The Indian markets surged in last session in a late rally on the back of renewed foreign fund flows and broad-based weakness in the American currency. Today, the start of the holiday truncated week is likely to be mildly in green despite mixed Asian cues, as prospect of a lower interest rate regime has increased significantly with hopes of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) cutting rates in its monetary policy review on April 5. Though, there will be some cautiousness too in the markets, with the government slashing interest rates on small-savings schemes, including the Public Provident Fund and Kisan Vikas Patra in order to align these administered interest rates closer to the market rates. However, clearing stance of his ministry, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that the country has to move towards lower interest rates. He articulated that cut on Public Provident Fund (PPF) rates was a right decision by the government and part of routine procedure. There will be some buzz in the telecom stocks on report that the Department of Telecom (DoT) is unlikely to auction the entire spectrum in 700 Mhz as it feels telecom operators may not bid aggressively for the band due to high reserve price. Some buzz can be seen in the gold and jewellary stocks too, as jewellers called off a 19-day strike late on Saturday after the government assured they will not be harassed by the excise department in collecting a new tax.
The US markets moved higher in the last session and the major averages once again ended the session at their best closing levels in well over two months. The Asian markets have made a mixed start and while the Chinese market has surged amid plans to loosen curbs around margin lending imposed by officials after last year’s equity rout, some other indices are in red as crude oil extended decline.
Back home, Indian equity benchmark indices staged a blockbuster performance on the last day of the week by vehemently rallying over a percentage points in the session, as overseas investors continued pumping money into the emerging markets following the dovish stance by global central banks. Foreign investors have bought a net $1.77 billion of shares so far in March, versus this year's outflows of $1.1 billion. Sentiments got some support with the report that Finance minister Arun Jaitley has 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. Besides, a strengthening rupee which surged to trade at over two-month high of 66.55 against the dollar in early trade, too buoyed the sentiments. Meanwhile, Shares of Sugar companies like Balrampur Chini Mills, Eid Parry and Shree Renuka Sugars rallied after sugar prices jumped to their highest levels in more than a year on Thursday, while Telecom companies like Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular gained after Supreme Court asked TRAI to consider partial rollback of call drop penalty. Financial stocks gained on hopes that the Reserve Bank of India may soon ease key policy rates. On the other hand, Pharma shares continued to witness selling pressure after the recent ban on over 300 combination drugs by the government. On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in green, however the European shares opened slightly lower on Friday. Back home, the benchmark got off to a positive start in the morning trade as investors were largely influenced by the supportive leads from Asian markets. Second half of the session saw the key gauges capitalize on the momentum further and spurt to session’s highest levels in dying moments. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 275.37 points or 1.12% to 24952.74, while the CNX Nifty rose 91.80 points or 1.22% to 7,604.35.
