Indices fail to hold recovery in late noon deals

Indian equity indices failed to hold recovery and fell sharply to trade near day’s low points during late afternoon session, tracking negative cues from European markets. Sentiments were pessimistic, as credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) has said that a weakness in GDP growth is expected due to higher-than-expected inflation, a weakness in industrial growth, especially manufacturing activities, weak exports and slower growth in net taxes in 1QFY25. The street took a note of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) latest report stating that the country's foreign exchange reserves cover of imports (on balance of payments basis) stood at 11.2 months. The latest figure in the country's import cover represents a slight decline of one month from the 11.3-month cover recorded at the end of March 2024.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower, after Germany's unemployment rate remained unchanged in September. The labor force survey results from Destatis showed that the unemployment rate came in at adjusted 3.5 percent, the same as in August. The number of unemployed declined 9,000 on month to 1.55 million. On an unadjusted basis, the unemployment rate rose to 3.3 percent from 3.0 percent last year. Nearly 1.47 million people were unemployed in September. This represented an increase of 153,000 or 11.6 percent from the last year.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 79954.25, down by 414.78 points or 0.52% after trading in a range of 79821.99 and 80435.61. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose by 0.24%, while Small cap index was up by 1.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.14%, Basic Materials up by 0.91%, Capital Goods up by 0.80%, FMCG up by 0.75% and Telecom up by 0.55%, while Bankex down by 1.06%, Consumer Durables down by 0.93%, TECK down by 0.50%, Oil & Gas down by 0.42% and IT down by 0.39% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 3.13%, Indusind Bank up by 2.22%, Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.90%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.78% and Larsen & Toubro up by 0.71%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 1.83%, ICICI Bank down by 1.62%, Axis Bank down by 1.52%, HCL Tech. down by 1.36% and HDFC Bank down by 1.26% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, with an aim to further enhance the effectiveness of grassroots governance across the country, the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) of the Revamped, Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Rashtriya Gram Swaraj Abhiyan (RGSA) in its 8th meeting has taken several significant decisions including adoption of Standardized Honorarium under RGSA, Long term Domestic Training of Panchayat officials, Training of elected representatives in Smart Classrooms, Investment in Gram Panchayat Infrastructure throughout the country with special focus on North Eastern States and UT of Jammu and Kashmir.

To enhance infrastructure, the CEC approved construction of 3,301 Gram Panchayat Bhawans with Common Service Centre (CSC) co-location and sanctioned 22,164 computers for Gram Panchayats across various States including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, and Telangana. This decision is a boost for Panchayati Raj system in these States as it directly addresses infrastructure gaps, enabling better administrative functioning and digital governance in rural areas. The provision of dedicated buildings and computer equipment will facilitate efficient record-keeping and e-governance, significantly enhancing local government operations and service delivery.

Besides, ‘Funding for Long-Term Domestic Training Programs’ for up to one year of duration for officials of PRIs (Panchayati Raj Institutions) and Panchayati Raj Department in the States/UTs under the State component of RGSA has been given a go ahead. The move aims at ensuring that the officials receive advanced, sector-specific training from Institutes of Excellence which will upgrade their skill set for better service delivery at the grassroots. This aligns with the objective of RGSA to strengthen decentralized governance and improved implementation efficiency. It will boost the overall competency of officials involved in rural development and local self-governance, thereby improving grassroots planning. It will also result in extensive Human Capital formation in PRIs over a period of few years.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 24342.20, down by 124.65 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 24307.30 and 24498.20. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 4.47%, Maruti Suzuki up by 3.11%, Tata Consumer Products up by 3.01%, Hero MotoCorp up by 2.14% and Indusind Bank up by 2.04%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 4.00%, Shriram Finance down by 2.32%, Trent down by 2.21%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 2.15% and SBI Life Insurance down by 2.04% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Hang Seng declined 320.5 points or 1.57% to 20,380.64, Jakarta Composite plunged 42.05 points or 0.55% to 7,564.55, Shanghai Composite weakened 20.17 points or 0.62% to 3,266.24, Straits Times fell 32.68 points or 0.91% to 3,557.68, KOSPI dropped 24.01 points or 0.93% to 2,593.79 and Taiwan Weighted lost 106.16 points or 0.47% to 22,820.43, while Nikkei 225 surged 373.71 points or 0.95% to 39,277.39.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 35.99 points or 0.44% to 8,183.62, France’s CAC fell 60.07 points or 0.8% to 7,451.04 and Germany’s DAX lost 78.5 points or 0.4% to 19,399.57.