Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets ended Tuesday’s session with gains of around half a percent. Most part of the day markets traded higher during the day amid positive retail inflation data. Traders overlooked weak wholesale price index (WPI) inflation data. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended with healthy gains. Buying was witnessed in Metal sector’s stocks. 

Markets made positive start and soon turned volatile for little time as traders took support after the government data showed that retail inflation eased to an 11-month low of 4.83 per cent in April as prices of some kitchen items declined though overall food basket firmed up marginally. The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based retail inflation was 4.85 per cent in March. Traders took a note of report that the government is working on a verification system to help exporters deal with countervailing duty cases on domestic products over the RODTEP scheme. The exercise is important as countervailing or anti-subsidy duties were imposed on certain domestic units by the US and European Union (EU). Further in afternoon session, indices added more points even after inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) accelerated in the month of April 2024 to 1.26% from 0.53% in March 2024, due to increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing etc. The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased 1.97% to 186.7 (provisional) in April 2024 from 183.1 (provisional) for the month of March 2024, on the back of rise in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas and food articles. Indices continued their gaining momentum in late afternoon session. Sentiments remained optimistic with a private report stating that over 514 million employment was generated between 2014 and 2024 out of which 197.9 million was as a result of governance-led interventions and 316.1 million due to credit-led interventions. 

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in red, while Asian markets ended mixed as investors exercised caution ahead of the release of U.S. inflation data that might influence the outlook for rates. Back home, India's palm oil imports registered a 34.11 per cent jump on-year in April to 6,84,000 tonnes, buoyed by a fall in global prices. Palm oil accounted for 52 per cent of India's total edible oil imports of 13,04,409 tonnes in April, the trade body said in a statement, adding that sunflower and soybean oils import stood at 6,20,315 tonnes.

The BSE Sensex ended at 73,104.61, up by 328.48 points or 0.45% after trading in a range of 72,683.99 and 73,286.26. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 1.14%, while Small cap index was up by 1.79%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 2.80%, Power up by 2.51%, Industrials up by 2.40%, Telecom up by 2.27% and Metal was up by 2.20%, while FMCG down by 0.36% and Healthcare was down by 0.08% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.92%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.54%, JSW Steel up by 2.38%, NTPC up by 1.45% and Indusind Bank up by 1.28%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.05%, TCS down by 1.03%, Axis Bank down by 0.94%, ICICI Bank down by 0.59% and Bajaj Finance down by 0.53% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) accelerated in the month of April 2024 to 1.26% from 0.53% in March 2024, due to increase in prices of food articles, crude petroleum & natural gas, manufacture of food products, other manufacturing etc.

The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased 1.97% to 186.7 (provisional) in April 2024 from 183.1 (provisional) for the month of March 2024, on the back of rise in prices of crude petroleum & natural gas and food articles. However, there was decline in prices of non-food articles and minerals in the reported month. 

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, declined 0.26% to 154.8 (provisional) in April 2024 from 155.2 (provisional) for the month of March 2024, as prices of electricity declined in April 2024 as compared to March, 2024. On the other hand, prices of mineral oils increased in April 2024 as compared to March 2024. 

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, surged 0.50% to 140.8 (provisional) in April 2024 from 140.1 (provisional) for the month of March 2024. Meanwhile, for the month of February 2024 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011- 12=100) stood at 151.2 and 0.20% respectively.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22,217.85, up by 113.80 points or 0.51% after trading in a range of 22,081.25 and 22,270.05. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Enterprises up by 5.49%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.92%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.23%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.60% and JSW Steel up by 2.43%. On the flip side, Cipla down by 4.05%, TCS down by 1.18%, Nestle down by 1.15%, Tata Consumer down by 1.05% and Axis Bank down by 0.81% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC fell 4.9 points or 0.06% to 8,204.38 and Germany’s DAX was down by 35.58 points or 0.19% to 18,706.64. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 12.9 points or 0.15% to 8,427.89. 

Asian markets ended mostly in green on Tuesday despite muted cues from the US markets. Japanese stocks eked out modest gains, led by gains in the banking and mining sectors. However, Chinese markets ended slightly lower after a choppy session ahead of an expected announcement by the Biden administration on raising tariffs on Chinese EVs, semiconductors, batteries, solar cells, steel and aluminum. On the economic data front, producer prices in Japan were up 0.3 percent on month in April, the Bank of Japan said - accelerating from 0.2 percent in March. On a yearly basis, producer prices rose 0.9 percent - unchanged from the previous month following an upward revision from 0.8 percent. Export prices were up 0.4 percent on month and 1.3 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices fell 0.1 percent on month and 4.3 percent on year.