Gains all across!

Thu, 18 Dec Closing

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The Indian markets gathered momentum as the day progressed with buying activity picking up towards the end. The BSE-Sensex closed higher by about 416 points or 1.6%, while the NSE-Nifty closed higher by about 130 points or 1.6%. Gains were seen in stocks across the board with those from the consumer durables, power and capital goods space leading the pack. Mid and smallcaps ended the day on a strong note as well with their respective indices closing higher by about 2.7% and 3.3% respectively.

Stock markets in other parts of Asia ended the day on a weak note, while sentiments in Europe seemed to be buoyant at the time of writing. The rupee was trading at Rs 62.65 to the dollar at the time of writing.

Stocks of consumer durables companies ended the day on a strong note. Optimism in these stocks seemed to be on the back of news of the government initiating steps towards implementation of the Goods and Service Tax. This reform is expected to be a game changer as it would rationalize the state and central indirect taxes and also broaden the tax base. What it would also do is create a unified market for facilitating seamless movement of goods across states, thereby reducing the transaction cost of business. The BSE-Consumer Durables index closed higher by about 5.3% today with Titan Company, Bajaj Electricals, Symphony and Whirlpool of India leading the pack of gainers.

Stocks of automobile companies ended the day on a strong note with Ashok Leyland, Maruti Suzuki and Bajaj Auto leading the pack of gainers. In the year till date i.e. from January to October this year, the auto industry on an overall basis grew by 9.8% YoY. However, two-wheeler sales were up by almost 13% while passenger vehicles and commercial vehicle sales contracted by 1% and 6.5% respectively, thereby indicating that the year gone by was a strong one for the two-wheeler space as compared to the entire industry. Managements of passenger vehicles manufacturers have attributed the higher interest rates and the overall slowdown to the poor sales performance of the industry. As per them, while fuel prices have come down, this has not led to higher conversion rates at showrooms. In terms of support from the government, not much has been received from the sector apart from excise duty cuts. A key aspect the industry seems to be awaiting for is the implementation of the GST. Until then, it would have to mainly wait for more clarity till the next budget and the high anticipated interest rates cut by the RBI sometime early next year.