Post Session: Quick Review

Hectic buying activity which took place during last leg of trade mainly drove the markets higher and key domestic benchmarks recaptured their crucial 24,900 (Sensex) and 7,600 (Nifty) bastions. Markets made a decent start in morning and traded in tight band with a gain of around half a percent for most part of the day’s trade. Sentiments remained up-beat after Finance minister Arun Jaitley proposed fresh amendments to the Companies Act to do away with the restriction of routing funds through only two layers of investment companies as well as seeking government approval for managerial remuneration.

Some support also came with report that Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pumped in Rs 11,933 crore ($1.77 billion) in past 11 trading sessions post Budget. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has issued guidelines to trade in currency futures and said that primary dealers or bond houses should have a minimum capital base of Rs 250 crore to participate in the exchange traded currency futures market.

Buying got intensified after European markets made a firm opening with CAC, DAX and FTSE were trading in green in early deals. Asian markets ended mostly in green as investors turned more positive on riskier assets after the Federal Reserve's cautious stance on further interest rate increases. However, Japanese market bucked the trend as the dollar’s fall against the yen is seen hurting the country’s exporters.

Back home, increased buying by participants and sustained inflows by foreign funds and positive global cues led to across-the-board gains. Furthermore, a strengthening rupee which surged to trade at over two-month high of 66.55 against the dollar at the forex market today too buoyed the trading sentiments. Buying in cement space too added sentiments on report that most of the cement stocks have outperformed the market Since March 11, 2016 after the Union cabinet on cleared a proposal to amend the mines and minerals law to allow the transfer of captive mines granted through non-auction routes, a move likely to spur mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the cement industry.

Sugar stocks remained in limelight on report that India, the world’s second-biggest sugar producer, is likely to export 1.9 million tonnes to 2 million tonnes of sugar in the FY16 marketing year started on October 1. Financials gained on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India may soon ease key policy rates. However, pharma stocks remained under pressure on report that the pharma sector in India could witness an immediate loss of Rs 1,000 crore due to the government ban on combination drugs that include cough syrups, anti-diabetic medicines and flu treatments.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty gained by over ninety points to end above the psychological 7,600 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by over two hundred and seventy points to finish below its psychological 24,900 mark. Broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of over half a percent.

The market breadth remained in favor of decliners, as there were 1,291 shares on the gaining side against 1,316 shares on the losing side while 181 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 24952.74, up by 275.37 points or 1.12% after trading in a range of 24681.64 and 24986.94. There were 25 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.66%, while Small cap index up by 0.61%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 2.31%, TECK up by 2.17%, Metal up by 2.14%, Basic Materials was up by 2.10% and Realty up by 1.57%, while Healthcare down by 0.82% remained the lone losing index on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 3.20%, SBI up by 2.90%, Adani Ports &Special up by 2.89%, GAIL India up by 2.79% and Infosys up by 2.48%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 6.83%, Sun Pharma down by 1.18%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.39% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.20% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Apparel Export Promotion Council (APC) has welcomed the European Union’s (EU) decision to extend Generalized Scheme of Preferences for three years till 2019. Under the extension, India’s ready-made garments (RMG) sector will continue to get 20 per cent tariff preference on exports to EU for the next three consecutive years.

The European Union’s scheme of GSP was scheduled to end on 31 December, 2016.  AEPC has said that the Indian Ready Made Garments sector will continue to enjoy its position of being a beneficiary under the current scheme which has affected the textile sector through removal of this tariff preference.

AEPC has said that the Indian products will gain a new edge in new markets. Of India’s total annual garments exports of around $17 billion, about a third go to the EU. Indian RMG exports to EU are 36 per cent of the country’s total exports of readymade garments.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7604.35, up by 91.80 points or 1.22% after trading in a range of 7517.90 and 7613.60. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 7.01%, Hindalco up by 5.19%, ACC up by 4.99%, TCS up by 3.14% and GAIL India up by 3.13%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 7.16%, Sun Pharma down by 1.36%, BPCL down by 0.92%, Power Grid down by 0.83% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.39% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; Germany’s DAX increased 9.97 points or 0.1% to 9,902.17, France’s CAC rose 12.34 points or 0.28% to 4,455.23 and UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 16.55 points or 0.27% to 6,217.67.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Friday, after US indexes ended higher and oil prices hit their highest levels for this year. Sentiments were also upbeat as investors turned more positive on riskier assets after the Federal Reserve's cautious stance on further interest rate increases. Hong Kong shares rose, buoyed by gains in mainland China shares which were boosted by easing fears of capital outflows as the dollar weakened. Meanwhile, Japanese shares bucked the regional uptrend to end lower after the dollar plunged to a near 17-month low against the yen overnight, pressuring exporters and dented overall sentiment.