Post Session: Quick Review

Extending their jubilation for second straight session, Indian equity benchmarks ended the session with a gain of around  two percent, with frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 7,350 (Nifty) and 24,200 (Sensex) levels. Sentiments remained up-beat since start as key bourses opened with a huge gap on the up-side and traded in tight band throughout the session as talk of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank gained momentum following the government’s commitment to the fiscal deficit road map as displayed in the Budget while the rupee rose against the dollar, which supported the upbeat mood.

Traders also got encouragement with Revenue Secretary Hashmukh Adhia’s statement that the Budget has attempted to make domestic industry competitive, fuel demand and create jobs. He added that new cesses and duty hikes may have made cars and garments costlier but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s focus in the Budget 2016-17 was job creation and making taxation simpler, not resource mobilization.

Global cues too supported domestic sentiments with European markets making firm start. CAC, DAX and FTSE were trading with a gain of around half a percent. Asian markets ended in green on Wednesday, digesting the surprise move by China's central bank to cut banks' reserve requirement ratio (RRR) to free up liquidity, and shrugging off fresh negative economic data from the mainland.

Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too participated strongly in the rally. Appreciation in Indian rupee too sided sentiments. The rupee added to its gains by rising 26 paise to a fresh three-week high of 67.61 against the dollar at the time of equity market closing on continued selling of the US currency by banks and exporters.

Banking shares mainly public sector undertakings (PSUs) remained on buyers’ radar after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has allowed banks to beef up its capital adequacy by including certain items such as property value, foreign exchange for calculation of its Tier-I capital. Shares of real estate companies edged higher for the second straight trading sessions after the Union Budget presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has assigned special thrust to rural India, infrastructure, real estate and the housing sector.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index -- Nifty -- rose by around one hundred and fifty points to end above the psychological 7,350 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex -- surged by over four hundred and sixty points to finish above the psychological 24,200 mark. Broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of around two percent.

The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 1,952 shares on the gaining side against 706 shares on the losing side while 136 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 24242.98, up by 463.63 points or 1.95% after trading in a range of 24043.89 and 24280.42. There were 23 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.88%, while Small cap index up by 2.21%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 5.05%, Bankex up by 4.92%, Finance up by 4.03%, PSU up by 2.57% and IT up by 2.49%, while FMCG down by 0.11% were the lone losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 12.39%, ICICI Bank up by 7.26%, Adani Ports &Special up by 5.88%, Hero MotoCorp up by 4.99% and BHEL up by 4.96%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.15%, Coal India down by 1.61%, Sun Pharma down by 1.57%, ITC down by 1.28% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) taking cues from the global oil market conditions have cut non-subsidized or market-priced domestic cooking gas (LPG) by Rs 61.5 per 14.2-kg bottle, which consumers buy after exhausting their quota of subsidised cooking fuel. This is the second reduction in rates of non-subsidized or market-priced LPG. Following the cut, non-subsidised cooking gas (LPG) now costs Rs 513.50 per 14.2-kg cylinder in Delhi as against Rs 575 previously. Non-subsidised LPG price was last cut on February 1 by Rs 82.5 per 14.2-kg bottle.

However, the oil firms have hiked the prices of the Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF). In Delhi, it has been raised by Rs 4,174.49 per kilolitre, or 11.88 percent, to Rs 39,301.31 per kilolitre. The hike comes on back of a steep 12 percent cut in rates from February 1 by Rs 4,765.5 per kilolitre. Jet fuel prices constitute over 40% of an airline’s operating cost. Rates vary from airport to airport depending on the local sales tax or value-added tax (VAT).

State-owned fuel retailers, Indian Oil Corp (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corp (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) revise jet fuel and non-subsidised LPG prices on the first of every month based on average imported cost and rupee-dollar exchange rate.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7368.85, up by 146.55 points or 2.03% after trading in a range of 7308.15 and 7380.35. There were 41 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 11.79%, ICICI Bank up by 7.34%, PNB up by 6.79%, Bank of Baroda up by 6.76% and Hindalco up by 6.69%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 5.44%, Coal India down by 2.16%, Sun Pharma down by 1.91%, ITC down by 1.78% and Bajaj Auto down by 1.24% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 20.79 points or 0.34% to 6,173.67, France’s CAC gained 23.21 points or 0.53% to 4,430.05 and Germany’s DAX was up by 34.27 points or 0.35% to 9,751.43.

Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday, as overnight gains in oil prices and signs of improvement in the US economy helped ease investor worries about slowing global growth. Expectations of further support from major central banks in Asia and Europe also boosted risk appetite. Japanese shares surged to a more than three-week high, as the dollar rose against the yen after strong US factory and construction data, giving exporters a boost and lifting the overall market. China stocks ended higher, led by gains in realty and commodity-related shares on hopes that Beijing will unveil mores steps to boost flagging economic growth. Investors shrugged off news that rating agency Moody's cut its China outlook to Negative from Stable, as the market awaits policy cues from China's annual meeting of top legislatures that starts March 5.