Post Session: Quick Review

Buying activity which took place during last leg of trade mainly drove the markets higher and key domestic benchmarks showcased an enthusiastic performance on Monday, by rallying over a percentage point. Earlier, markets traded choppy for most part of the day’s trade as Traders remained cautious ahead of key economic data tomorrow. The government will release data for Consumer Price Inflation for March and Index of Industrial Production for February on April 12. Some cautiousness also crept in with a WTO report stating that India’s rank remained unchanged at 19th in 2015 in the list of top 30 merchandise exporters of the world, though India's ranking among top importers slipped by one notch to 13th in 2015. India’s exports dipped by 17.2 percent to $ 267 billion last year while imports aggregated at $ 392 billion.

But, rally in last leg of trade mainly helped the frontline indices not only ended the session near intraday high levels but also recaptured their crucial 7,650 (Nifty) and 25,000 (Sensex) bastions as investors took to hefty across the board buying. Traders got some support with Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das’ statement that a Parliamentary panel is expected to submit its report on the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Code on April 29 and government would push for the passage of the bill in the second leg of the Budget session. Sentiments also got some support with Naushad Forbes, the new President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), stating that Indian industry is ready to grant greater market access to European Union firms in areas such as automobiles, wines and spirits in return for gains in garments, automobiles, automobile components and services sector in a bid to end a deadlock on the proposed EU Free Trade Agreement.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green reversing earlier losses helped by gains in Italian banks and mining stocks. The Italian banking sector index rose sharply for a second straight session on hopes the Italian government will soon thrash out a plan to set up a state-backed fund to buy bad loans and plug capital shortfalls. Asian markets exhibited mixed trend on Monday with mainland Chinese shares posting strong gains on signs of easing deflationary pressures in the world's second-largest economy, while Japanese shares fell in thin trade as the dollar fell back to below 108 yen and data showed Japan's core machinery orders fell 9.2 percent in February from the previous month.

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 aided sentiments. The rupee was trading strong at 66.40 at the time of equity markets closing as compared to a previous close of 66.47 on increased dollar selling by banks.

Buying in banking counter too aided sentiments as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has issued instructions on trading in Priority Sector Lending Certificates. RBI also launched a platform to enable trading in the certificates through its Core Banking Solution (CBS) portal (e-Kuber). Metal & mining stocks too edged higher as copper prices rose in global commodity markets. On the flip side, Liquor stocks edged lower on reports that alcohol will be prohibited in Tamil Nadu in a phased manner if J Jayalalitha retains power after upcoming assembly elections in the state.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index -- Nifty -- rose by over one hundred and ten points to end above the psychological 7,650 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex -- surged by around three hundred and fifty points to finish above the psychological 25,000 mark. Broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of around a percent.

The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 1,471 shares on the gaining side against 1,113 shares on the losing side while 128 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex end at 25022.16, up by 348.32 points or 1.41% after trading in a range of 24523.20 and 25049.92. There were 25 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices end in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.09%, while Small cap index up by 0.63%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 3.89%, TECK up by 2.25%, Power up by 2.10%, Auto up by 2.00% and IT up by 1.92%, while there were no losers on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 4.33%, Adani Ports &Special up by 4.18%, Bharti Airtel up by 3.95%, Wipro up by 3.68% and Tata Motors up by 3.59%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 1.53%, Cipla down by 0.57%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.25% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.19% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, stretching the energy ties with Iran, India is to invest up to $20 billion in oil and gas as well as petrochemical and fertiliser projects in the Persian Gulf country subject to provision of concessional rights. Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has informed the Iranian side that India is interested in setting up petrochemical and fertiliser plants, including those in Chabahar SEZ, either through a joint venture between Indian and Iranian public sector companies or with private sector partners.

In this regard Pradhan has requested Iran to allocate appropriate and adequate land in the SEZ and has also requested the Iranian side for favourable treatment in the pricing of gas for India and supply of rich gas at competitive price on long-term basis for the life of joint venture projects Indian companies are interested in setting up.

Furthermore, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, on a two-day visit to Tehran from April 9, also discussed with his Iranian counterpart the repayment of nearly $6.5 billion that Indian refiners owe to Iran, but there is no agreement yet on rights to develop Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf discovered by OVL. Pradhan conveyed that India is committed towards making payments as and when banking channels, acceptable to both sides, are available.

Pradhan also conveyed to the Iranian side that both countries must expand the basket of oil and gas trade. He expressed India’s interest in importing LPG from Iran and said companies from both sides could discuss on setting up an extraction plant in Chabahar, if required. Both sides agreed to continue examining various means of evacuation of gas such as LNG, including through the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline.

The CNX Nifty end at 7671.40, up by 116.20 points or 1.54% after trading in a range of 7516.85 and 7678.80. There were 46 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Idea Cellular up by 5.64%, Bosch up by 5.22%, Hindalco up by 5.13%, Adani Ports & Special up by 4.47% and Bank Of Baroda up by 4.37%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 1.39%, Ambuja Cement down by 0.53%, Cipla down by 0.46%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.33% and Ultratech Cement down by 0.21% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 14.77 points or 0.34% to 4,317.89 and Germany’s DAX was up by 77.72 points or 0.81% to 9,699.98, while UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 2.95 points or 0.05% to 6,201.46.

Asian equity markets ended mixed on Monday, with mainland Chinese shares posting strong gains on signs of easing deflationary pressures in the world's second-largest economy. China reported its inflation rate in March was 2.3 percent unchanged from February, while the producer price index or wholesale prices paid at the factory gate dropped 4.3 percent. Hong Kong stocks ended up, aided by a bullish mainland market after China's March inflation came in lower than forecast and fanned optimism Beijing will keep monetary policy loose. However, Japanese shares fell in thin trade as the dollar fell back to below 108 yen and data showed Japan's core machinery orders fell 9.2 percent in February from the previous month, making its first and fastest contraction in three months.