Key equity market barometers declined in a lackluster session on Tuesday. Steep selling in the last hour of trade dragged the benchmark indices to the day's low. Trading activity remained thin amid the holiday season in major global markets. Premium valuation in largecaps and lack of fresh triggers influenced investors to book profits.
The barometer index, the BSE Sensex, fell 304.26 points or 0.73% to 41,253.74. The Nifty 50 index fell 87.40 points or 0.71% to 12,168.45.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index fell 0.03% while the BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.37%.
The market breadth was positive. On BSE, 1355 shares advanced while 1205 shares declined. A total of 199 shares were unchanged.
Economy:
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday, 31 December, unveiled a massive Rs 102 lakh crore infrastructure investment plan for the next five years. This is considered a key factor in achieving the $5 trillion GDP target by FY2025.
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It is estimated that India would need to spend $4.5 trillion on infrastructure by 2030 to sustain its growth rate. The endeavor of the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP), is to make this happen in an efficient manner.
Nearly Rs 25 lakh crore worth of energy projects, Rs 20 lakh crore roadway projects, Rs 14 lakh crore railway projects, Rs 2.5 lakh crore port and airport projects, Rs 3.2 lakh crore digital infra projects and Rs 16 lakh crore worth of irrigation, rural, agri and food processing projects have been identified part of this national infra pipeline.
The Finance Minister reiterated that infrastructure is a focus area for the government and the aforementioned investment would initially be spread over 18 states. This is the first time India will have a national infra pipeline.
The private sector will fund 20 to 25% of the national infra pipeline, rest of the cost will be borne by the centre and states.
Out of the total expected capital expenditure of Rs 102 lakh crore, projects worth Rs 42.7 lakh crore (42%) are under implementation, projects worth Rs 32.7 lakh crore (32%) are in conceptualization stage and rest are under development. It is expected that projects of certain states, who are yet to communicate their pipelines, would be added to the pipeline in due course.
NIP will enable a forward outlook on infrastructure projects which will create jobs, improve ease of living, and provide equitable access to infrastructure for all, thereby making growth more inclusive, FM said.
Numbers to Track:
In the foreign exchange market, the rupee edged lower against the dollar. The partially convertible rupee was trading at 71.35, compared with its previous closing low of 71.315.
In the commodities market, Brent crude for March 2020 settlement was up 11 cents at $66.78 a barrel. The contract fell 20 cents or 0.29% to settle at $66.67 a barrel during the previous trading session.
Foreign Markets:
European shares were mixed on Tuesday as financial markets see the last trading session of the year. Germany's DAX index was closed.
Asian shares ended mixed on Tuesday. Markets in Indonesia, Japan and South Korea were closed for a holiday.
China's official manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for December came in at 50.2. The 50 level in PMI readings separates expansion from contraction.
In US, markets retreated on Monday in the penultimate session of 2019, following a powerful stretch of returns, supported in the final few weeks by optimism over an initial trade pact with China.
On economic front, the November US trade deficit fell to a more than 27-month low, down 5.4%.
Contracts to buy previously-owned US homes rose in November, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The US November trade deficit fell to a more than 27-month low, down 5.4%, though 2019 is on track for the largest annual deficit in 11 years.
On the US-China trade front, White House trade adviser Peter Navarro reportedly said the pact was likely to be signed in the next week but that confirmation would come from President Donald Trump or U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer. A media report said Chinese Vice Premier Liu He would travel to Washington later this week to sign the deal.
Buzzing Indian Sectors:
The Nifty Metal index rose 0.17% to 2,801.30. The index has risen 3.51% in five trading sessions.
NMDC (up 1.66%), Hindustan Copper (up 1.41%), Hindustan Zinc (up 0.43%) and Jindal Steel & Power (up 0.18%) advanced. Vedanta (down 1.23%), Hindalco Industries (down 0.89%), NALCO (down 0.68%), SAIL (down 0.58%), Tata Steel (down 0.57%) and JSW Steel (down 0.5%) declined.
The Nifty Auto index fell 0.93% to 8,248.30. The index rose 2.41% in the previous two trading sessions.
TVS Motor Company (down 2.18%), Bajaj Auto (down 2.16%), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.41%), Eicher Motors (down 1.13%), Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.94%), Maruti Suzuki India (down 0.64%), Ashok Leyland (down 0.37%) and Escorts (down 0.32%) declined.
Tata Motors rose 0.82% to Rs 185.10.
Stocks in Spotlight:
Axis Bank fell 0.03%. The bank announced the appointment of Naveen Tahilyani as the group executive - head banking operations and transformation, to lead operations, technology, strategy and analytics (BIU) and of Amit Talgeri as the chief risk officer (CRO) of the bank with effect from the first week January 2020.
IT major Infosys declined 0.14% to Rs 731.75. The IT major informed that it will declare its Q3 December 2019 results on 10 January 2019.
United Spirits rose 1.08% to Rs 1.08. The beverage maker said CRISIL has revised its outlook on the long term bank facilities and non convertible debentures of United Spirits (USL) to 'Positive' from 'Stable' while reaffirmed the rating at 'CRISIL AA+'. The short term rating and commercial paper has been reaffirmed at 'CRISIL A1+'. The outlook revision reflects the expectation of improvement in USL's credit profile, commensurate with better cash accrual and leverage over the medium term.
PTC India Financial services advanced 2.61% to Rs 13.38. The company has received sanction of fresh long term loan of Rs 500 crore for a period of ten years at interest rate of 8.50% per annum for onward lending to infrastructure projects and other operational requirements.
Kalpataru Power Transmission rose 2.63% to Rs 411.75. The firm secured new orders of Rs 979 crore across various businesses.
Premier Explosives slipped 0.10% to Rs 150.35 fter rating agency ICRA revised the company's long-term rating to 'A-' from 'A' earlier.
In an exchange filing made after market hours yesterday, the company informed that ICRA has revised the credit rating for line of credit (LOC) of the company, on long term at [ICRA] [A-] (Stable) from [ICRA] A (Stable) while the rating on short term was downgraded to [ICRA][A2+] from [lCRA] A1 earlier. The said rating is valid till 19 December 2020, the company added.
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