Tepid start likely for the markets as IIP decelerates

On the back of subdued cues from Asian peers and industrial production growth slowing down to 3.8% in September, Indian indices are expected to open on a tepid note. The SGX Nifty indicates that Nifty could open 4 points lower around 10,338 at the opening bell.  

In a major Goods and Services Tax (GST) rejig, the GST Council cut GST rates on 75% of the goods in the top bracket of 28% to 18% and introduced changes in GST return filing to ease the burden of taxpayers.  

In the fallout of stringent SEBI regulations relating to P-Notes, the aggregate estimation of P-Notes slipped to 8-year low of Rs 123,000 crore. One of the real worries that SEBI had about P-Notes was that since the final beneficiary was not known in most cases, these P-Notes could be used as a means of round-tripping of funds.  

The stocks of companies like Adani Enterprises, Adani Port & SEZ, Apollo Hospital, GSPL, Idea, NMDC, Spice Jet, Tata Chemicals and Vakrangee will be in focus as these companies are expected to announce earnings today.   

Asian shares put in a mixed start to the week with Japan's  Nikkei 225 slipping 169 points. However, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng has added 52 points and China’s Shanghai Composite has gained 13 points.   

Back home, markets settled a highly volatile trading session with minor gains, led by gains in index pivotals SBI and L&T. Broader indices displayed a mixed performance with Nifty Small-Cap index ending higher by 0.27% while Mid-Cap index shedding 0.10%. Sector-wise, Nifty PSU Banks was in the limelight as it surged 4.32%, followed by FMCG. In contrast, Nifty Pharma declined 1.32%. At the end of the day, Nifty settled at 10,322 with gains of 13 points and BSE Sensex settled at 33,315 with gains of 64 points.   

The US stock indices ended the last trading session of the week on a mixed note. The Dow and S&P 500 moved lower, whereas the tech-laden Nasdaq crept into positive territory. The higher-than-expected decrease in the consumer sentiment index weighed on the sentiments. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 40 points to 23,442, S&P 500 dipped 2 points to 2,582, while the Nasdaq ended just above the neutral line at 6,751.  

European stock markets lost ground on Friday, with the FTSE 100 of the UK losing 0.68%, followed by the French CAC 40 index and German DAX index which fell 0.50% and 0.42%, respectively.