Sunday, October 19, 2008

 

Equity Market Update

 

Markets remained volatile in the week. Market opened strong earlier in the week, but giving up all its gains on last day of the week. Sensex was down 5.25% and S&P CNX Nifty also closed 6.27% lower. The fall was led by capital goods and metals sector, while IT sector outperformed the overall market. In fact banking sector has delivered positive returns during the week, outperforming the Nifty by more then 10.5%.
Key Equity Indices

 

Week at
Glance

 

10/13/2008

 

10/14/2008

 

10/15/2008

 

10/16/2008

 

10/17/2008  

Last Week

Week on Week Change %

Sensex

11,309.1

11,483.4

10,809.1

10,581.5

9,975.4

10,527.9

-5.25%

S&P CNX Nifty

3,490.7

3,518.7

3,338.4

3,269.3

3,074.4

3,280.0

-6.27%

BSE IT

2,790.4

2,939.9

2,780.2

2,669.2

2,537.3

2,584.3

-1.82%

BSE PSU

5,815.5

5,758.9

5,555.5

5,494.3

5,235.5

5,536.0

-5.43%

BANKEX

5,973.8

6,038.1

5,841.6

5,866.8

5,546.7

5,319.5

4.27%

  Source :  Bloomberg
Facts & Figures (Rs in Millions)

 

Date

FII Flows in cash mkt

MF Flows in cash mkt

10-Oct-08

-8477

3152

13-Oct-08

-23232

5205

14-Oct-08

-8422

-2631

15-Oct-08

-1891

-3829

16-Oct-08

-8407

4316

 

Source : SEBI, provisional data
Outlook
US and Global financial turmoil has had its collateral damage on all equity markets including India. Although fundamentally India continues not to be impacted by this, we have seen heightened volatility in India led by loss of confidence in western financial system, poor sentiment & impact of FII outflows. Deleveraging has started happening and has led to poor credit availability in the international markets despite global coordinated efforts by few key central banks in terms of supply of liquidity and rate cuts. Increasingly the world seems to be moving away from inflation scare to growth scare and heading towards a global slowdown.

While a global slowdown will lower our growth as well, we feel that our ‘growth gap’ will remain intact or infact improve over the rest of the world, mainly because of lower input cost for the economy due to lower commodity prices and predominantly domestic nature of our economic growth. While currently we are witnessing FII outflows from India due to so called ‘Risk aversion’, over a longer term we see renewed interest in the structural stories of Asia and India in particular as the concept of ‘Risk aversion’ gets redefined. We expect continued volatility in the Indian market in the short term, though, led by the global financial crisis.  We expect more divergence in sector and stock performances, in a broadly volatile market.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
Debt Market Update

 

        International

        Central Bank actions

         

Bank

Action

Benchmark interest rate

Reserve Bank of India

Cash Reserve Ratio decreased

7.50%

6.50%

Chile Central Bank

Rate unchanged

8.25%

8.25%

Peru Central Bank

Rate unchanged

6.50%

6.50%

Bank of Japan

Rate unchanged

0.50%

0.50%

     

         Source: Bloomberg

         Economic Indicators

 

Previous Week

Current Week

US 10 year benchmark treasury

3.81%

3.91%

Crude oil WTI ($/barrel)

82.23

70.52

 

 

Source: Bloomberg

Currency

 

Previous Week

Current Week

INR

48.43

48.88

EUR

1.36

1.34

JPY

98.94

100.85

Source: Bloomberg

Domestic

Liquidity

Call rates range

Previous Week

Current Week

MIBOR range

10.51-16.48

7.00-10.13

LAF amount  average (Rs crore)

-51088

-46580

Source: Bloomberg

Domestic interest rates

Previous Week

Current Week

3 month CP

15.00%

12.50%

91 day T-bill

8.48%

7.75%

5 year OIS

7.23%

6.90%

10 year benchmark gilt

7.83%

7.71%

Source: Bloomberg

RBI action

CRR cut by 100 bps to 6.5% effective from 11th October 2008.

Outlook of the Week

The RBI as well as the Finance Ministry have taken timely steps in order to improve the liquidity situations. The Finance Ministry, in consultation with the RBI, arranged for immediate transfer of Funds in relation to the agricultural debt waiver aggregating Rs 25,000 crore to the Term Lending Institutions. RBI also cut the CRR further by 100 bps with retrospective effect thus releasing a further Rs 40,000 crore into the system. It also increased the interest rates on foreign currency deposits and allowed banks to access capital through their overseas branches. In a related step, the RBI also allowed Mutual Funds to access funds from Banks by placing Certificates of Deposits as collateral. All these steps have resulted in call rates coming down to around 7% levels from around 20% earlier. Money market rates have also eased a bit though the selling pressure still continues as Mutual Funds continue to face redemptions. We believe that easy overnight rates would result in flows becoming normal once again over the next few days. However, one has to watch out for the risk of heavy RBI forex intervention which could once again pressure domestic liquidity.

 

Saturday, September 6, 2008
Equity Market Update

 

Markets remained volatile during the week. Sensex closed marginally negative over the last week at 14484, losing 0.55%. Similarly, Nifty lost 0.18% to close at 4352. However, many banking stocks ended positively. The Bankex gained 2.33% on account of waning concerns over high inflation, which was reported lower for the second consecutive week at 12.34%. Global equity markets also remained volatile during the week. Crude oil prices corrected around 3.1% in last week and by around 26.8% from the peak of $ 147/barrel (in first week of July) to reach around $ 107/barrel. London Metal Exchange Index (LMEX) tracking the base metal prices also declined by 3.1% in the last week and around 22% from the peak (in first week of Mar’08). Steel prices have also shown signs of softening.
Key Equity Indices

 

Week at
Glance

9/1/2008

9/2/2008

9/4/2008

9/5/2008

Last Week

Week on Week Change %

Sensex

14,498.5

15,049.9

14,899.1

14,483.8

14,564.5

-0.55%

S&P CNX Nifty

4,348.7

4,504.0

4,447.8

4,352.3

4,360.0

-0.18%

BSE IT

3,954.2

4,066.9

4,085.7

3,941.7

3,966.8

-0.63%

BSE PSU

6,768.2

7,022.8

6,971.4

6,890.2

6,747.1

2.12%

BANKEX

7,021.4

7,446.5

7,434.7

7,172.9

7,009.7

2.33%

  Source :  Bloomberg
Facts & Figures (Rs in Millions)

 

Date

FII Flows in cash mkt

MF Flows in cash mkt

1-Sep-08

-1,717

-807

2-Sep -08

13,374

1,059

4-Sep -08

-3,991

1,341

5-Sep -08

Not Available.

Not Available

 

Source : SEBI, provisional data
Outlook
The weakness in US economy is evident with various indicators, including increasing jobless claims. Europe is also showing signs of economic slow-down. As a result, commodities prices, including oil are on downtrend.The declining commodity prices are positive for India, which has still a long way to go in economic, infrastructural development and consumption driven growth. We continue to believe the India growth story is here to stay; though volatility and uncertainty would persist in the short to medium term.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Debt Market Update

 

        International        Central Bank actions         

Bank

Action

Benchmark interest rate

 

 

Previous

Current

European Central Bank

Rate unchanged

4.25%

4.25%

Bank of England

Rate unchanged

5.00%

5.00%

Chile Central Bank

Rate increased

7.75%

8.25%

Bank of Indonesia

Rate increased

9.00%

9.25%

Bank of Canada

Rate unchanged

3.00%

3.00%

Australian Central Bank

Rate decreased

7.25%

7.00%

              Source: Bloomberg
         Economic Indicators

 

Previous Week

Current Week

US 10 year benchmark treasury

3.77%

3.56%

Crude oil WTI ($/barrel)

116.55

106.90

 

 

Source: Bloomberg

Currency

 

Previous Week

Current Week

INR

43.42

44.66

EUR

1.47

1.42

JPY

108.63

105.90

Source: Bloomberg

Domestic

Liquidity

Call rates range

Previous Week

Current Week

MIBOR range

9.77-6.11

9.04-9.39

LAF amount  average (Rs crore)

-5731

-11685

Source: Bloomberg

Domestic interest rates

Previous Week

Current Week

3 month CP

11.10%

11.15%

91 day T-bill

9.05%

8.95%

5 year OIS

9.05%

8.70%

10 year benchmark gilt

8.71%

8.49%

Source: Bloomberg

Outlook of the Week

Correction in commodity prices especially oil prices boosted sentiment in the bond market. SLR demand also led to buying support for gilts resulting in the 10 year gilt yield easing to 8.49% from 8.71% levels, a week ago. Good demand was witnessed for the PFC bond issue as corporate bond spreads look attractive at current levels. We believe the rally to be overdone and market is likely to consolidate at current levels before yields move up once again. Corporate bond spreads may compress a little from current levels. Money market rates are likely to stay firm as liquidity would become tighter after the advance tax outflows mid-month.

Going forward, inflation is likely to remain in double digits till this calendar year end and that would result in a continued hawkish stance from RBI. However odds for a status quo in rates have increased.

 

Saturday, August 2, 2008
Equity Market Update

 

Markets gave a knee jerk reaction to the credit policy & recovered swiftly to close the derivatives expiry week with over 2% gains in benchmark indices. IT index gained more than 5% this week. Positive global cues helped the pull back rally and hope of fast track reforms process brought the PSU and banking stocks back in limelight. Overseas investors were net sellers, whereas the domestic investors were net buyers for the week.
Key Equity Indices

 

Week at
Glance

7/28/2008

7/29/2008

7/30/2008

7/31/2008

8/1/2008

Last Week

Week on Week Change %

Sensex

14349.11

13791.54

14287.21

14355.75

14656.69

14274.94

2.67%

S&P CNX Nifty

4332.1

4189.85

4313.55

4332.95

4413.55

4311.85

2.36%

BSE IT

3606.81

3588.57

3722.09

3689.57

3800.06

3611.24

5.23%

BSE PSU

6724.42

6514.79

6676.91

6706.14

6925.52

6674.57

3.76%

BANKEX

6761.82

6199.6

6522.62

6516.41

6728.65

6751.86

-0.34%

  Source :  Bloomberg
Facts & Figures (Rs in Millions)

 

Date

FII Flows in cash mkt

MF Flows in cash mkt

25-Jul-08

-5463

8271

28- Jul 08

-6093

6479

29-Jul-08

-3323

7918

30-Jul-08

-3919

4574

31-Jul-08

5970

Not Available

 

Source : SEBI, provisional data
Outlook
Global commodity prices have shown signs of correction in the recent past, thus acknowledging a weak global growth outlook. Fresh credit write downs have necessitated further capital raising indicating that the worst is not over. We expect the equity markets across the globe to remain range bound in short to medium term, in the light of high commodity prices and sub-prime related issues.Quarterly numbers from Indian companies have not given any major negative surprises. Overall top line growth has been robust, although operating margins have declined. Post result corporate interaction indicates continued optimism amidst a challenging environment. We believe the India growth story is here to stay; though there can be some volatility & uncertainty in the short to medium term.  
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Debt Market Update

 

        International        Central Bank actions

         

Bank

Action

Benchmark interest rate

 

 

Previous

Current

Polish Central Bank

Rate unchanged

6.00%

6.00%

Pakistan Central Bank

Rate increased

12.00%

13.00%

Slovak Central Bank

Rate unchanged

4.25%

4.25%

Reserve Bank of India

Repo Rate increased

8.50%

9.00%

 

Cash Reserve Ratio increased

8.75%

9.00%

              Source: Bloomberg
         Economic Indicators

 

Previous Week

Current Week

US 10 year benchmark treasury

4.00%

3.93%

Crude oil WTI ($/barrel)

126.29

123.60

 

 

Source: Bloomberg

Currency

 

Previous Week

Current Week

INR

42.26

42.35

EUR

1.57

1.56

JPY

107.31

107.41

Source: Bloomberg

Domestic

Liquidity

Call rates range

Previous Week

Current Week

MIBOR range

9.18-9.71

6.31-9.20

LAF amount  average (Rs crore)

-36954

-13666

Source: Bloomberg

Domestic interest rates

Previous Week

Current Week

3 month CP

10.40%

10.25%

91 day T-bill

8.90%

9.10%

5 year OIS

9.50%

9.33%

10 year benchmark gilt

9.09%

9.29%

Source: Bloomberg

RBI action

  • Repo rate increased by 50bps to 9.00%
  • Cash reserve ratio increased by 25bps to 9.00%

Outlook of the Week

Quarterly monetary policy review was more hawkish than market expectation. RBI stressed on demand pressures and containment of inflationary expectations. Gilt yields increased sharply in response to the policy review but inched down later in the week on correction in oil prices and significant improvement in systemic liquidity.

We believe that inflationary pressures would continue to dominate policy stance in the months to come. Second round impact of fuel and other commodity price increases have not been felt yet. Monsoons have not been normally distributed and this is having impact on food prices. Government borrowings for the second half are expected to be sharply higher on account of the high subsidy bill and continued higher oil prices may force the government to raise the fuel prices once again.

We thus expect yields to continue to have an upward bias in the near to medium term.

 

Sunday, July 20, 2008
Equity Market Update

 

Markets remained very volatile in the week with losses in initial days being recouped in the latter part, in the end, Sensex and Nifty closed with a gain of around 1%. Markets reacted positively to inflation figure coming within expectations and positive cues from international markets. Banking & PSU stocks had a bounce back this week and both the indices closed with +2% gains, whereas the BSE IT index continued its losing streak and lost 8.37%, on the back of weak demand commentary from IT companies and non revision of FY09 dollar revenue guidance.
Key Equity Indices

 

Week at
Glance

7/14/2008

7/15/2008

7/16/2008

7/17/2008

7/18/2008

  Last Week Week on Week Change %

Sensex

13330.51

12676.19

12575.80

13111.85

13635.40

13469.85

1.23%

S&P CNX Nifty

4039.70

3861.10

3816.70

3947.20

4092.25

4049.00

1.07%

BSE IT

3675.59

3589.57

3566.98

3675.20

3580.65

3907.63

-8.37%

BSE PSU

6087.99

5821.96

5752.70

5866.67

6121.15

5967.71

2.57%

BANKEX

5970.52

5508.00

5400.24

5727.60

6188.89

6044.76

2.38%

  Source :  Bloomberg
Facts & Figures (Rs in Millions)

 

Date

FII Flows in cash mkt

MF Flows in cash mkt

11-Jul-08

-3103

1199

14-Jul-08

-2123

177

15-Jul-08

-6804

-1082

16-Jul-08

-2104

-315

17-Jul-08

5358

111

 

Source : SEBI, provisional data
Outlook
Globally, higher inflation and high interest rates are likely to persist, until the prices of commodities, primarily crude oil, decline significantly. While crude oil prices have declined 11% from their recent peak, the absolute level of prices is still very high, thereby dampening the global economic growth outlook. High inflation, worsening financial services sector scenario in the US & soaring crude prices are likely to keep the sentiments weak in the equity market.Quarterly results season has started and markets would take clue on the future growth of the companies depending on their current performance and future outlook. Given the current macro economic conditions, we maintain our view that volatility and uncertainty would persist in the Indian equity markets in short to medium term.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
Debt Market Update

 

        International        Central Bank actions

         

Bank

Action

Benchmark interest rate

 

 

Previous

Current

Turkish Central Bank

Rate increased

16.25%

16.75%

Philippine Central Bank

Rate increased

5.25%

5.75%

Bank of Thailand

Rate increased

3.25%

3.50%

Sri Lankan Central Bank

Rate unchanged

10.50%

10.50%

Bank of Canada

Rate unchanged

3.00%

3.00%

Bank of Japan

Rate unchanged

0.50%

0.50%

              Source: Bloomberg
         Economic Indicators

 

Previous Week

Current Week

US 10 year benchmark treasury

3.82%

4.02%

Crude oil WTI ($/barrel)

144.95

130.65

 

 

Source: Bloomberg

Currency

 

Previous Week

Current Week

INR

42.91

42.76

EUR

1.58

1.58

JPY

107.02

106.76

Source: Bloomberg

Domestic

Liquidity

Call rates range

Previous Week

Current Week

MIBOR range

9.00-9.07

8.00-9.00

LAF amount  average (Rs crore)

-37521

-33583

Source: Bloomberg

Domestic interest rates

Previous Week

Current Week

3 month CP

10.25%

10.40%

91 day T-bill

9.03%

8.90%

5 year OIS

9.97%

9.50%

10 year benchmark gilt

9.48%

9.09%

Source: Bloomberg

Outlook of the Week

Liquidity conditions continued to remain strained. We expect systemic liquidity tightness to continue into the next fortnight as well on account of outflows towards the second leg of CRR hike as well as the scheduled gilt auction.

Inflation for the week ended 4th July 2008 increased marginally to 11.91% from 11.89% a week ago. We maintain our view of inflation staying firm in the coming weeks.

Sharp correction in the oil prices on the back of global economic slowdown concerns as well as U.S. inventory gains led to buying interest in gilts. Favorable comments from the Finance ministry also aided sentiment. Yield on the benchmark 10 year gilt fell to 9.09% from 9.48%, a week ago.

Going forward, movement in commodity prices would be the key indicator for the markets. We feel that oil prices would continue to be volatile since fundamental demand-supply situation remains unchanged and dollar continues to have a weak bias. It would be premature to assume that the worst is behind us. We retain our cautious view on interest rates.

 

Saturday, March 8, 2008


Equity Market Update

 

During the week, the Sensex lost 9.12% to close below 16000 at 15975. The entire week was mired in huge volatility due to (1) proposals in Union Budget FY 2008 – 09 to increase the short-term capital gains tax to 15% from 10% and changes in provisions of Securities Transaction Tax and (2) continued weakness in global markets. The fall was led by Banking stocks. Bankex was down by 16%, led by (1) uncertainty over the Rs.600 bn farm loan waiver scheme and (2) ICICI Bank’s MTM losses in its credit derivatives and international fixed income portfolio..
Key Equity Indices
Week at
Glance

3/3/2008

3/4/2008

3/5/2008

3/7/2008

Last Week

Week on Week
% change

Sensex

16677.88

16339.89

16542.08

15975.52

17578.72

-9.12%

S&P CNX Nifty

4953.00

4864.25

4921.40

4771.60

5223.50

-8.65%

BSE IT

3692.49

3614.41

3752.47

3638.44

3862.45

-5.80%

BSE PSU

7999.93

7824.73

7830.96

7578.50

8484.16

-10.67%

BANKEX

9434.44

9056.76

8916.03

8477.46

10113.73

-16.18%

Source : BSE & NSE