Key equity indices trimmed gains after scaling record highs during the week on positive global cues and softer crude oil prices. Broader markets, outperformed the key indices. The Sensex and the Nifty, both, hit scaled record highs on Thursday. Global stock markets advanced after the Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell indicated that the US central bank could slow down its pace of interest rate hikes going forward, starting as soon as next month. In the week ended on Friday, 2 December 2022, the Sensex gained 574.86 points or 0.92% to settle at 62,868.50. The Nifty 50 index advanced 183.35 points or 0.99% to settle at 18,696.10. The two benchmarks hit all-time highs on Thursday. The high was 18,887.60 for Nifty 50 index and 63,583.07 for Sensex. The BSE Mid-Cap index rose 2.84% to settle at 26,321.65. The BSE Small-Cap index gained 2.43% to settle at 29,911.79

Weekly Index Movement:

Domestic shares settled with decent gains on Monday. Oil & gas, autos and FMCG stocks were in demand. Meanwhile, metals, financial services and IT stocks were under pressure. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, advanced 211.16 points or 0.34% to 62,504.80. The Nifty 50 index added 50 points or 0.27% to 18,562.75.

The equity benchmarks ended with decent gains on Tuesday, rising for the sixth trading session. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, added 177.04 points or 0.28% to 62,681.84. The Nifty 50 index gained 55.30 points or 0.30% to 18,618.05.

The domestic equity benchmarks ended with strong gains on Wednesday, rising for the seventh trading session. The S&P BSE Sensex jumped 417.81 points or 0.67% to 63,099.65. The Nifty 50 index gained 140.30 points or 0.75% to 18,758.35.

The Indian equity benchmarks advanced on Thursday, extending the winning run to eighth straight session. The Sensex and the Nifty hit record levels in intraday as well as on a closing basis. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, gained 184.54 points or 0.29% to 63,284.19. The Nifty 50 index rose 54.15 points or 0.29% to 18,812.50.

Domestic equity barometers tumbled on Friday, snapping their eight-day rising streak. Negative global cues triggered profit selling in domestic shares. The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, fell 415.69 points or 0.66% to 62,868.50. The Nifty 50 index shed 116.40 points or 0.62% to 18,696.10.

Stocks in Spotlight:

Maruti Suzuki India fell 2.23%. The company announced today that it plans to hike prices of its vehicles in January 2023. The hike shall vary across models. Separately, Maruti Suzuki said that its total vehicle production rose 4.96% year-on-year to 152,786 units in November 2022.

Hero MotoCorp rose 4.22%. The two-wheeler maker will make an upward revision in the ex-showroom prices of its motorcycles and scooters, effective from 1 December 2022. The price increase will be up to Rs 1500 and the exact quantum of increase will vary by specific models and markets.

Larsen & Toubro rose 1.07%. The EPC company announced that the hydrocarbon division of L&T Energy business has been awarded significant contracts. The company said that the business has received India's first contract for decommissioning of offshore facilities from British Gas Exploration and Production India (BGEPL, part of Shell Plc Group of companies).

Wipro gained 2.41%. Wipro announced that it is an official launch partner for Amazon Security Lake from Amazon Web Service (AWS), which provides the modern enterprise with intelligent security data to solve more security use cases, increase security visibility and reduce threats.

State Bank of India (SBI) rose 0.02%. The state-run lender on Tuesday said that the executive committee of the bank's central board approved a proposal to raise Rs 10,000 crore through issue of infrastructure bonds during FY23. In an exchange filing, SBI stated, “Raising infrastructure bonds up to an amount of Rs 10,000 crore (including a green shoe option of Rs 5,000 crore) through a public issue or private placement, during FY23.”

Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) slipped 0.13%. The board of IEX approved a share buyback of upto Rs 98 crore at a price not exceeding Rs 200 per share through open market route.

Economy:

India's gross Goods and Services Tax (GST) revenue collection in the last month was over Rs 1,45,000 crore. This is the straight ninth month when the monthly GST revenue collection is more than Rs 1,40,000 crore.

The Finance Ministry said GST revenue collection in the month of November 2022 has registered a growth of 11% in comparison to the corresponding month of the last year. It said more than Rs 1,31,000 crore worth of GST collection were made in November 2021.

India's manufacturing sector activity rose at the fastest pace in three months, as output and new orders grew at sharper rates amid easing price pressures, survey data published by S&P Global showed on Thursday. The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 55.7 in November from 55.3 in September. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the sector. Both new orders and output rose at the strongest pace in three months. There was a sharp upturn in output, which was above trend and the strongest since August.

Indian economy recorded 6.3% annual growth rate in July-September after double-digit surge in the previous quarter. Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released India's economic growth data for the second quarter of the current financial year (FY23). India's gross domestic product or GDP grew by 6.3% in Q2 on a year-on-year basis. In other words, it was 6.3% more than the GDP in the same months in 2021. MoSPI also reported that India's Gross Value Added (or GVA) in Q2 grew by 5.6% on a year on year basis.

Meanwhile, India's eight core sectors' output growth almost turned flat in October, coming at just 0.1% from 7.8% in September, with cement and refinery products slipping into contraction. The Index of Core Industries released by the Commerce and Industry Ministry, which constitutes about 40% of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), was unchanged month-on-month at 138.

The central government's fiscal deficit widened to Rs 7.58 lakh crore in April-October, accounting for 45.6% of the full-year target, data released on 30 November 2022 by the Controller General of Accounts showed.

Net tax receipts rose to Rs 11.71 lakh crore while total expenditure was Rs 21.44 lakh crore, the data showed.

In February, while presenting the annual budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set the fiscal deficit target at 6.4% of GDP for 2022/23 starting April, compared to 6.7% in the previous fiscal year.

S&P Global Ratings on Monday revised India's FY23 GDP growth forecast downwards by 30 bps to 7%. For FY24, the forecast has been revised by 50 bps to 6%.

Earlier, the agency had retained its projection of India's economic growth at 7.3% for the current fiscal and said inflation is likely to remain above the upper tolerance limit of 6% till the end of 2022.

Global Markets:

Over the weekend, the People's Bank of China announced it would cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 25 basis points to 7.8% and inject around 500 billion yuan in long-term liquidity. The National Bureau of Statistics said industrial profits for the first 10 months of the year fell 3% from the same period in 2021.

The Caixin/Markit Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index for China came in at 49.4, higher than expectations. The reading marks a fourth consecutive month of contraction, after a reading of 49.2 from October and dipping to 48.1 in September.

Data from the China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that the manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) in November 2022 was at 48.0, down from the previous month's figure of 49.2. The PMI continues to remain below the 50-point mark that separates growth from contraction.

In Singapore, the country's core inflation rate eased 0.2% to 5.1% in October on an annualized basis, the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) reported – after seeing the same index at 5.3% in September.

South Korea's revised gross domestic product for the third quarter confirmed growth of 3.1% compared to the same period a year ago – higher than a 2.9% expansion seen in the second quarter. The economy saw slower quarterly growth of 0.3% in the third quarter, following a growth of 0.7% in the previous period.

South Korea's consumer prices rose 5% in November from a year earlier, government data showed on Friday. The November inflation rate compared with 5.7% in October. The country's inflation rate has been falling since hitting a 24-year high of 6.3% in July as global energy prices eased and the economy slowed.

On the macro front, the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index, the latest indicator of the strength of the U.S. economy, fell to 100.2 in November from a revised 102.2 reading in October.

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Monday that the Fed should continue to raise its benchmark interest rate in the coming months and that the market may be underestimating the chance that the Fed has to get more aggressive.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said it was time to slow the pace of coming interest rate hikes while also signaling a protracted economic adjustment to a world where borrowing costs will remain high, inflation comes down slowly and the United States remains chronically short of workers.