Markets rally for the fourth day in a row; Sensex reclaims 26,600-mark

Indian benchmark indices carried forward their northbound journey for yet another session on Friday, on the back of slew of positive news and strong earnings from index companies. BPCL stocks jumped over eight percent, hitting a record high, after the state-run oil marketing company beat Q4 earnings estimate and announced a 1:1 bonus share issue, while Jet Airways rose after the country's second-biggest airline by passengers reported an annual profit for the first time since 2007 and a year ahead of schedule under its 2014 turnaround plan. Investors remained on the optimistic mood from the start of the trade with the global rating agency Fitch in its Global Economic outlook stating that India's economic growth will accelerate to 8 percent by 2018-19 fiscal as gradual implementation of structural reforms will contribute to higher growth. The report further highlighted that India's GDP will grow 7.5% in fiscal year ending March 2016 and improve to 7.7% in the current fiscal year and further to 7.9% in the fiscal year ending March 2018.  Also, some boost came with Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stating that it is 'possible' for the country to reach top 50 in the World Bank's Doing Business ranking in the next few years. India now ranks 130 out of 189 countries in the ease of doing business, moving up 12 places from 2014, according to the latest World Bank's Doing Business report.  Mirroring the optimism, foreign investors have bought Indian shares worth a net $119.73 million so far this month, taking this year's inflows to $1.92 billion.

Besides, hopes of economic recovery, better than expected corporate results this quarter, strength in rupee and prediction of above average monsoon also lifted sentiments higher. Staying with its rising streak for the third day, the rupee appreciated 18 paise to 66.99 against the dollar at the time of equity markets closing on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks. However, some market participants remained nervous in early trade with the report the Food price inflation will remain at current levels or rise further even if monsoon this year is normal. According to some reports, rains have little effect on food prices and it is rural wages, minimum support prices and global trends that impact prices in a bigger way.

On the global front, Asian markets ended modestly higher on Friday as investors maintained a cautiously optimistic outlook while they waited for US economic data and remarks by the Fed chief. The Fed has already signaled that it will raise rates again at its next meeting in June if economic conditions continue to improve, another step in dialing back the loose monetary policy that has supported global stock markets, Japanese shares ended at a one-month high, even as the yen turned volatile after the G7 industrial powers reiterated their previous commitments to stability in the foreign exchange market. Seoul shares rose to their highest level in nearly two weeks as foreign investors went bargain hunting in beaten-down stocks, while China's Shanghai Composite index declined on growth worries after a government report showed China's industrial profits increased at a slower pace in April. Meanwhile, European markets were trading lower in early trade, as market participants turned edgy after Crude oil prices slide below $50 on concerns over a global supply glut resurfaced.

Back home, the benchmark got off to a positive start in the morning trade as investors were largely influenced by the supportive leads from Asian markets. The bourses further capitalized on the momentum and spurted in afternoon trades on the back of broad based bottom fishing in undervalued stocks. The northbound journey only concluded with the close of the session helping the key gauges to report biggest weekly gain in the past three months. Finally the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, got buttressed by close to a percent to settle above the crucial 8,100 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index-Sensex accumulated around three hundred points and closed above the psychological 26,600 mark. The broader markets outperformed benchmark indices as investors turned their focus on fundamentally sound mid-cap and small-cap stocks as valuations in large-cap stocks seem stretched after two day’s rally. On the BSE sectoral space, buying was evident across the board and investors piled up hefty positions in the high beta Oil & Gas counter which rocketed by over two and half percent, while the PSU, Realty, Banking and Metal pockets climbed by over a percent each. However, only chink in the armor was the defensive - FMCG index which closed on a flat note with a negative bias as heavyweights like ITC, Britannia Industries and Emami plunged by around a percent. The market breadth remained optimistic as there were 1416 shares on the gaining side against 1156 shares on the losing side, while 199 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 286.92 points or 1.09% to 26653.60, while the CNX Nifty rallied 87 points or 1.08% to 8,156.65.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low 26677.43 and 26405.28, respectively. The broader indices made a positive closing; the BSE Mid cap index ended up by 1.39%, while Small cap index gained 0.57%

The gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.66%, PSU up by 1.65%, Realty up by 1.51%, Metal up by 1.18% and Bankex up by 1.15%, while FMCG down by 0.01% was the only losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 6.42%, Sun Pharma Inds. up by 5.83%, Adani Ports &Special up by 3.65%, Reliance Industries up by 2.75% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.49%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.64%, Axis Bank down by 1.17%, ITC down by 0.79%, NTPC down by 0.71% and BHEL down by 0.19% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government has approved an investment of over Rs 5,530 crore for providing basic infrastructure in cities across six states under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme for the current fiscal. The Apex Committee, chaired by Urban Development Secretary Rajiv Gauba, approved a total investment of Rs 5,534 crore for 111 Atal Mission cities in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand and Meghalaya.

The cental assistance to these states - Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand and Meghalaya - will be to the tune of Rs 2,453 crore. The decision was conveyed to these six states which attended the meeting of the Apex Committee convened for approving annual action plans of States under AMRUT.

As per the official release, for 2016-17, approved investment in 34 mission cities of Madhya Pradesh has been Rs 2,074 crore with central assistance of Rs 862.80 crore, while Rs 1,401 crore investment is approved for 31 cities of Gujarat with central assistance of Rs 599.18 crore. For 29 cities of Rajasthan, investment of Rs 1,120 crore is approved with central assistance of Rs 536 crore; for 9 cities of Odisha Rs 531 crore with central assistance of 265 crore; for 7 cities of Jharkhand - Rs.381 crore with central assistance of Rs 164 crore and for the lone Mission city of Shillong in Meghalaya Rs 26.67 crore with central assistance of Rs 24 crore.

Meanwhile, the Urban Development Ministry will also convene annual meetings of all states and UTs to review the progress of implementation of various schemes and the first such conference will be held in the next two months. Various stakeholders, including Ministers of Urban Development and Housing of all states/UTs, Mission Directors and Municipal Commissioners of all 500 AMRUT cities will be attending the two-day conference.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low 8,164.20 and 8,077.05 respectively. 

The top gainers on Nifty were SBI up by 9.15%, BPCL up by 8.53%, Sun Pharma up by 6.11%, Bank of Baroda up by 3.89% and Adani Ports &Special up by 3.73%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.60%, Tata Power down by 1.56%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.44%, Axis Bank down by 1.25% and Bharti Infratel down by 1.18% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 12.22 points or 0.12% to 10,260.49 and France’s CAC slipped 6.56 points or 0.15% to 4,506.08, while UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 3.04 points or 0.05% to 6,268.69.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Friday, even as oil prices dipped and data showed growth in profits at Chinese industrial firms slowed in April compared to the previous month. Industrial profits grew 4.2 percent year-over-year, much slower than the 11.1 percent expansion seen in March. Japanese stocks ended at a one-month high, amid the growing prospect that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe would delay by several years a sales tax hike scheduled to go into effect next April. Hong Kong shares closed at a three-week high, buoyed by hopes that Beijing will soon expand cross-border investment opportunities between Hong Kong and China. However, Chinese shares ended lower on growth worries after a government report showed that China's industrial profits increased at a slower pace in April.