Post Session: Quick Review

Boisterous benchmarks showcased an enthusiastic performance on Wednesday, by rallying around two percentage points amid strong global cues. Sentiments remained up-beat since start as key bourses opened with huge gap on upside and there appeared not even an iota of profit booking in the session as the benchmarks managed to fervently gain from strength to strength as investors continued hunt for fundamentally strong stocks. Frontline indices not only ended the session near intraday high levels but also recaptured their crucial 7,700 (Nifty) and 25,300 (Sensex) bastions as investors took to hefty across the board buying.

Sentiments remained optimistic with with Finance Minister’s statement that he will reach out to the Congress again to persuade it to support the much delayed GST bill in second half of the Budget Session beginning next month. Hopes of a rate cut by the RBI at its monetary policy review on April 5 accelerated buying activity.

Global cues too remained supportive with European counters making a firm start and CAC, DAX and FTSE were trading with a gain of over one and  half percent in early deals. Asian stocks ended mostly in green on Wednesday as markets scaled back expectations for how fast and how far US interest rates might rise this year, bruising the dollar and boosting sovereign bonds.

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 aided sentiments. The rupee appreciated by 14 paise to 66.39 against the US dollar in noon deals on increased selling of the American currency by exporters and banks amidst continued foreign fund inflows

Buying in banking counter too aided sentiments, as the Reserve Bank of India has tweaked its rule asking banks to use the marginal cost of funds formula to calculate interest rate for loans with fixed tenure of less three years. Shares of sugar manufacturers remained on buyers’ radar on expectation of lower production for sugar season 2016-17. Telecom stocks also remained in focus after the global rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has said that telecom tower companies in India will post a revenue growth of about 10 percent over the next two years as mobile operators are expanding their 3G and 4G footprint and will seek to lease more tower space.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index -- Nifty -- rose by over one hundred and forty points to end above the psychological 7,700 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex -- surged by around four hundred and forty points to finish above the psychological 25,300 mark. Broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of around two percentage points.

The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 1,861 shares on the gaining side against 763 shares on the losing side while 156 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 25338.58, up by 438.12 points or 1.76% after trading in a range of 25055.42 and 25358.84. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.81%, while Small cap index up by 1.87%. (Provisional)

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.85%, Bankex up by 3.13%, Metal up by 3.06%, Capital Goods up by 2.73% and Power up by 2.53%, while there were no losers on the BSE sectoral front. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 6.54%, Tata Steel up by 6.50%, Lupin up by 5.69%, Tata Motors up by 4.87% and Adani Ports &Special up by 4.64%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 1.03%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.02%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.78%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.26% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.15% were the top losers. (Provisional)

MEanwhile, India Inc has raised $1.35 billion from overseas markets in February 2016 down 40.2 percent compared to that of $2.26 billion raised in the corresponding year ago period, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data. The borrowings in a combination of automatic and approval route were done by way of external commercial borrowing (ECBs).

Out of the total borrowings during the month, $1.02 billion were raised through automatic route while $330 million came via approval route. Only one firm, Bharat Petroleum Corporation raised the entire $330 million through the approval route that was meant to be used for refinancing company’s earlier ECB.

Among major borrowers through automatic route, NTPC raised $500 million for power projects, Maxxis Rubber India raised $50 million for rupee Expenditure, Stelis Biopharma raised $47 million for new project, Sintex Industries and JK Tyre & Industries raised $35 million each for modernisation works, Rain Industries raised $30 million for overseas acquisition and Fresenius Kabi Oncology raised $29.02 million for general corporate purpose.

The CNX Nifty ended trading at 7735.20, up by 138.20 points or 1.82% after trading in a range of 7643.45 and 7741.95. There were 45 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 6.73%, ICICI Bank up by 6.31%, Lupin up by 5.26%, Bank of Baroda up by 4.77% and Vedanta up by 4.50%. On the flip side, Zee Entertainment down by 1.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.01%, HDFC down by 0.93%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.20% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.07% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC surged 70.72 points or 1.62% to 4,437.39, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 94.21 points or 1.54% to 6,200.11 and Germany’s DAX was up by 155 points or 1.57% to 10,042.94.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday followed Wall Street’s gains after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen offered another dovish outlook on the US economy and the pace of rate hikes, citing heightened global risks. China stocks enjoyed their best day in a month, with main indexes jumping more than 2 percent, as the mainland market joined a global rally after US Federal Reserve remarks hosed down expectations of imminent interest rate hikes. However, Japanese shares bucked the regional uptrend as the yen strengthened and weak industrial production data pointed to further softness in the economy. Japan's industrial output dropped 6.2 percent in February from the previous month, the most since March 2011, as production of vehicles, electronic devices and manufacturing equipment dropped.