Post Session: Quick Review

Buying activity which took place during last leg of trade mainly gave the markets positive close and key domestic benchmarks managed to keep their head above water on Wednesday. The trade remained choppy for most part of the day, as market participants remained cautious in view of a long weekend as markets will remain closed on Thursday and Friday on account of ‘Holi’ and ‘Good Friday’, respectively. Depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened sentiments. Extending its slide for the third straight day, the rupee shed another 16 paise to 66.87 against the dollar at the time of equity markets closing on appreciation of the American currency against others overseas.

But domestic gauges staged a smart recovery in last leg of trade, supported by short-covering in beaten down but fundamentally strong stocks. Traders got some encouragement with report that foreign institutional investors continued to remain buyers in Indian equities with net purchases of Rs 1,095 crore on Tuesday, as per provisional stock exchange data. Meanwhile, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya has said that in order to create jobs on a large scale, India should emerge as an attractive destination for big manufacturing firms that are moving out China because of rising wages and demographic transition.

Buying got accelerated with European markets making firm start with CAC, DAX and FTSE trading with a gain of around half a percent in early deals, as traders absorbed the shock of the suspected Islamic State suicide bomb attacks in Brussels. However, Asian equity indices ended lower amid geopolitical concerns after militants targeted Brussels airport and a city metro station on Tuesday.

Back home, sentiment remained supported by hopes the Reserve Bank of India would cut interest rates by as much as 50 basis points at its policy review on April 5, on the back of easing inflation and after the government stuck to its fiscal deficit target next year and slashed retail savings rate. Stocks related to capital goods counter edged higher after the Union Cabinet approved the national capital goods policy. The government believes implementation of the capital goods policy is critical and needed to give a boost to the sector and the 'Make in India' initiative.

Telecom shares edged higher amid reports that Reliance Jio may delay its launch of 4G service, while Moody’s report on the Bharti-Videocon deal also boosted sentiment. Aviation related stocks too edged higher supported by declining crude prices, the sharper focus by the government, and the cost-benefit advantage over the Railways.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index -- Nifty -- ended flat to hold its psychological 7,700 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex -- surged by around ten points to finish comfortably above the psychological 25,300 mark. Broader markets traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of around quarter a percent.

The market breadth remained in the favour off decliners, as there were 1,283 shares on the gaining side against 1,319 shares on the losing side while 171 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 25337.56, up by 7.07 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 25156.82 and 25367.81. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index  both ended up by 0.24%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.71%, Telecom up by 1.19%, Basic Materials up by 0.89%, TECK up by 0.67% and IT up by 0.61%, while Oil & Gas down by 1.10%, Energy down by 1.07%, Consumer Durables down by 1.00%, Power down by 0.28% and Bankex down by 0.24% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.31%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.05%, Infosys up by 1.50%, Bharti Airtel up by 1.17% and Coal India up by 1.05%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.83%, Lupin down by 1.63%, GAIL India down by 1.56%, NTPC down by 0.82% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.81% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, terming agriculture as “absolutely critical to the country’s economy” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and Unified Package Insurance Scheme. The revamped schemes would help farmers insure their crops against natural calamities in an efficient way because insurance companies will reverse bid for higher sum insured and lower premium. FM said that the schemes would be rolled out in a “mission mode” from April 1 to cover kharif crops.

Jaitley said that this is a crop insurance scheme with a difference, and the difference is absolutely critical to the Indian farmer. He added that since the new scheme was dependent on large volume, it would cover much larger risks at a very low premium. The farmers’ premium would be 2% for Kharif foodgrains and oil seeds crops and 1.5% for rabi crops. In this new scheme, farmers will pay less for more coverage and the compensation will be much more in the event of any crop failure or destruction.

The Finance Minister said that the government aims to cover 50 percent of the farmers, mostly those depending upon rain-fed agriculture and help reduce the prevailing distress in the agriculture sector. He also added that these schemes are a part of the government's efforts to convert India into an insured and pensioned society.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7716.50, up by 1.60 points or 0.02% after trading in a range of 7670.60 and 7726.85. There were 24 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Hindalco up by 4.94%, Idea Cellular up by 2.84%, Tata Steel up by 2.39%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.08% and Yes Bank up by 2.05%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.78%, Bank Of Baroda down by 1.71%, Lupin down by 1.61%, PNB down by 1.45% and GAIL India down by 1.37% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 10.28 points or 0.17% to 6,203.02, France’s CAC gained 26.01 points or 0.59% to 4,457.98 and Germany’s DAX was up by 84.11 points or 0.84% to 10,074.11.

Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as falling oil prices and fresh geopolitical worries in light of Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Brussels kept risk appetite in check ahead of the long Easter break beginning on Friday. Japanese shares fell in choppy trade as investors remained wary of movements in yen, oil and China's yuan, which eased against the dollar today, despite a firmer midpoint setting by the People's Bank of China. Seoul shares ended lower as investors braced for earnings and North Korea threatened a ‘miserable end’ for South Korea's president and her American allies in its latest colorfully worded attack. But Chinese shares bucked the trend to finish higher, despite Fitch Ratings warning on banks' profitability in 2016. Fitch expects Chinese bank profits to decline this year unless authorities relax the minimum NPL provisioning requirement of 150 percent.