Post Session: Quick Review

Snapping their three day losing streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended the session with gain of around three fourth of a percent, with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 23,100 (Sensex) and 7,000 (Nifty) levels, as Economic Survey raised India's growth forecast. Markets started the session with a huge gap on the up side, but soon pared most of the profits as investors booked profit opting to offload risky assets at higher levels. Investors also remained on sidelines ahead of Union Budget 2016-17 on February 29, 2016.

Markets gathered pace in second half of trade as the Economic Survey revised upward India’s GDP growth range to 7 to 7.75 per cent for 2015-16 against earlier projected growth rate of 7 to 7.5 per cent. This is in line with the Central Statistics Office’s estimates predicting 7.6 per cent growth in the fiscal. The survey also expressed concern over approval of GST Bill being elusive so far and the disinvestment programme falling short of targets. The survey states that the next stage of subsidy rationalization remains a work-in-progress. It adds that corporate and bank balance sheets remain stressed affecting the prospects for reviving private investments.

Positive opening in European markets too aided sentiments. CAC, DAX and FTSE all were trading in green in early deals on the back of upturn in crude oil on Thursday, as the market focused on an upcoming meeting of major oil producers that investors hope could stabilize volatile petroleum markets. Asian equity markets ended mostly in green ahead of the two-day gathering of G20 finance ministers and central bankers in Shanghai that kicked off today, 26 February 2016 to discuss global economic growth concerns. 

Closer home, as a cheer to the common people, the economic survey stated that consumption can rise if spending from higher wages and allowances of government workers on implementation of Seventh Pay Commission and return of normal monsoon occur. On the flipside, the survey enumerated three downside risks - turmoil in global economy could worsen the outlook of exports, contrary to expectations oil price rise would increase the drag from consumption and the most serious risk it termed was combination of these two factors.

Banking stocks remained in limelight after the Economic Survey 2016 tabled by the Finance Minister stated plans of capitalizing PSU banks along with the rights to recover money from debt ridden promoters. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) asked lenders to spread out, in equal installments, provisions they make when they take over troubled loan accounts under a special restructuring programme to deal with stressed assets. Stocks of five fertilizer companies remained on buyers’ radar on hopes that the government may announce some important measures for reviving agriculture economy in the Union Budget 2016-17.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index -- Nifty -- rose by around sixty points to end above the psychological 7,000 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex -- surged by around one hundred and eighty points to finish above the psychological 23,150 mark. However, broader markets struggled to get some traction and ended the session mixed.

The market breadth remained in favor of decliners, as there were 1,039 shares on the gaining side against 1,135 shares on the losing side while 180 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 23154.30, up by 178.30 points or 0.78% after trading in a range of 23021.94 and 23227.91. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.30%, while Small cap index was down by 0.45%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.66%, Bankex up by 1.51%, Realty up by 1.47%, Finance up by 1.27% and Capital Goods up by 1.12%, while Telecom down by 0.68%, Healthcare down by 0.31%, Materials down by 0.24%, Consumer Discretionary Goods & Services down by 0.21% and Consumer Durables down by 0.16% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Coal India up by 4.09%, SBI up by 3.49%, NTPC up by 2.57%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.33% and Axis Bank up by 1.79%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.36%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.41%, Lupin down by 2.00%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.31% and GAIL India down by 0.44% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to review the progress of different infrastructure projects across sectors such as coal, power and roads, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called a meeting on March 4. During the meeting, Secretaries of various ministries including power, coal, new and renewable energy and roads will be present.

The Secretaries of various ministries will present the current status of their various projects. They will also present the report on the action taken by their respective ministries in the last two to three months. Earlier this month, the government has said that the project structure and regulations are being reviewed to offer investors attractive returns, seeking more private investment in ongoing infrastructure projects worth $100-150 billion

During the last five six months Prime Minister held monthly meetings with the Chief Ministers through video conferencing regarding pending projects worth Rs 4 lakh crore which have been rolled out.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7029.75, up by 59.15 points or 0.85% after trading in a range of 6985.10 and 7052.90. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Coal India up by 4.02%, Hindalco up by 3.43%, Vedanta up by 3.16%, SBI up by 2.70% and Cairn India up by 2.61%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.61%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.52%, Lupin down by 1.89%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.43% and ACC down by 0.75% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 surged 74.97 points or 1.25% to 6,087.78, France’s CAC soared 86.42 points or 2.03% to 4,334.87 and Germany’s DAX was up by 213.51 points or 2.29% to 9,544.99.

Asian markets ended higher on Friday, as a firmer finish on Wall Street, oil's overnight gains, a weakening yen and soothing comments by Chinese authorities over the state of the economy and chances of more stimulus, helped prop up investor confidence, heading into the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Shanghai. Japanese shares ended higher as the yen retreated to the lower 113 range and tepid consumer price inflation data added pressure on the Bank of Japan to expand its massive monetary stimulus program. Chinese shares ended higher after tumbling as much as 6.4 percent on Thursday on fears of tighter liquidity and the cooling economy. Sentiment received a boost after China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan said the country has more room to cushion the economy and that there is no reason for yuan to fall persistently.