Sensex down 35 pts; autos advance for 3rd day

The equity barometers traded with minor cuts in mid-afternoon trade. At 14:23 IST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 35.01 points or 0.09% at 38,805.31. The Nifty 50 index lost 0.90 points or 0.01% at 11,448.35.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.14% while the S&P BSE Small-Cap index gained 0.28%.

The market breadth was negative. On the BSE, 1281 shares rose and 1310 shares fell. A total of 166 shares were unchanged.

Economy:

In a statement released yesterday, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) said that it has constituted a three-member advisory committee headed by former CAG Rajiv Mehrishi on the relief sought by petitioners in the Supreme Court for the waiver of interest, penal interest and other related issues. Apart from Mehrishi, the committee includes former IIM Professor Ravindra Dholakia and former SBI MD B Sriram.

The expert committee has to measure the impact on the national economy and financial stability of waiving of interest and waiving of interest on interest on the COVID-19 related moratorium. It has to make suggestions to mitigate financial constraints of various sections of society in this respect and measures to be adopted in this regard.

"The committee will submit its report within one week. State Bank of India will provide secretarial support to the committee. The Committee may consult banks or other stakeholders, as deemed necessary, for the purpose," MoF said in a release.

Buzzing Index:

The Nifty Auto index added 0.25% to 7,965.10. The index has added 0.97% in three sessions.

Hero MotoCorp (up 1.40%), Tata Motors (up 0.98%), Bharat Forge (up 0.88%), TVS Motor Company (up 0.66%), Ashok Leyland (up 0.59%), Bajaj Auto (up 0.27%) and Mahindra & Mahindra (up 0.08%) edged higher. Eicher Motors (down 0.44%) and Maruti Suzuki (down 0.34%) declined.

The data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), an industry body, indicated a recovering trend for the auto industry.

A total of 21,62,367 units, including passenger vehicles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers & quadricycle were produced in August 2020, as against 22,31,355 in August 2019, witnessing a decline of 3.09%.

Passenger vehicle sales in India increased by 14.16% in August to 2,15,916 units as against 1,89,129 units in the same month last year, auto industry body SIAM said on Friday.

Two-wheeler sales also rose 3% at 15,59,665 units, as compared to 15,14,196 units in the same month last year.

Motorcycle sales were at 10,32,476 units as against 9,37,486 units in August 2019, up 10.13%. Scooter sales were, however, down 12.3% at 4,56,848 units as against 5,20,898 units in the same month last year.

Three-wheelers saw a dip in sales by 75.29% in August 2020 over August 2019. Sales of utility vehicles increased by 15.54% in August 2020 over August 2019.

Total exports of passenger vehicles, three-wheelers and two-wheelers witnessed a decrease of 45.17%, 13.61% and 14.23% respectively in August 2020 over August 2019.

Kenichi Ayukawa, PresIdent, SIAM said, "We are beginning to observe growth which is instilling confidence back into the industry, especially in the two-wheeler and the passenger vehicle segments. Even though the industry witnessed year-on-year growth in August 2020, it is to be recognized that the base figures in August 2019 itself was very low, as industry had shown a de-growth of about (-)32% for passenger vehicles and (-)22% for 2 wheelers in 2019, over 2018, then. Still, 14% growth of passenger vehicles and 3% growth in two wheelers in August 2020 indicates trends of recovery for the industry, though it is on the backdrop of pent-up demand and beginning of a festive season this month."

Numbers to Track:

In the foreign exchange market, the partially convertible rupee edged higher to 73.535 compared with its previous closing 73.46.

The yield on 10-year benchmark federal paper rose to 6.030% compared with previous closing of 6.053% in the previous trading session.

MCX Gold futures for 5 October 2020 settlement slipped 0.70% to Rs 51,410.

In the commodities market, Brent crude for November 2020 settlement shed 9 cents to $39.97 a barrel. The contract fell 1.79% or 73 cents to settle at $40.06 in the previous trading sessions on Tuesday.

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