Markets to continue their upward trend with a positive start

The Indian markets making a hat-trick of rally continued their surge in last session and the major averages posted gains of around one and half a percent. Today, the upbeat global cues are indicating another positive start of trade for the Indian markets. Meanwhile, the infra space will be buzzing today, as the Prime Minister Narendra Modi will review the progress of infra projects across sectors such as coal, power and roads. Secretaries from the respective ministries will present the current status of projects at the meeting. There will be some buzz in the NBFC stocks, as the Reserve Bank has came out with a draft regulatory framework for a new kind of NBFC which would act as an account aggregator to help people view their accounts across financial institutions in a common format. As per the draft, only companies registered with the RBI as Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) AA will be able to undertake the business of an account aggregator. The telecom stocks too will be in action, as the Supreme Court will be hearing a plea of two cellular operator associations challenging a Delhi High Court order upholding TRAI’s decision making it mandatory for them to compensate subscribers for call drops from January 1, 2016.  

The US markets managed a positive close for the third straight day in last session, though the gains were modest but major averages once again ended the session at their best closing levels in almost two months. The Asian markets have made mostly a positive start ahead of key US jobs data and the start of the Chinese national legislature’s annual gathering. The US nonfarm payrolls will give investors further insight into the health of the world’s biggest economy and the likelihood of further interest-rate hikes.

Back home, euphoric Indian equities showcased an impressive performance on Thursday, by recapturing the crucial 24,600 (Sensex) and 7,450 (Nifty) levels as the post-Budget rally continued following creation of higher bets coupled with a fresh spell of foreign fund inflows.  Initially it was the strong growth forecast by IMF (International Monetary Fund) that gave the required impetus to the local equity markets, as it projected India’s economic growth moving up to 7.5 percent in the 2016-17 fiscal year from 7.3 percent this year, citing a fall in global oil prices and positive policy actions from the government as reasons for its improved outlook. Besides, continued buying from FIIs, encouraged by the regulatory fillip to the financial sector and the government’s commitment to keep to the 3.5 per cent fiscal deficit target also boosted the domestic sentiment. The rally was so strong that investors overlooked the report that the growth in India's services industry slowed sharply in February, as rising prices led to a slight deceleration in demand. The Nikkei/Markit Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) sank to 51.4 in February from January's 54.3, but chalked up its eighth straight month above the 50-level that distinguishes growth from contraction. On the global front, Asian markets, including those of Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Shanghai, ended in the positive territory, while the European stock markets started weaker. Earlier on Dalal Street, the benchmark got off to good start as sentiments remained sanguine, thanks to encouraging leads from the Asian and overnight US markets, which gained after better-than-expected news on manufacturing, adding fuel to an early rally on China’s latest stimulus move. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 364.01 points or 1.50% to 24606.99, while the CNX Nifty rose 106.75 points or 1.45% to 7,475.60.