Post Session: Quick Review

Monday turned out to be a disappointing session of trade for Indian equity benchmarks where frontline gauges ended the session with a cut of over half a percent with key gauges breaching their crucial 25,700 (Sensex) and 7,900 (Nifty) levels amid weak global cues. Markets after a cautious start entered into red terrain and the indices even went on to test important psychological 25,600 (Sensex) and 7,800 (Nifty) levels, but the key gauges got some support near those intraday low levels as they trimmed their some of their losses from thereon as investors continued hunt for fundamentally strong stocks.

Market participants opted to remain on sidelines ahead of the April F&O series expiry later in the week. Traders failed to get any sense of relief with the PHD Chamber of Commerce’ statement that the Indian economy is likely to grow at nearly 8 percent in the current fiscal, driven by robust private consumption, which has benefited from lower energy prices and higher real incomes. Traders also shrugged off report that Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into India touched the ‘highest ever’ mark of $51 billion during the April-February period of last fiscal ended March 31.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red in early deals, consolidating gains from a strong week which saw a top index touch a 3-month high, with a drop in French utility EDF weighing on the market. Asian markets ended mostly in red, as telecommunication companies led Japanese shares lower and investors awaited policy decisions this week from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.

Back home, depreciation in Indian rupee too dampened sentiments. The rupee was trading lower by 21 paise at 66.71 against the dollar at the time of equity markets closing on sustained demand for the US currency from importers. Gold and jewellary stocks remained under pressure despite government deciding to set up a high-level sub-committee to look into the issue of excise duty on jewellery. The sub-committee, chaired by former Chief Economic Advisor Ashok Lahiri, will interact with the trade and industry on the issue.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index -- Nifty -- declined by over forty points to end below the psychological 7,900 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex -- dropped by around one hundred and sixty points to finish above the psychological 25,700 mark. Broader markets too traded under pressure and ended the session with a cut of around half a percent.

The market breadth remained in the favour off decliners, as there were 1,081 shares on the gaining side against 1,533 shares on the losing side while 150 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 25678.93, down by 159.21 points or 0.62% after trading in a range of 25585.93 and 25891.03. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.14%, while Small cap index down by 0.39%. (Provisional)

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 0.66%, TECK up by 0.30% and IT up by 0.18%, while Utilities down by 1.49%, Power down by 1.43%, Energy down by 1.27%, Metal down by 1.06% and PSU down by 0.95% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 1.74%, TCS up by 1.35%, Adani Ports & Special up by 0.91%, Bajaj Auto up by 0.71% and Infosys up by 0.67%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 2.47%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.18%, NTPC down by 1.82%, ONGC down by 1.80% and Tata Motors down by 1.62% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, a day after government rolled back its decision to tighten PF withdrawal norms restricting subscribers to withdraw employer’s share of PF contributions before the age of 58 years, the Retirement fund body Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in its meeting held on April 21, has planned to launch ‘One Employee One EPF Account’ system on May 1, in order to discourage premature PF withdrawals and encourage state governments to join its pension system.

Emphasizing the need for effective communication with employees and employers, EPFO’s Central Provident Fund Commissioner V P Joy stated that frequent withdrawals by employees on each job change, which is also encouraged by employers, need to be addressed by good service and simple interface.  He is of the view that employers and employees must be able to view and access the money trail pertaining to their individual profiles.

Joy stated that if the EPFO services and schemes are made more employee friendly, then a reference can be made to state governments for joining the EPF pension systems. He stated that once EPF services are improved then more people will voluntarily join the EPF system.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7855.05, down by 44.25 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 7827.00 and 7911.00. There were 20 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Airtel up by 1.66%, TCS up by 1.41%, BPCL up by 1.28%, Ambuja Cement up by 1.11% and Bajaj Auto up by 0.86%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.67%, Bank of Baroda down by 2.53%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.44%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.31% and NTPC down by 2.30% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; Germany’s DAX declined 95.56 points or 0.92% to 10,277.93, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 30.87 points or 0.49% to 6,279.57 and France’s CAC was down by 30.66 points or 0.67% to 4,539.00.

Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Monday as oil prices fell after three weeks of gains and concerns intensified over dangers to China's debt and commodities markets. Investors remain on the sidelines as they await the outcome of various central bank meetings scheduled for this week. Chinese shares fell on concerns over risks in debt and commodities markets after the official Xinhua News Agency reported another scam in China's risk-laden shadow banking sector involving about 1 billion yuan ($A199 million) of investor funds. Hong Kong shares fell on worries the risks in China's debt and commodity markets may spread to real estate. Japanese shares fell from an 11-1/2-week high, even as the safe-haven yen hit a three-week low against the dollar on expectations the Bank of Japan could start lending to banks at negative rates after its two-day policy review ending on April 28.