The Sensex is on course to ending calendar year (CY) 2019 at a price-earnings (P/E) multiple of 29x, the highest in 25 years. Current valuations are, however, lower than those seen in the early 1990s. The Sensex has risen close to 14 per cent in the last 12 months, while the index underlying EPS dropped 6.7 per cent during the period.
Other than ITC, other laggards include PowerGrid, Infosys, M&M, NTPC, SBI, HDFC, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, TCS, Hero MotoCorp, Coal India, ONGC, RIL, Asian Paint, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel and Axis Bank.
Xi ordered the military to think about worst-case scenarios, scale up training and battle preparedness, promptly and effectively deal with all sorts of complex situations and resolutely safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, state-run Xinhua news agency reported, without mentioning any specific issues that posed a threat to the country.
The global high comes amidst the uncertainties of Brexit, a trade war and slowing growth, with traders increasing their silver bets.
Underlining that years of economic stagnation have given way to a "roaring geyser of opportunity", Trump said, "I knew that if we unleashed the potential of our people, cut taxes, slashed regulation, fixed broken trade deals and fully tapped American energy that prosperity would come thundering back ... and that is exactly what happened."
Imports too declined by 16.31 per cent to $37.39 billion.
Covering-up of short positions by speculators ahead of September month expiry in the derivatives segment on Thursday also helped the market stage a smart rally.
Sentiments took a hit after broader Asian markets weakened, following a renewed sell-off on Wall Street on Tuesday as energy shares dropped after crude oil prices plunged to a 13-month low amid weak earnings and US-China trade disputes, fuelling worries about economic growth
The fall was led by banking stocks, with IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, Federal Bank, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and SBI declining up to 2.36 per cent.
Visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping has asked United States to honour its commitment of 'One-China' policy on Taiwan and oppose Tibetan independence.
The broader NSE Nifty too reclaimed the key 11,500-mark. It touched a high of 11,562.25, before finally settling at 11,536.90, showing a gain of 59.95 points, or 0.52 per cent.
Amid slowing growth and low interest rates, investors will need to focus on stock-picking, suggests John Remmert.
The Indian rupee is down nearly 2 per cent against the US dollar since the beginning of January 2019. Experts attribute the Indian rupee's relatively poor performance to a sharper-than-expected fall in economic growth in India.
Work is underway in identifying global companies in sectors ranging from electronics, auto components and medical equipment to shift part of their existing or incremental manufacturing to India.
Losers include ONGC, Bajaj Finance, Reliance, SBI, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank, L&T, Vedanta, Yes Bank and Axis Bank, falling up to 2.54 per cent. On the other hand, Tata Steel, PowerGrid, HCL Tech, Kotak Bank and Maruti were the top gainers on Sensex, rising up to 2.31 per cent.
Among sectoral indices, telecom led the chart, spurting 3.08 per cent, followed by oil and gas.
President Trump, forcefully pursuing his 'America first" policy, has previously described India as a "tariff king" for imposing "tremendously high" tariffs on American products, also expressed dissatisfaction over the US-India trade ties. "Well, we can have a trade deal with India, but I'm really saving the big deal for later on," Trump, who is scheduled to visit India on February 24 and 25, told reporters at the Joint Base Andrews outside Washington on Tuesday when asked whether he expects a trade deal with India before the visit.
The wider NSE Nifty too fell by 61.40 points or 0.57 per cent to end at 10,618.25.
'The belief that FDI will shift from China appears to be a strategy of politicians to keep the media busy, chasing irrelevant news to ward off pressure and questions about the government's plans to deal with COVID,' observes Debashis Basu.
Weakness in the rupee against the US dollar also weighed on domestic stocks. The local unit fell 11 paise to 70.60 against the US dollar intra-day.
Tata Motors was the biggest loser in the Sensex pack, tumbling 2.47 per cent, followed by Reliance Industries (2.44 per cent), Maruti (1.84 per cent), SBI (1.76 per cent) and Bajaj Finance (1.23 per cent).
Market players say following the tax cuts, the market mood had changed from bearish to positive, which should help sustain the rally.
The Sensex posted its biggest single-day jump in over a decade at 1,921 points and investors' wealth soared by a staggering Rs 6.8 lakh crore after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered a surprise cut in corporate tax rates on Friday.
Despite being election year, Indian ultra HNIs are more optimistic of the country's growth journey and expect wealth to increase in the year 2019.
'China's opaque defence allocation processes are shrouded in mystery and have triggered security dilemmas among its neighbours and others,' notes China expert Srikanth Kondapalli.
'And this mirror imaging is the most dangerous thing because it leads to tremendous misunderstandings.'
The riot took place on Sunday at a prison in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state, said the head of the state's prisons administration, Pedro Florencio.
You may be popular initially because of politics and ideology but if the economy slows down, you will be losing your popularity: Nouriel Roubini.
As the campaign peaked, AAP leaders evidently realised they had to deflect their chief opponent's attempts to polarise the electorate over religious identity, explains David Devadas.
Investor sentiments remained upbeat tracking global developments as the US, China geared up for trade talks due this week.
'We are beginning to see that the rest of the world will not simply accept the domination of one power'
Smuggled gold, which is selling sharply lower than the spot market price, is also responsible for discounts not ending. Some consumers are selling high amounts of gold.
The US election campaign has provided plenty of ammunition for the CCP to make its case that its political system is superior.
'India and China have the wise and sage leadership to steer this complex relationship in the coming decades.'
Modi campaigned on the issue of national security, which cannot be ensured without a strong economy.
In the first eight months of 2019, 70 per cent stocks in the BSE 500 universe were down. These stocks account for 94 per cent of India's total market capitalisation.
Investor sentiment got a big push after Brent crude, the international benchmark, dropped below the $73-mark to quote at a seven-month low of $72.65
While the COVID-19 pandemic has completely halted production and new orders, exporters say that payments have also been delayed for the shipments sent before the lockdown. Exporters say some customers are not taking delivery of the shipments because they have shut shop. Ready-made garment players had been hoping for a revival in demand in China but with the virus spreading to Europe, the US and other major markets, there are no orders coming from the major retailers.
Other losers included Vedanta, Tata Steel, NTPC, ONGC, L&T, M&M, Coal India, Maruti, PowerGrid, Axis Bank, ITC and HDFC, dropping up to 5.75 per cent. On the other hand, Kotak Bank, Bharti Airtel, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance and Hero MotoCorp rose up to 0.95 per cent.
Meanwhile, retail jewellery sales in India have declined by 50 per cent since gold price started its uptrend nearly two weeks. Buyers deferred their fresh purchase amid expectations of a correction in gold prices from the current high level.
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