Post Session: Quick Review

Wednesday’s session turned out to be an upbeat session of trade for local equity market due to across the board buying activity by funds and retail investors, on rate cut hopes and positive global cues which lifted both Sensex and Nifty above psychologically crucial 27,800 and 8,400 levels respectively, with gains of around three fourth of a percent. Besides, value buying by participants also influenced the sentiment. Meanwhile, bulls also turned boisterous after the mid-year update of the UN World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP), which said that India's economy is projected to grow by 7.6% this year and 7.7% in 2016, overtaking China which is projected to grow by 7% in 2015 and 6.8% next year. In the extremely buoyant session of trade, benchmark equity indices going from strength to strength concluded near day’s highest point. Meanwhile, the session also was productive for broader indices, which went home with slender gains.

On the global front, Asian shares ended mostly higher, despite mixed performance of Wall Street, mainly lifted by Nikkei index which surged to a nearly one-month high on account of Japan's better-than-expected economic growth. The Nikkei stock index rose after data before the market open showed Japan's economy grew at a 2.4 percent annualized rate in the January-March period, its fastest pace in a year, on a pick-up in capital spending and beating the consensus estimate for 1.5 percent growth. Meanwhile, European stocks slipped on Wednesday, giving back a portion of gains notched up in an ECB-inspired rally the previous session. Also cautiousness ahead of the release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s meeting in April also weighed on the sentiment.

Back home, most of the sectoral indices on BSE concluded in positive territory, however stocks from Metal, Auto and Capital Goods counters were the losers. On the flip side, stocks from Information Technology, Banking and Infrastructure counters were the prominent gainers of the session. Rupee’s weakness mainly lifted IT stocks higher, while rate cut hopes buoyed the sentiment for banking shares. In a related development for the banking sector, Finance ministry issued draft guidelines on gold monetization scheme that will encourage Indians to vest the gold in their possession with banks and earn interest on it. Banks could treat gold deposits as part of their cash reserve ratio (CRR) or statutory liquidity ratio (SLR), the finance ministry said in its guidelines released to seek opinions about its gold monetization scheme. The overall market breadth on BSE was in the favour of advances which thumped decliners in the ratio of 1360:1334; while 141 shares remained unchanged.

The BSE Sensex concluded at 27837.21, up by 191.68 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 27743.99 and 27903.01. There were 18 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index ended flat while Small cap index was up by 0.17%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.78%, TECK up by 1.51%, Bankex up by 0.86%, Infrastructure up by 0.75% and Power up by 0.51% while, Metal down by 0.77%, Auto down by 0.54%, Capital Goods down by 0.29%, PSU down by 0.00% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Power up by 2.04%, TCS up by 1.99%, HDFC up by 1.86%, Wipro up by 1.84% and HDFC Bank up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.19%, Tata Steel down by 1.94%, BHEL down by 1.81%, Hindalco down by 1.04% and Axis Bank down by 0.90% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, retail inflation based on consumer price index for rural labourers (CPI-RL) eased to 5.49 percent in March from 6.19 percent in previous month, while the rate of price rise based on consumer price index for agricultural labourers (CPI-AL) too softened to 5.24 percent in March from 6.08 percent in February. The retail inflation eased due to fall in prices of some food items. Inflation based on food index of CPI-AL and CPI-RL stood at 4.05% and 4.31% respectively during March, 2015.

The All-India Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural Labourers remained stationary at 803 points and for Rural Labourers, with the increase of 1 point, stood at 807 points during March. As per the Labour Ministry data, the rise/fall in index varied from State to State. In case of Agricultural Labourers, it recorded an increase between 1 to 9 points in 13 States and a decrease between 1 to 6 points in 7 States.  Haryana with 902 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh with the index level of 664 points stood at the bottom. In case of Rural Labourers, it recorded an increase between 1 to 10 points in 13 States and a decrease between 1 to 6 points in 7 States.  Haryana with 898 points topped the index table whereas Himachal Pradesh with the index level of 695 points stood at the bottom.

The Consumer Price Index Numbers for Agricultural Labourers in respect of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal States registered the maximum decrease of 6 points each and for Rural Labourers, West Bengal State registered the maximum decrease of 6 points due to decrease in the prices of rice, wheat atta, onion and vegetables & fruits. Whereas the Index Numbers for Agricultural Labourers for Tripura State registered the maximum increase of 9 points and for Rural Labourers, Jammu & Kashmir State registered the maximum increase of 10 points mainly due to increase in the prices of maize, bread, pulses, meat goat, vegetables & fruits and knitted garment wool.

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility declined 3.09% at 17.70 from its previous close of 18.26 on Tuesday. (Provisional)

The CNX Nifty settled at 8423.25, up by 57.60 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 8391.45 and 8440.35. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.35%, HCL Tech up by 2.51%, HDFC up by 2.13%, TCS up by 1.76% and Wipro up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.37%, Idea Cellular down by 2.26%, Tata Steel down by 2.09%, Cairn India down by 2.06% and BHEL down by 2.00% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European Markets were trading mostly in red; Germany's DAX lost 0.37% and France's CAC was down by 0.37%, while UK's FTSE was up by 0.05%.

The Asian markets closed mostly in green on Wednesday, with Nikkei stocks closing at a fresh 15-year high on a weaker yen and solid Japanese growth data. Japan’s economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year in January-March as business investment rose slightly, but goods piling up in factory warehouses posed a potential challenge to policy makers seeking to vanquish years of deflation. Private consumption, housing investment and exports all rose but at a feeble pace, leaving Tokyo with more work to do two years after a radical monetary stimulus program has brought only scant success. The world’s third-largest economy expanded at an annualized rate of 2.4% in the first three months of this year, beating a median market forecast for a 1.5% increase and a revised 1.1% expansion in October-December. The data will be closely scrutinized at the BOJ’s two-day rate review that ends on Friday. The central bank is widely expected to maintain its massive stimulus program and rosy assessment of the economy.

Indonesia’s central bank held its key interest rate steady for the third consecutive month despite slowing growth in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. Bank Indonesia’s board of governors kept the rate at 7.50%. An influential South Korean government think tank stated that economic growth this year would slow to the 2% range unless some structural and monetary changes, including more interest rate cuts, are made. The Korea Development Institute (KDI) stated that growth above 3% could only be achieved if the central bank lowers interest rates once or twice more and the government’s structural reforms succeed.