen and hawkish tone by BoJ.