Market ends on a flat note

The Indian equity markets traded with volatility throughout the day and ended the Monday’s session on a flat note, tracking weaknesses in other Asian markets. The frontline gauges managed to hold their crucial 41,550 (Sensex) and 12,250 (Nifty) levels. The markets have made an optimistic start, as traders took some encouragement with industry body, CII’s statement that India’s economy is expected to rebound in 2020 on the back of measures taken by the government and the RBI, coupled with easing of global trade tensions. Some support also came with a private report that stated that India is expected to overtake Germany to become fourth-largest economy in 2026 and Japan to become third-largest in 2034. It further added that India is also set to reach a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$5 trillion by 2026, 2 years later than the government’s target. However, Indian equities reversed all of their gains and entered into the negative territory in the afternoon session, as sentiments turned pessimistic with an RBI report, stating that the gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratio of banks may increase to 9.9 per cent by September 2020 from 9.3 per cent in September 2019, due to change in macroeconomic scenario, marginal increase in slippages, and the denominator effect of the declining credit growth.

In the late trade, key indices wiped off early losses to end flat amid anxiety among traders on report that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) flagged falling government revenue as a threat to the overall fiscal numbers, with tax and non-tax revenues lagging way behind targets, saying that this, along with weaker private consumption and investment, could prove to be a challenge.

On the global front, the Asian markets ended mostly in red on Monday. The European markets were also trading in red, as investors awaited updates on the signing of a trade deal between the U.S. and China and kept a wary eye on North Korea. Back home, stocks related to auto component industry were in focus after ACMA President, Deepak Jain, said that the automobile component industry is likely to end the current financial year (FY20) on a pessimistic note, as it would be difficult for the sector to make a recovery in the second half after registering a de-growth of 10 percent in the first six months.

BSE Sensex ended at 41,558, down by 17.14 points or 0.04 per cent, after trading in a range of 41,453.38 and 41,714.73. The broader indices ended in green. The BSE Mid cap index rose 0.24 per cent while Small cap index was up by 0.68 per cent.

The top gaining sectoral indices on BSE were Auto up by 1.49 per cent, Metal up by 1.26 per cent, Telecom up by 0.83 per cent, Industrials up by 0.79 per cent, and Basic Materials up by 0.69 per cent, while IT down by 0.30 per cent, Bankex down by 0.20 per cent, PSU down by 0.13 0er cent, TECK down by 0.11 per cent, and Oil & Gas down by 0.05 per cent, were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 1.43 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.22 per cent, Nestle up by 1.47 per cent, Tata Steel up by 1.05 per cent, and Bharti Airtel up by 1.14 per cent. On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 0.99 per cent, SBI down by 0.89 per cent, TCS down by 0.69 per cent, HUL down by 0.67 per cent, and Asian Paints down by 0.57 per cent, were the top losers.