Sensex And Nifty Slip Amid Weak Global & Domestic Cues
India’s retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to a five-month high of 5.59 per cent in the month of December
Indian frontline equity indices Nifty 50 and Sensex slipped 1.42 per cent and 0.47 per cent, respectively, during the fortnight on account of weak global cues, mixed earnings season, rising Covid cases, soaring cost-push inflation and heavy selling by foreign investors. indices suffered their worst weekly drop since November. BSE Mid-cap index managed to hold its ground, dipping marginally by 0.03 per cent. BSE Small-cap index bucked the bearish trend, ending the fortnight with a decent gain of 1.78 per cent.
India’s annual wholesale price-based inflation eased to 13.56 per cent in December, but remained in double digits for ninth successive month, reflecting rising input costs for products such as fuel, metals and chemicals. As a result, firms are steadily passing on the cost burden to consumers. As per data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI), India’s retail inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), rose to a five-month high of 5.59 per cent in the month of December. Retail inflation stood at 4.91 per cent for November.
BSE Power and Realty indices witnessed a stellar rally during the fortnight, recording gains of 11.24 per cent and 3.58 per cent, respectively. Investors are betting on higher allocations to these sectors in the upcoming Union budget. BSE Auto index also climbed 2.27 per cent. Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest carmaker, has announced over the fortnight that it has increased prices across its models in the range of 0.1 percent to 4.3 percent to partially offset the impact of the rise in various input costs. Tata Motors plans to make vehicles powered by compressed natural gas (CNG) and expects the segment to generate 10 per cent of their total revenue. The auto major had to postpone its foray into the CNG segment amid the global shortage of semiconductor chips.
The country’s top refiner and fuel retailer Indian Oil has announced that it has secured nearly 33 per cent of the potential demand in the recently concluded round of the city gas distribution (CGD) bidding by the Petroleum & Natural Gas Regulatory Board (PNGRB). The energy major bagged 9 out of the 15 high potential geographical areas. The company plans to invest over₹ 7,000 crore in these new CGD projects, over and above the₹ 20,000 crore already marked for the vertical. BSE Oil & Gas index surged 2.10 per cent over the fortnight.
Mukesh Ambani-led telecom operator Reliance Jio has become the country’s largest fixed-line broadband service provider, eclipsing state-run telecom company BSNL which had been the leader in the fixed-line telephone market for nearly two decades. This is quite an achievement since Jio had launched its fixed broadband services in 2019 with an ambition to reach over 1,000 cities across India.
As per the data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel added 2.01 million and 1.3 million mobile subscribers, respectively, in November, whereas Vodafone Idea’s subscriber base contracted by 1.8 million. At the end of November, total customer count stood at 1.16 billion and overall wireless subscriber base registered a growth of 0.10 per cent.
Trading data shows that during the fortnight, FIIs were net sellers to the tune of₹ 13,497.97 crore, while DIIs were net buyers to the tune of₹ 3,098.45 crore.
