Post Session: Quick Review

A gaining rally remained intact over Dalal Street on Thursday, with both Sensex and Nifty hitting fresh record closing highs, amid firm cues from other Asian markets and a sharp fall in crude prices overnight as Libya supply concerns eased and China demand worries persisted. The start of the day was on a cautious note, amid global geopolitical tensions as Israel prepares for a possible ground maneuver in Lebanon. Also, foreign fund outflows dampened sentiments. Foreign Institutional Investors (FII) offloaded shares worth Rs 973.94 crore on September 26, 2024. But soon, markets added gains to remain firm during the whole day. Sentiments got some boost as Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in its Interim Economic Outlook said that Indian economy will likely log faster growth at 6.7 percent in FY25 compared with 6.6 percent projected earlier. 

In the last hour of the trading session, indices jumped sharply to scale fresh peaks. Traders got support as the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation showed that formal job creation picked up for the first four months of the FY25. Sentiments remained optimistic, as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India's external debt-to-GDP ratio at 18.7%, its debt service ratio at 6.7% and foreign exchange reserves-to-external debt ratio at 97.4% are within the comfort zone and way better than many middle-income countries. Besides, India marked 10 years of 'Make in India' initiative, which was launched on September 25, 2014. On this occasion of the 10th anniversary of the ‘Make in India’ initiative, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal noted significant progress in manufacturing, increased investments, and job creation.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher, after Italy's consumer confidence rebounded somewhat in September, while business confidence rose to the highest level in five months amid a positive trend in services. Consumer sentiment climbed to 98.3 in September from August's 3-month low of 96.1. Asian markets ended mostly in green on Thursday, after Members of the Bank of Japan's Monetary Policy Board said that the country has largely recovered the financial stresses of the past few years, minutes from the central bank's meeting on July 30-31 revealed on Thursday - and the economy is likely to continue to grow. The minutes added that Japan's financial conditions have been accommodative. Exports and industrial production have been fairly flat, but employment and corporate profits have increased.

Back home, banking and NBFCs stocks were in watch, as credit rating agency ICRA in its latest report has said that the organised gold loans (GL) by banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are likely to exceed Rs 10 trillion in the current financial year (FY25) and are set to reach Rs 15 trillion by March 2027. Besides, stocks related to the jewellery industry remained in focus, after Crisil Ratings in its latest report has said that India’s natural diamond polishing industry is poised to see a decline in revenue to a decadal low of around $12 billion during the current financial year (FY25). It said that the decline in revenues will be mainly on account of three reasons - muted demand in key export markets of the US and China, a fall in prices due to oversupply and shifts in consumer preference towards lab-grown diamonds due to affordability and high resemblance to the natural ones.

The BSE Sensex ended at 85836.12, up by 666.25 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 85106.74 and 85930.43. There were 28 stocks advancing against 2 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.01%, while Small cap index was down by 0.39%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Auto up by 2.23%, Metal up by 2.08%, Basic Materials up by 1.32%, FMCG up by 0.84% and Consumer discretionary up by 0.75%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.89%, Capital Goods down by 0.65%, Industrials down by 0.55%, Power down by 0.27% and Healthcare down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.76%, Tata Motors up by 3.08%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.97%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.91% and Tata Steel up by 2.48%. On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.90% and NTPC down by 0.44% were the only losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the National Health Account (NHA) estimates for India 2020-21 and 2021-22 has released on September, 25,2024, which showed that the government health expenditure’s share in the country’s total GDP has increased from 1.13 per cent in 2014-15 (FY15) to 1.84 per cent in 2021-22 (FY22). The share of government health expenditure in total health expenditure has increased from 29.0 per cent in 2014-15 to 48.0 per cent in 2021-22. The per capita government spending on healthcare has tripled.

Dr V K Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog said the decline in Out-of-Pocket expenditure out of total health expenditure from 64.2 per cent in 2013-14 to 39.4 per cent in 2021-22 reflects a very positive indicator. Dr Paul highlighted that ‘more than Rs 1 lakh crore savings have accrued from the Ayushman Bharat PMJAY and this has had a positive impact on the recent NHA estimates. He also stated that other schemes like the Free Dialysis scheme, launched in 2015-16 has benefited 25 lakh people.’

Besides, Union Health Secretary Apurva Chandra said that a substantial increase has been noticed in the health expenditure of the government while the out-of-pocket expenditure has come down which is a good sign. He highlighted that the total health expenditure has also made a significant increase which reflects the emphasis of the government towards health. The continuous decline in the out-of-pocket-expenditure in the overall health spending vindicates the substantial efforts made by the Government in the progress towards ensuring financial protection and Universal Health Coverage for its citizens.

The CNX Nifty ended at 26216.05, up by 211.90 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 25998.40 and 26250.90. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 4.68%, Grasim Industries up by 3.15%, Tata Motors up by 3.07%, Shriram Finance up by 2.96% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.91%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 1.30%, ONGC down by 1.17%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.84%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.61% and NTPC down by 0.34% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 29.95 points or 0.36% to 8,298.65, France’s CAC rose 102.48 points or 1.34% to 7,668.10 and Germany’s DAX gained 202.03 points or 1.06% to 19,120.53.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday after US Federal Reserve officials left the door open to another large interest rate cut, and investors were awaiting the release of US GDP data and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech for further cues. Meanwhile, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) slightly raised its global economic growth forecast for 2024 to 3.2% while maintaining its outlook for 2025. Chinese shares gained after China’s top leaders delivered a forceful pledge to increase fiscal support and stabilize the beleaguered property sector to revive growth. Investors reacted positively to news that China is considering injecting up to 1 trillion yuan ($142.48 billion) into its largest state banks to support the struggling economy. Japanese shares rose as a weaker yen lifted risk sentiment after the minutes of the Bank of Japan's July policy meeting showed board members are split over the future path of interest rates.