Sensex, Nifty end flat amid volatility; PSU banks, metal stocks bleed

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After opening with a gap up domestic benchmark indices lost initial gains during the afternoon session markets and ended flat amid volatility in the wake of domestic inflation data. Buying interest in FMCG and pharma stocks outweighed bleeding metals and PSU banks helped the day to close on a flat note. Sensex settled 32 points or 0.05% higher at 60,718, while the Nifty added 6 points or 0.04% to close at 18109.

“Domestic market was trading with a negative bias, between gains and losses, tracking volatile global markets and in the wake of domestic inflation data. Owing to the rise in prices of crude petroleum and manufactured products, India’s WPI in October spiked to 12.54% from 10.66% in September. On the contrary, China’s Industrial output growth accelerated to 3.5% YoY despite fresh covid restrictions and supply shortages, thereby easing concerns over a global economic slowdown. Buying interest in consumer durables and healthcare stocks outweighed bleeding metals and PSU banks to end the day’s trading session on a flat note,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers & losers

Top gainers & losers on the Sensex.

Sectoral strand

On the sectoral front, Nifty Metal and Nifty PSU banks indices led the losses today and lost 1.82% and 1.43%, respectively. While Nifty Auto and Nifty Bank indices were down anywhere between 0.08-0.16%.

On the contrary Nifty Pharma index jumped 1.45%, followed by Nifty FMCG index rose 0.94 and Nifty IT as well as Nifty Realty indices were up 0.37% and 0.22 respectively.

Broader markets

In the broader markets, BSE MidCap index advanced 107 points or 0.41% to 26,475. While the BSE SmallCap index settled at 29,175 slipping 56 points or 0.19%.

The market breadth also turned negative as 2,113 shares declined versus 1,306 advancing and 157 remained unchanged.

Economy

India’s inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) stood at 12.54% in October 2021 compared with 1.31% in October 2020.

The high rate of inflation in October 2021 is primarily due to rise in prices of mineral oils, basic metals, food products, crude petroleum & natural gas, chemicals and chemical products etc. as compared the corresponding month of the previous year, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry said in a statement today.

WPI grew 10.66% in September 2021, while the figure for August was 11.64%.

India’s retail inflation rose marginally to 4.48% in the month of October from 4.35% in September, data released by the government showed on Friday.

Further, India’s industrial production for the month of September grew by 3.1% as compared to 1% in the same month last year, according to the data released by ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI). IIP surged 11.9% in the month of August.

Global markets

Asian stocks were trading mixed on Monday as investors reacted to a slew of Chinese economic data releases.

Data released Monday showed retail sales in China rose 4.9% year-on-year in October. China’s Industrial output for the month also grew 3.5% compared to a year ago.

The Japanese economy contracted at an annualised rate of 3% in July-September from the previous quarter, government data showed on Monday, posting the first decline in two quarters as resurgent coronavirus infections hurt consumer spending.