Post Session: Quick Review

Thursday turned out to be a fabulous day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks, where frontline gauges garner gains of around one third of a percent, recapturing their crucial 25,700 (Sensex) and 7,900 (Sensex). Markets, after a gap-up opening, traded in green throughout the session as investors went for bargain hunting after a dismal trading session yesterday ahead of industrial production (IIP) for March and consumer price index (CPI) for April data to be released later in the day. Retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index (CPI) for April is estimated at 5.05 percent compared to 4.83 percent in March, while the industrial output, measured by index of industrial production (IIP) for March, is expected at 2.52 percent versus 2 percent in February.

Some amount of profit booking was seen in afternoon trade but it proved short-lived as markets once again started moving northward to end near intraday high levels. The news of monsoon arriving on time kept supporting the markets. Skymet Weather is expecting Monsoon to reach Indian mainland between May 28 and May 30. Moreover, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said the monsoon is likely to be “above normal” and likely to be 106 per cent of the average of 89 cm.

Global cues remained mixed with European counters making mostly a positive start, while Asian markets ended mixed following a dismal day on Wall Street, while the dollar took a breather from this week’s rebound and crude oil gave back some of its recent gains. Back home, sentiments remained up-beat with Finance Ministry’s statement that India will continue to attract investments because of the inherent strength and the return it offers to investors. Meanwhile, the ministry has also said that Ministry GAAR provisions, which are to take effect from April next year, will override the DTAA provisions in case they are abused.

On the sectoral front, banking stocks remained on buyers’ radar after the Rajya Sabha passed the Insolvency and Bankruptcy code Bill, enabling a single law to deal with distressed companies, their promoters, creditors, employees and other stake holders for the first time in India. Telecom stocks too rang loud as the Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down compensation policy for call drops levied by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty gained over fifty points to end above the psychological 7,900 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by over one hundred and ninety points to finish near its psychological 25,800 mark. Broader markets too traded in-line with benchmarks and ended the session with a gain of around a percent.

The market breadth remained in the favour off advances, as there were 1,570 shares on the gaining side against 1,000 shares on the losing side while 180 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 25790.22, up by 193.20 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 25620.27 and 25827.03. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.69%, while Small cap index up by 0.93%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.41%,  Energy up by 1.17%, IT up by 1.12%, Realty up by 1.12% and TECK up by 1.04%, while Capital Goods down by 0.04% was the lone losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 4.08%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.44%, Asian Paints up by 2.27%, SBI up by 2.03% and TCS up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.16%, Axis Bank down by 0.97%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.90%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.77% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.65% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that India is willing to proceed with negotiations under India- European Union (EU) Broad based Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) and is awaiting confirmation from the EU side to resume the negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA). The free trade pact is aimed at reducing or significantly eliminating tariffs on goods, facilitating trade in services and boosting investments between the two sides.

The negotiations for the proposed BTIA have witnessed many hurdles with both sides having major differences on crucial issues. The talk was started in June 2007 and so far 16 rounds of negotiations have been held. Due to some outstanding issue, EU withdrew from the negotiations in 2013. The negotiations were expected in August, but they were deferred by India, expressing disappointment and concern over the EU banning sale of around 700 pharma products, clinically tested by GVK Biosciences.

India wants data security status, relaxations in movement of professionals, real market access in terms of sanitary and phytosanitary (norms related with plants and animals); and technical barriers to trade measures adopted in EU. While, EU wants tax reduction in wines and spirits and dairy products and a strong intellectual property regime; besides demanding significant duty cuts in automobiles.

The CNX Nifty ended at 7900.40, up by 51.55 points or 0.66% after trading in a range of 7849.65 and 7916.05. There were 33 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bosch up by 4.39%, Dr. Reddys Lab up by 3.58%, ICICI Bank up by 3.51%, Asian Paints up by 2.31% and Hindalco up by 1.97%. On the flip side, Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.98%, Axis Bank down by 1.13%, Eicher Motors down by 1.12%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.11% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.02% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 19.54 points or 0.45% to 4,336.21 and Germany’s DAX was up by 40.25 points or 0.4% to 10,015.57, while UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 4.64 points or 0.08% to 6,157.85.

Asian equity markets ended mixed on Thursday after a dismal session on Wall Street overnight. Chinese shares recovered from an early sell-off to end on a flat note after an article posted on the transport ministry's website revealed the government plans to invest around 4.7 trillion yuan ($724 billion) in transport infrastructure projects over the next three years. Japanese shares eked out modest gains, as the yen weakened slightly and official data showed Japan posted a current account surplus of 2.980 trillion yen in March, the largest monthly surplus in nine years on the back of an improved trade balance and strong returns from overseas investments. The surplus doubled in fiscal 2015 from the previous year.