Post Session: Quick Review

Friday’s session of trade turned out to be an upbeat one for local equity markets, which after making not so impressive start accumulated solid gains of around half of a percent that lifted both Sensex and Nifty above psychologically crucial 27,300 and 8,250 levels respectively, on relentless buying activity by both funds and retail investors after UN ESCAP report forecasted Indian economic growth at 8.1% in the current year from 7.4% last year, spurred by strong consumer spending amid low inflation, infrastructure projects and government's reform measures. The sentiments were also bolstered after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasted that the southwest monsoon is likely to hit the Kerala coast on May 30, two days ahead of schedule, which bodes well for timely sowing of crops. The session was productive for the broader indices too, which went home with gains in the range of 0.30-0.65%.

On the global front, Asian markets ended on mixed note with a downward bias despite a strong closing on the Wall Street yesterday, as investors lapped up further weakness in the dollar and calmer bond markets. The losses of Asia pacific region were led by Chinese stocks which slumped after Xiao Gang, chairman of the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said that the watchdog's recent move to accelerate approvals for initial public offerings won't have a big impact on the market - which some interpreted as a signal IPO activity could be stepped up further. Meanwhile, Europe markets rose on Friday after the European Central Bank's governor Mario Draghi said its quantitative easing policy would continue for as long as needed.

Closer home, almost all the sectoral indices on BSE concluded in positive territory, stocks from Consumer Durables, Technology and FMCG counters were the prominent gainers of the session. On the flip side, stocks from Realty, Metal and Power counters were the notable losers of the session. Losses of realty counter were mainly led by DLF shares, which fell by nearly 2% as the Competition Commission found the realty giant guilty of indulging in “unfair and abusive” business practices in sale of apartments in a Gurgaon housing project. In a fresh order yesterday against DLF. On the flip side, FMCG stocks gained after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasted that the southwest monsoon will hit the Kerala coast around 30 May, a timely arrival for farmers worried about dry weather from an El Nino weather pattern this year. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped decliners in the ratio of 1451:1238; while 115 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex concluded at 27324.00, up by 117.94 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 27159.76 and 27379.57. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.35%, while Small cap index gained 0.62%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 0.81%, TECK up by 0.69%, FMCG up by 0.67%, IT up by 0.65% and Healthcare up by 0.65% while, Realty down by 1.33%, Metal down by 1.05%, Power down by 0.25% and Oil & Gas down by 0.06% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 2.08%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.82%, HDFC up by 1.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.42% and Infosys up by 1.32%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 2.26%, NTPC down by 1.65%, Coal India down by 0.95%, GAIL India down by 0.85% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.68% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who just got a slew of reform measures approved in the just-concluded budget session of parliament, pointed that economy was in a recovery mode with inflation and fiscal deficit being under control and asserted of despondency now giving into a positive environment.

Further, listing the positives for the economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley unveiled that while services sector was expanding, infrastructure spending had increased and most of the laws that aimed to improve the management of the economy have sailed through in Parliament.

 Also, he unveiled that Modi-led government in the second year would be increasing spending on rural infrastructure, including irrigation and social sector schemes, but acknowledged the challenges to roll out the already expanded expenditure in infrastructure that would be very critical for growth in manufacturing. However, the minister expressed hopes of Reserve bank of India slashing rates in upcoming monetary policy on June 2, 2015.

Among the various reform measures taken so far, the government was able to get the legislations regarding insurance, coal and other minerals, black money bill, Companies laws amendment bill and Negotiable Instruments amendment bill approved in Parliament. He also highlighted that good progress was made on the Goods and Service Tax (GST) bill, which the government was hopeful of getting passed in the Monsoon session in July and further outlined that referral of land acquisition bill to the 30-member Joint Committee was the fastest route of getting approval.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility declined 4.27% at 19.81 from its previous close of 20.69 on Thursday. (Provisional)

The CNX Nifty settled at 8255.55, up by 31.35 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 8212.20 and 8279.20. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 3.83%, SBI up by 2.15%, HDFC up by 1.78%, Indusind Bank up by 1.71% and Bharti Airtel up by 1.45%. On the flip side, Bank Of Baroda down by 2.55%, PNB down by 2.42%, Vedanta down by 2.26%, NTPC down by 1.91% and Cairn India down by 1.26% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European Markets were trading in the green; Germany's DAX gained 0.21%, France's CAC rose 0.45% and UK's FTSE was up by 0.41%.

The Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, as investors awaited more US data later in the session for clues on the timing of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stated that there was improvement in the economy but that more forceful measures are needed to boost growth. Li warned that investment activity is moderating and that the trade sector is under big pressure owing to weak global conditions. The Bank of Korea held interest rates steady at a record low for a second consecutive month, while upbeat remarks by Governor Lee Ju-yeol pared the chances of another rate cut soon. Asia’s fourth-largest economy was recovering steadily at the pace seen in April, but sentiment among economic players clearly showed improving signs. The Bank of Korea’s monetary policy committee kept the base rate at 1.75% in a 6-1 vote.

Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda repeated that there is no need to expand the already massive monetary easing at this point as expectations of higher prices are evident. Kuroda added that the bank will take necessary action without hesitation if it detects a shift in the underlying price trend that could undermine the path toward anchoring 2% inflation at the earliest possible time. Kuroda enlightened that the mechanism of his two-year-old aggressive monetary easing is working in the bigger picture despite an unexpected slump in energy prices and a slow recovery in consumption. Japanese consumer confidence in April worsened for the first time in five months. The survey’s sentiment index for general households, which includes views on incomes and jobs, was at 41.5 in April, down from 41.7 in March. Japan’s M2 Money Stock remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted 3.6% compared to the preceding month.