Post Session: Quick Review

Immense volatility characterized trading whereby benchmark equity indices kept altering between green and red terrain throughout the session to end slightly in the green on Wednesday. However, broader indices outperformed benchmarks and garnered gain of around half a percent. Traders got some encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India has its ‘hands full’ in bringing about structural changes and implementing key reforms to boost economic growth and hoped that the country will be able to improve its growth this year from the 7.6% achieved last fiscal.

However, gains remained capped on report that India’s exports contracted by 5.47 percent to $22.71 billion in the month of march as shipments of petroleum and engineering products shrunk sharply due to tepid global demand. Market participants also remained cautious with Arun Jaitley’s statement that the global economic situation is grim and worrisome and that has prompted the nations to put up firewalls around their own systems to save themselves from the slowdown and grow within the limitations. Though, he also said that compared to the rest of the world, the Indian economy was growing much faster.

Global cues remained sluggish with European markets making a weak opening, retreating from their three-month highs on Wednesday, with a fall in oil and metals prices putting pressure on commodities-related stocks. Weakness in Asian markets too dampened sentiments. Most of the Asian counters ended in red after oil prices took a fresh spill on news Kuwaiti oil workers ended a three-day strike.

Back home, some support came in with appreciation in Indian rupee. The rupee strengthened by 36 paise to 66.19 against the US dollar at the time of equity markets closing at the Inter-bank Foreign Exchange on increased selling of American currency by exporters. Buying in power space too aided sentiments as a high-level panel has suggested for real-time trading of power and making energy exchanges more flexible to facilitate integration of renewable energy with the electricity grid.

Steel counters too witnessed buying on expectation of improvement in earnings and margins on a sequential basis for the quarter ended March 2016 (Q4FY16). Shares of air conditioner and air cooler makers viz. Hitachi Home and Life Solutions (India), Lloyd Electric and Engineering, Voltas, Blue Star etc. edged higher on expectations of good retail air conditioner sales in summer season. However, sugar companies edged lower after media reports stated that the government mulling to control sugar prices rise.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty ended flat to hold its psychological 7,900 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex gained around thirty points to finish above its psychological 25,800 mark. Broader markets, however, outperformed benchmarks and ended the session with a gain of around half a percent.

The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 1,471 shares on the gaining side against 1,149 shares on the losing side while 150 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 25844.18, up by 27.82 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 25716.81 and 25956.34. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.10%, while Small cap index up by 0.64%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.77%, Consumer Durables up by 1.81%, Basic Materials up by 1.65%, Utilities up by 1.34% and Power up by 1.07%, while Energy down by 1.24%, Telecom down by 1.22%, Oil & Gas down by 0.73%, Auto down by 0.57% and TECK down by 0.55%, were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 6.60%, Axis Bank up by 3.20%, GAIL India up by 2.27%, Wipro up by 2.13% and NTPC up by 1.47%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.71%, Reliance Industries down by 2.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.42%, Maruti Suzuki down by 1.35% and Sun Pharma down by 1.28% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, amid rising concern over the declining shipments, exporters body Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO) has demanded the government to announce steps to contain the fall in exports and boost out-bound shipments. FIEO further said that it has become even more serious that the fall in exports during the last quarter of FY16 was on a low base.

It said that investment-linked benefit should be announced for MSME exporters, line of credit or buyers' credit to boost exports and setting up an Export Development Fund. Also, it has called for steps like declaring exports as a priority sector for the lending purpose and restoration of interest subsidy to all exporters.

FIEO stated that the continuous slowdown in demand in global markets and liquidity problem are primarily responsible for the drop in out-bound shipments in 2015-16 and that uncertainty on the policy front, ease of doing business and high cost of credit did play a smaller role in the decline.

India’s merchandise exports extending decline for the sixteen months in row, contracted by 5.47 percent to $22718.69 million in the month of March. For the whole of 2015-16, exports declined by 15.8 per cent to a 5-year low of $261.13 billion due to fragile global demand and low commodity prices.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7914.75, up by 0.05 points after trading in a range of 7877.55 and 7950.40. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 6.53%, Hindalco up by 4.89%, Axis Bank up by 3.11%, Bank of Baroda up by 3.07% and GAIL India up by 2.28%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 3.15%, TCS down by 2.75%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.63%, Reliance Industries down by 2.58% and Zee Entertainment down by 1.93% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 31.76 points or 0.5% to 6,373.59, Germany’s DAX shed 17.35 points or 0.17% to 10,332.24 and France’s CAC was down by 10.24 points or 0.22% to 4,556.24.

Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday after oil prices declined in response to news a three-day strike by oil workers in Kuwait had been wound up. Shanghai stocks has their worst performance in eight weeks on Wednesday, tumbling more than 2 percent and breaching a key technical support level as investors who are increasingly worried about the economy took profits from a long rally. Japanese shares pared early gains to end slightly firmer, as oil prices retreated in Asian deals and the yen strengthened in the wake of encouraging trade balance data and comments from BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda that there is scope for pushing the interest on excess cash parked by banks further into negative territory.