Asian stock markets are higher today as Chinese and Hong Kong shares show gains. The Shanghai Composite is up 0.1% while the Hang Seng is up 0.6%. The Nikkei 225 is trading up by 0.3%. Wall Street eked out slight gains on Thursday as investors waited for concrete news on a hoped-for interim trade deal between the United States and China before a new round of tariffs scheduled to kick in on December 15.
Back home, India share markets opened marginally higher. The BSE Sensex is trading up by 87 points while the NSE Nifty is trading up by 26 points. The BSE Mid Cap index and BSE Small Cap index opened up by 0.3% and 0.2% respectively.
Sectoral indices have opened the day on a mixed note with metal stocks and bank stocks witnessing buying interest. Consumer Durables and IT stocks are trading in red.
The rupee is currently trading at 71.23 against the US$.
The Indian rupee rose sharply in the last hour of trade to settle 24 paise higher at 71.29 to the US dollar on Thursday after the RBI promised to continue with the accommodative stance in its monetary policy.
The central bank, however, decided to keep key interest rates unchanged in its fifth bi-monthly monetary policy for this ongoing fiscal.
The Indian unit traded on a flat note for a better part of the session but briefly fell post RBI monetary policy announcement. It recovered swiftly mainly in the last hour of trade to close at 71.29, up 24 paise over its previous close.
The rupee's rise was also supported by a weaker dollar against key global currencies.
Speaking of the stock markets and Indian economy, smallcap analyst Richa Agarwal talks about the ongoing economic slowdown an upcoming rebound in the small cap space, and her number 1 stock pick for 2020 in the video below.
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Moving on to the news from the automobiles sector. Tata Motors' wholly owned subsidiary, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported November 2019 US sales. Jaguar Land Rover total November US sales reached 12,472 units, up by 6% from November 2018.
For the calendar year, Jaguar Land Rover achieved 111,895 units, an increase of 3% against 108,377 units in 2018.
For the month of November, Jaguar sales were 2,958 units, 7% lower than a year ago. The Jaguar F-PACE continued to lead the brand's sales performance with 1,787 units sold.
For the month of November, the Land Rover brand sold 9,514 units, an increase of 11% from 8,547 units in November 2018. The Discovery is up by 51% with 1,081 units sold.
It remains to be seen how these numbers pan out in the coming months. We will keep you updated on all the news from this space.
Tata Motors share price opened the day on a flat note.
Speaking of auto sector, note that India's automobile industry is bracing itself for a unique challenge in the first quarter of 2020 when the transition of BS-IV to BS-VI emission norms has to be made at the stroke of midnight on 31 March 2020.
No BS-IV vehicle could be sold from 1 April 2020, which means automakers would have to reduce their inventory on BS-IV models to zero by then.
The exercise is likely to see companies show extra caution in dispatching cars to dealers in the next few months, which may cause a continuation of the decline in wholesale numbers.
However, despite the slowdown in the auto sector, the sales volume of electric vehicles (EVs) are growing at a robust pace.
Electric vehicles are very much on their way to invading Indian roads. The threat of disruption in this era is something you cannot ignore.
The recently announced government incentives will give a further boost to EV sales.
The coming one year will be a real test for India's auto companies.
It will also tell us if this slowdown is temporary or if there has been a structural change in the sector.
In our view, companies in the sector adapting their business models to the rapidly changing environment will survive and thrive.
To know what's moving the Indian stock markets today, check out the most recent share market updates here.
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