Post Session: Quick Review

Extending their northward journey for fourth straight session, Indian equity benchmarks ended the Monday’s trade with a gain of one third of a percent. Markets traded in tight band throughout the session as investors remained cautious awaiting the Railway Budget and Economic Survey report later during the week. Investors hope policymakers will deliver a fiscally responsible Budget that nonetheless steers spending to key areas such as infrastructure. Parliament is due to start a new session on Tuesday amid growing worries about the government's stalled reforms agenda such as a revamp of the goods and services tax (GST).

Overall sentiments remained up-beat with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) raising India's growth forecast compared to 7.3 percent expansion projected in November 2015. It has said that Indian economy will continue to see robust growth at 7.4 percent in the next financial year even as only modest recovery is expected in advanced economies. Meanwhile, Finance Ministry has said that the quality of government expenditure has improved significantly in the current fiscal and is resulting in high growth. The Plan Expenditure during April-December showed significant improvement. According to CGA data, it was 74.4 per cent of Budget Estimate at the end of December, as compared to 61.3 per cent a year ago.

Global cues too remained supportive with European counters trading with a gain of around one and a half percent in early deals, buoyed by a positive trend set in Asia and a rebound in commodity prices. Asian markets ended mostly in green, extending last week’s gains, as investors awaited a rush of February industry surveys to take the pulse of the global economy, while sterling stumbled on concerns the UK might yet vote to leave the European Union.

Closer home, the rupee trimmed its initial losses, but was still trading down 8 paise at 68.54 against the American currency at the time of equity markets closing on bouts of dollar demand from some banks and importers. Buying in energy stocks too aided sentiments on the back of rise in the crude oil prices. Shares of cement companies edged higher ahead of the February 29 Union Budget amid hopes of an increase in infrastructure spending. The sector is expecting that the government will increase infrastructure spending by 29 per cent this year, including for smart cities and low-cost airports.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty gained by over twenty points to end near the psychological 7,250 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex declined by around eighty points to finish tad below its psychological 23,800 mark. Broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of around half a percent.

The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 1,398 shares on the gaining side against 1,151 shares on the losing side while 152 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 23788.79, up by 79.64 points or 0.34% after trading in a range of 23674.86 and 23855.04. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.75%, while Small cap index up by 0.46%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.37%, Healthcare up by 1.09%, Oil & Gas up by 0.99%, Basic Materials up by 0.84% and Telecom up by 0.83%, while Utilities down by 0.62%, Power down by 0.33%, IT down by 0.27% and TECK down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 3.77%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 2.13%, Asian Paints up by 2.04%, Reliance Industries up by 1.93% and ONGC up by 1.80%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.16%, ITC down by 2.08%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.62%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.39% and Wipro down by 1.34% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, with a view to attract more overseas inflows, the government is contemplating a proposal to permit 49 percent Foreign Direct investments (FDI) via automatic route in the insurance sector. The government could announce this decision in the forthcoming Budget. This move would help in improving ease of doing business.

Currently, FDI as much as 26% is permitted by means of automatic approval route. For FDI as much as 49%, the approval of FIPB is required. Apart from Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI), RBI is also looking at and the management is in the hands of Indian then the government may do away with the FIPB approval route. At present, there are 52 insurance companies operating in India, of which 24 are in the life insurance business and 28 in the general insurance. State-owned General Insurance Corporation (GIC), in addition, is the sole national reinsurer.

India has received $4.5 billion foreign direct investment (FDI), recording a whopping 114 percent growth during December 2015 which was more than double against the same period in 2014. During the period, the sectors which attracted FDI include computer software and hardware, trading, services, automobile and telecommunications. India receives maximum FDI from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and Japan.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7234.55, up by 23.80 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 7200.70 and 7252.40. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindustan Unilever up by 4.11%, Bosch up by 3.04%, Ultratech Cement up by 2.76%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.36% and Sun Pharma up by 2.11%. On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.16%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.00%, Adani Ports &Special down by 1.67%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.63% and ITC down by 1.54% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC surged 65.93 points or 1.56% to 4,288.97, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 71.34 points or 1.2% to 6,021.57 and Germany’s DAX was up by 156.86 points or 1.67% to 9,544.91.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Monday, extending last week's advance, as the yen weakened after the release of disappointing manufacturing data, oil prices stabilized and investors welcomed news over the weekend that China's top securities regulator has been replaced. China stocks ended higher, led by property and resources shares, as investors welcomed Beijing's decision to replace the top securities regulator and on signs the government was stepping up its economic stimulus efforts. China removed the head of its securities regulator, Xiao Gang, and replaced him with Liu Shiyu, a veteran of China's central bank and chairman of Agricultural Bank of China, to oversee the world's second-largest stock market in the wake of last summer's slump that saw Xiao blamed for mismanagement. Japanese shares reversed early declines, as the yen's retreat helped investors shrug off disappointing manufacturing data. Activity in Japan's manufacturing activity slowed sharply in February as new export orders contracted at the fastest pace in three years, a preliminary report from Nikkei revealed with a PMI score of 50.2, down from January's final reading of 52.3.