Post Session: Quick Review

Snapping their three days losing streak, Indian equity benchmarks ended the Thursday’s trade with a gain of around half a percent as traders opted to buy beaten down but fundamental stocks. Sentiments remained up-beat with Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan’s statement that the Monsoon is expected to hit Kerala by May-end or early June, with various forecasting agencies predicting normal or above normal rainfall this year.

Some support also came in with report that India is considering setting up an independent panel to help state-owned banks negotiate settlements with big businesses on bad loans, in order to shield bankers from a populist backlash they say is hobbling efforts to clean up their balance sheets. Bad debt has hampered banks' ability to lend, threatening to throttle a nascent economic recovery. Traders ignored a private report, which stated that government must focus on structural reforms to put the country on the path of faster economic growth, as the 'several reforms' implemented so far may not be enough in a fast-changing world.

Firm opening in European markets too aided sentiments. European stocks snapped a four-day losing streak, buoyed by some solid corporate earnings by firms, including BT, and a rise in the shares of major oil companies that were boosted by a stronger oil price. Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday as mixed economic data did nothing to assuage concerns about global growth, keeping sovereign bonds well supported as a hedge against deflation risks.

Back home, sentiment was buoyed as blue chips such as Tata Motors rebounded after a three-session losing streak. Appreciation in Indian rupee too supported the sentiments. The rupee appreciated by 5 paise to 66.50 against the US currency at the time of equity markets closing at the Interbank Foreign Exchange on fresh selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. Aviation stocks like Jet Airways and Indigo ended higher on some reports that the civil aviation policy is likely to come before the Cabinet next week and it may retain the proposal of auctioning unused bilateral rights.

However, public sector oil marketing companies i.e. IOC and HPCL edged lower as crude prices edged higher in the global commodities markets, after a huge wildfire in Canada disrupted its oil sands production and fighting between rival eastern and western political factions in Libya prevented a cargo belonging to trading giant Glencore from loading. Stocks related to telecom space declined on concerns of increase in debt burden and interest costs as these companies look to add data spectrum in key markets in the upcoming spectrum auction around July 2016.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty gained around thirty points to end above the psychological 7,700 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by over one hundred and sixty points to finish above its psychological 25,200 mark. Broader markets, however, witnessed selling pressure and ended the session with marginal cut.

The market breadth remained in the favour off decliners, as there were 1,231 shares on the gaining side against 1,321 shares on the losing side while 152 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 25262.21, up by 160.48 points or 0.64% after trading in a range of 25162.94 and 25394.10. There were 18 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.09%, while Small cap index down by 0.03%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.60%, Industrials up by 0.87%, FMCG up by 0.83%, Realty up by 0.73% and Power up by 0.61%, while Telecom down by 1.81%, Consumer Durables down by 0.46%, Oil & Gas down by 0.16%, TECK down by 0.13% and Energy down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were BHEL up by 2.88%, HDFC up by 2.58%, Larsen & Toubro up by 2.24%, Tata Motors up by 1.90% and Cipla up by 1.81%. On the flip side, Adani Ports &Special down by 4.48%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.64%, Asian Paints down by 0.61%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.34% and Reliance Industries down by 0.30% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, sounding an alarm bell, President Pranab Mukherjee has said that falling exports is an area of concern despite a healthy current account situation, as it impacts economic performance, industrial growth and employment opportunities. He pointed out that India’s exports of goods have been continuously declining since December 2014, although services exports fared slightly better.

President further said that with global trade expected to remain sluggish in 2016-17 as well, all efforts need to be made to retain the country’s share in the world market, and then make it grow. He added that Indian policy makers and industry need to be innovative to capture global markets, with customised products and aggressive marketing backed by quality control and high standards.

Mukherjee also said that while the export sector remained bleak, some comfort was brought about by falling global commodity prices, which led to a dwindling import bill and a healthy current account deficit of 1.4 per cent of the GDP in first three quarters of 2015-16.

The President said that India need to focus on other important drivers of growth as well such as infrastructure, human capital, simplification of rules and procedures and improved access to finance. India’s exports have fallen for two consecutive years with a decline of 15.85 per cent in 2015-16 to $261.13 billion compared to exports of $310 billion in 2014-15 and worth $314 billion the year before.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7735.50, up by 28.95 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 7706.85 and 7777.55. There were 22 stocks advancing against 29 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were HDFC up by 2.90%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.66%, BHEL up by 2.51%, Tata Motors up by 2.45% and Larsen & Toubro up by 2.17%. On the flip side, Idea Cellular down by 5.30%, Adani Ports &Special down by 4.92%, Ultratech Cement down by 2.03%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.95% and Bharti Infratel down by 1.36% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 20.57 points or 0.34% to 6,132.59, France’s CAC gained 20.84 points or 0.48% to 4,345.07 and Germany’s DAX was up by 84.12 points or 0.86% to 9,912.37.

The Asian markets closed mostly in red on Thursday outside of Chinese stock markets, which moved higher despite a report showing a slowdown in the country's services growth. The Caixin services purchasing managers' index came in at 51.8 for April, down from 52.2 in March. While a jump in oil prices on concerns about production cuts in Canada's oil sands region offered some support, gains were tempered ahead of the all-important US jobs report due on Friday that could provide further clues on the state of the economy and help influence Fed's thinking on the timing of a rate hike. Markets in Japan, South Korea and Indonesia were closed Thursday for public holidays.