Post Session: Quick Review

Local equity markets, which resumed trade after a long weekend, witnessed hefty gains of around three fourth of a percent on Monday on last hour buying activity which lifted both Sensex and Nifty above psychologically crucial 28,450 and 8,650 levels respectively. What started as a slow session of trade turned out to a fruitful one, with benchmarks witnessing accelerated momentum in the last hour of trade as buying picked pace on hopes of RBI slashing rates in its upcoming first bi-monthly monetary policy 2015-16, which is scheduled to be held on April 7, 2015. Meanwhile, the session also was heartening for broader indices, which outperforming larger counterparts, went home with gains of around 1-1.35%.

The sentiment remained somber in early trade on account of not so encouraging macro-economic data. On the macro-front, growth in India's pivotal services industry lost some momentum in March as input prices rose at the fastest pace in nearly a year with HSBC Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) easing to 53.0 in March from February's eight-month high of 53.9. Nevertheless, positive global set-up also aided the sentiment.

On the global front, Asian shares rose after a dismal US jobs report led investors to pare bets the US Federal Reserve would hike interest rates anytime soon. Labor Department data showed U.S. employers added just 126,000 jobs in March, the fewest in more than a year. Meanwhile, Major European markets were closed from Friday to Monday for the Easter holiday, reopening on Tuesday.

Closer home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE concluded into positive territory, nevertheless stocks from Healthcare, Realty and FMCG counters were the top gainers of the session. On the flip side, much of the drubbing was witnessed by stocks from Metal and banking counters were the only losers of the session. Banking stocks edged lower on account of profit-booking activities due to prevailing caution ahead of RBI policy. However, pharma stocks were story of the day on account of renewed buying activity. Sun Pharma stocks rallied over 8% after the company executed a settlement agreement with the Medicines Company USA regarding a generic version of Angiomax, Bivalirudin injection. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped declines in the ratio of 1806: 926; while 111 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex concluded at 28504.46, up by 244.32 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 28221.99 and 28530.81. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.11%, while Small cap index up by 1.37%. (Provisional)

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Healthcare up by 4.84%, Realty up by 6.43%, FMCG up by 2.35%, Consumer Durables up by 2.06% and Capital Goods up by 1.40% while, Metal down by 0.40% and Bankex down by 0.01% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 9.22%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 4.52%, GAIL India up by 3.80%, ONGC up by 3.70% and Cipla up by 3.70%. On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.02%, Wipro down by 1.63%, Reliance Industries down by 1.37%, Coal India down by 0.70% and HDFC Bank down by 0.50% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, there is good news for the Services sector as the government is expecting a significant increase in share of services in India's total goods and services exports in the next five years. In the recently announced Foreign Trade Policy (FTP), the government has fixed $900 billion exports target for goods and services for the five year period. Though, the government has not distributed this between merchandise and services but has announced Services Exports from India Scheme (SEIS). Under this, the government would provide duty scrips to exporters. The scrip is a kind of certificate which can be used for payment of duties or taxes including customs, services and excise.

The FTP has stated that the increasing surplus from services trade over the previous decade has helped to offset a major part of the merchandise trade deficit, thereby keeping a check on Current Account Deficit. Further to promote quality services, the FTP said the Department of Commerce is working on an ambitious reforms agenda for services.

In 2013-14, India's services exports stood at $ 151.5 billion in 2013-14, while outbound shipments of goods aggregated at $ 314 billion. The sector contributes around 58 per cent to the GDP of the country and 28 per cent to employment. Its contribution to total trade is 25 per cent, around 35 per cent to exports and 20 per cent to imports.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility surged 6.97% at 14.61 from its previous close of 13.66 on Wednesday. (Provisional)

The CNX Nifty settled at 8659.90, up by 73.65 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 8573.75 and 8667.55. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 8.15% and Dr. Reddys Lab up by 4.08% and GAIL India up by 3.92% and Cairn India up by 3.68% and Cipla up by 3.67%. On the flip side, PNB down by 2.17%, Wipro down by 1.90%, Tata Steel down by 1.71%, Reliance Industries down by 1.36% and Indusind Bank down by 1.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were closed today on account of 'Easter Monday' holiday.

The Asian markets closed mostly in green on Monday, after a dismal US jobs report pushed down US Treasury yields as investors pared bets that US Federal Reserve would hike interest rates anytime soon. The stock market of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were closed today on account of trading holiday. For Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s economic revival plan to work, pulling Japan out of decades of stagnation and deflation, companies need to be willing to use that cash for new investment in a way they have so far baulked at in the more than two years since he took office. Japan’s index of leading economic indicators rose to a seasonally adjusted 105.3.