Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets witnessed volatility on Tuesday and ended slightly in red as traders avoided to take position ahead Christmas holiday on Wednesday. Most part of the day, markets traded in green amid dip in inflation for farm workers and rural labourers. In late afternoon session, indices failed to protect their gains and turned negative. As for broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended in green. 

Markets made slightly positive start and turned volatile amid optimism about more interest rate cuts by the U.S. Fed next year. Some support came in as retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers dipped to 5.35 per cent and 5.47 per cent in November compared to 5.96 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively, in October this year. Traders took note of Saurabh Garg, secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s statement that India needs to leverage data and make data-driven decisions if it wants to achieve a higher rate of growth. Further, markets traded higher till afternoon session. Sentiments were upbeat as the Government of India and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has signed a $500 million (about Rs 4,250 crore) loan to support green and sustainable infrastructure projects aligned with the country's climate commitments. Besides, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s statement that the Centre and state governments are working on a new scheme to help farmers transport the farm produce to other states and markets. He added the contribution of the farm sector to the country's GDP is 18 per cent, and the government is working on many areas to further strengthen the sector. In late afternoon session, indices lost their ground and traded below neutral lines as investors maintained risk-averse approach. 

On the global front, European markets were trading in green ahead of Christmas break. Markets will remain shut on Wednesday and Thursday for the Christmas holiday. Asian markets ended mixed after shares of big U.S. technology companies rallied overnight in thin trading at the start of a holiday-shortened week. Back home, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in its subscription data for October 2024 has revealed a decline of 33 lakh active subscribers across the country. The total number of telephone subscribers, including wireless and wireline, stood at 1,188.20 million as of October 31, 2024, reflecting a monthly decline rate of 0.21 per cent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 78,472.87, down by 67.30 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 78,397.79 and 78,877.36. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.09%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%. (Provisional)

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 0.59%, FMCG up by 0.58%, Auto up by 0.53%, Energy up by 0.52%, Telecom up by 0.40%, while Metal down by 0.93%, Power down by 0.73%, Utilities down by 0.52%, Consumer Durables down by 0.50%, TECK down by 0.33% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.92%, ITC up by 0.86%, Nestle up by 0.78%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 0.62% and TCS up by 0.57%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.62%, SBI down by 1.11%, Titan Company down by 0.98%, Tata Steel down by 0.95% and Indusind Bank down by 0.93% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has said that the Centre and state governments are working on a new scheme to help farmers transport the farm produce to other states and markets. He added the contribution of the farm sector to the country's GDP is 18 per cent, and the government is working on many areas to further strengthen the sector.

He stressed the judicious use of natural resources and called for stopping the indiscriminate use of pesticides. He said ‘The need of the hour is to move towards natural farming, and we have to take this forward with full potential’. He added the launch of the river-linking project on December 25 will benefit the farmers, and called for the development of a technology to irrigate more with less water.

The minister stated that there is a need to take lab work to fields and urged the researchers not to be confined to the lab. He emphasised that information related to the agriculture sector should not be limited to English language only and should be published in different languages so that the distance between labs to land can be bridged.

The CNX Nifty ended at 23,727.65, down by 25.80 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 23,685.15 and 23,867.65. There were 22 stocks advancing against 28 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Motors up by 1.92%, Adani Enterprises up by 1.43%, BPCL up by 1.00%, Eicher Motors up by 0.89% and ITC up by 0.89%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 1.65%, JSW Steel down by 1.62%, SBI Life down by 1.30%, Titan Company down by 1.28% and SBI down by 1.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 40.16 points or 0.49% to 8,142.88 and France’s CAC was up by 42.88 points or 0.59% to 7,315.20.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Tuesday tracking Wall Street gains overnight after the release of mixed US economic reports. Data showing that a measure of US consumer confidence deteriorated in December, while new home sales rebounded and core capital goods orders increased in November. Chinese and Hong Kong shares gained after China’s finance ministry reaffirmed it will increase public spending with a greater focus on boosting consumption to support the economy next year. However, Japanese shares fell as Finance Minister Katsunobu Kato reiterated Tokyo's discomfort over excessive foreign exchange moves, while the BoJ’s meeting minutes revealed that policymakers agreed in October to keep raising interest rates if the economy moves in line with their forecast. South Korean shares declined marginally after data showed South Korea's consumer sentiment dropped sharply this month to hit the weakest level in more than two years, while the country's main opposition party said it will start impeachment proceedings against Prime Minister and Acting President Han Duck-soo.