Equity Markets Round Up 

Moody”s upgraded India”s sovereign rating to Baa2 with a stable outlook citing expectations that progress on economic and institutional reforms will enhance growth potential and government finances and result in a decline of the government’s debt burden. 

During the month, Defensive sectors did better while sectors like metals (due to relatively weak data from China), Cement (Supreme court’s ban on pet coke impacted a number of companies) and capital goods (due to deferment of order books and slow execution) did not do well .

In Q2 results, Nifty earnings grew in double digits after six quarters. The consumer staples companies saw improvement in volumes as restocking happened. Consumer companies pointed to a revival in rural growth. 

Metals and automotive companies also showed good results for the quarter. Most banks reported sharp decline in slippages and an apparent bottoming out of asset quality. 

While the overall commodity index was flat for the year, Brent crude is up nearly 26% over the past year. Metals are up strongly. 

The CPI for the month of October came in at 3.58%. 

After shrinking in September, trade deficit again widened in October to USD 14 Billion. 

Equity Market Outlook 

We believe that the macroeconomic trends for India look stable, but unlikely to improve in the short term. Higher oil prices, low, but rising inflation, and possible slippage on current account and fiscal deficit will be watched. The markets will watch for corporate earnings for Q3 to see if the improvement in Q2 will be sustained. The equity markets may consolidate in the near term. Tactical allocation of wealth to equities mutual fund schemes and equity related hybrid schemes would be advisable.

Data Item	% Growth
	1 Month	1 year
MSCI EM Index (USD)	0.15	29.90
MSCI EM Index (Local)	-0.87	24.66
Indian Rupee	0.44	5.74
Dollar Index (DXY)	-1.59	-8.33
Crude Oil- Brent	3.58	25.96
CRB Index	0.42	2.01
Gold	0.28	8.68
Copper	-1.13	16.09
Iron Ore	16.42	-5.48

**Data as on 30 – Source: Bloomberg

Broad Markets	Index	1 Month (%)	3 Months (%)	6 Months (%)	1 Year (%)
Nifty 50	10227	-1.05	3.11	6.25	24.34
S&P BSE Sensex	33149	-0.19	4.47	6.39	24.37
S&P BSE 100	10705	-0.66	3.78	7.95	26.25
S&P BSE 200	4527	-0.30	4.45	8.93	27.24
S&P BSE 500	14494	0.06	5.31	10.15	29.46
S&P BSE MID CAP	16917	1.99	8.87	16.75	35.35
S&P BSE SMALL CAP	18229	3.57	13.99	22.14	47.85

 

Sectoral Performance	Index	1 Month (%)	3 Months (%)	6 Months (%)	1 Year (%)
S&P BSE AUTO	25205	-0.82	6.40	5.04	25.12
S&P BSE Bankex	28631	1.23	4.34	8.44	34.32
S&P BSE CD	21461	16.22	21.24	40.44	90.28
S&P BSE CG	18455	0.17	6.49	5.08	31.41
S&P BSE FMCG	10321	0.56	1.45	2.48	27.88
S&P BSE HC	13990	-2.04	6.40	3.50	-11.08
S&P BSE METAL	13902	-5.62	4.65	21.84	30.34
S&P BSE Oil & Gas	15928	-3.77	4.95	12.09	33.13
S&P BSE PSU	9183	-2.32	6.22	5.87	16.54
S&P BSE Teck	6081	1.77	6.51	5.78	12.37

**Data as on 30 – Source: MFI Explorer