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Markets end flat on last day of CY 2024
Dec-31-2024

Indian equity benchmarks recovered smartly from day’s lows and settled flat on the last trading session of calendar year (CY) 2024, amid continued foreign fund outflows and weak global market trends. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded Rs 1,893.16 crore in the capital markets on net basis on Monday, according to exchange data. Markets made a gap-down opening and stayed in red for most part of the day as traders were concerned with the data released by the Finance Ministry showing that India's external debt rose to $ 711.8 billion as of September this year, up 4.3 per cent over June 2024. Investors also remained on sidelines ahead of India’s infrastructure output data for the month of November to be released later in the day for more directional cues. Pressure from selling in major IT, TECK and Realty stocks also weighed on the indices. 

However, markets erased most of their losses in late afternoon deals and ended flat. Traders took some support with a RBI report stating that the Indian economy is exhibiting resilience and stability, and the gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to grow at 6.6 per cent in 2024-25, aided by a revival in rural consumption, a pickup in government consumption and investment, and strong services exports. Some support also came as a report by CRISIL stated that India's current account deficit (CAD) is to remain in a safe zone at around 1 per cent of GDP for fiscal 2025, up from 0.7 per cent in the previous year. Meanwhile, with an aim to guard domestic manufacturers from the increase in imports that are subsidised by Vietnam, the government has initiated a countervailing duty probe into increased imports of a chemical - Calcium Carbonate Filler Masterbatch - used in the plastic industry, from Vietnam following a complaint from domestic players.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green even as concerns about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's protectionist policies and the outlook for interest rates. Asian markets settled mixed in thin holiday trade on Tuesday, as official data showed China's factory activity expanded at a slower pace in December in the face of increasing trade risks. Back home, on the sectoral front, defence stocks were in watch as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh stated that India's defence exports have crossed a record Rs 21,000 crore from Rs 2,000 crore a decade ago. Singh said a target has been set to achieve defence exports of Rs 50,000 crore by 2029.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 109.12 points or 0.14% to 78,139.01, and the CNX Nifty was down by 0.10 points to 23,644.80.            

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 78,305.34 and 77,560.79 respectively. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.  

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.13%, while Small cap index was up by 0.71%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.31%, Industrials up by 1.14%, PSU up by 1.06%, Oil & Gas up by 1.04% and Energy up by 1.00%, while IT down by 1.29%, TECK down by 1.02% and Realty down by 0.36% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.49%, ITC up by 1.37%, Ultratech Cement up by 1.10%, Tata Motors up by 0.95% and Tata Steel up by 0.88%. On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 2.35%, Zomato down by 1.73%, TCS down by 1.48%, Infosys down by 1.31% and ICICI Bank down by 0.92% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data has showed that net claims of non-residents on India declined by $19.8 billion to $348.5 billion during the July-September quarter of 2024-25 (Q2FY25). Higher rise in Indian residents' overseas financial assets ($66.5 billion) compared to that in the foreign-owned assets in India ($46.7 billion) led to a decline in net claims of non-residents during the quarter.

It said net claims of non-residents on India is the difference between the assets and liabilities held by non-residents in India. Over 80 per cent of the increase in overseas financial assets during July-September 2024 was due to the surge of $53.8 billion in the reserve assets. 

RBI further said the rise in inward portfolio investment ($16.5 billion) and loans ($15.4 billion) together accounted for over two-thirds of the rise in foreign liabilities of Indian residents during the quarter. Variation in the exchange rate of rupee vis-a-vis other currencies impacted the change in liabilities when valued in US dollar terms. Further, the ratio of India's international assets to international liabilities improved to 76.2 per cent in September 2024 from 74.1 per cent a quarter ago and 71.4 per cent a year ago. The share of debt liabilities in total external liabilities increased to 52.7 per cent in September 2024 from 51.1 per cent a year ago.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 23,689.85 and 23,460.45. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharat Electronics up by 2.84%, ONGC up by 2.73%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.54%, Trent up by 2.22% and Coal India up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 2.41%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.06%, TCS down by 1.27%, Infosys down by 1.07% and SBI Life Insurance Company down by 0.92% were the top losers.  

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 34.71 points or 0.43% to 8,155.72 and France’s CAC rose 27.39 points or 0.37% to 7,340.95.

Asian markets settled mixed in thin holiday trade on Tuesday, tracking overnight fall in Wall Street. Markets in South Korea and Japanese markets were closed on New Year holidays. Chinese shares fell after data showed China's factory activity expanded at a slower pace in December. China's manufacturing PMI dropped to 50.1 in December from 50.3 in the previous month. Meantime, the non-manufacturing PMI advanced more than expected to 52.2 from 50.0 a month ago. The focus also shifted to US-China relations after the US Treasury Department said that a China state-sponsored actor was responsible for a recent cyber breach that accessed some of its workstations.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,351.76

-55.57

-1.66

Hang Seng

20,059.95

18.53

0.09

Jakarta Composite

7,079.90

43.33

0.62

KLSE Composite

1,642.33

4.65

0.28

Nikkei 225

--

--

--

Straits Times

3,787.60

-8.13

-0.21

KOSPI Composite

--

--

--

Taiwan Weighted

23,035.10

-155.10

-0.67


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