Post Session: Quick Review

Monday’s session turned out to be a choppy day of trade for Indian equity markets with frontline gauges ending the session with marginal losses as investors opted to remain on sidelines ahead of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) monetary policy review tomorrow. Traders opted to stay away in buying risky assets ahead of industrial production data for April due later this week. Markets traded listless throughout the session as sentiments remained dampened as a survey from industry body, CII has said that government needs to speed up implementation of GST, address the issue of cheap imports and improve investment climate as majority of sectors are witnessing ‘moderate’ growth.

However, losses remained capped with the Met department’s latest report stating that the conditions continue to remain favourable for the onset of the southwest monsoon over Kerala over the next 2--3 days. Appreciation in Indian rupee too provided some solace to domestic markets. The rupee strengthened by 30 paise to 66.95 against the US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market at the time of equity markets closing on increased selling of the American currency by exporters amid foreign fund inflows. Besides, positive opening in European counters too were supporting domestic sentiments. European markets were trading in green in early deals. Asian markets ended mostly in green after US non-farm payrolls showed the slowest job growth in more than five years, quashing expectations for a near-term US interest rate hike.

Back home, on the sectoral front, stocks related to oil & gas pack were trading in red despite the government showing interest in joint exploration of new oil and gas fields as well as development of discovered assets in resource-rich Qatar, as the two countries decided to focus on enhancing cooperation in the energy sector. Telecom stocks too hit rock bottom after Reliance Jio started taking registrations from interested people for network trials, indicating that a launch may be around the corner.

On the flip side, chemical stocks remained on buyers’ radar, as government has imposed anti-dumping duty of $0.277- 0.404 per kilogram on a compound, used in the pharmaceutical industry, imported from the US and China to protect domestic makers from cheap shipments. Shares of sugar companies too were trading higher after the rating agency ICRA said the profitability trend for domestic sugar mills is likely to be better during the crushing season 2015-16 on supply correction.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty slipped by around twenty points but managed to hold the psychological 8,200 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex declined by around seventy points to finish below its psychological 26,800 mark. Broader markets struggled to get some traction and ended the session mixed on Monday.

The market breadth remained in favor of decliners, as there were 1,187 shares on the gaining side against 1,455 shares on the losing side while 129 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 26777.45, down by 65.58 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 26729.54 and 26901.42. There were 12 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.09%, while Small cap index up by 0.22%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 0.80%, Basic Materials up by 0.55%, Capital Goods up by 0.47%, Industrials up by 0.29% and Auto up by 0.10%, while Telecom down by 1.97%, Consumer Durables down by 1.39%, Healthcare down by 0.79%, TECK down by 0.54% and Oil & Gas down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 1.89%, SBI up by 1.22%, GAIL India up by 1.09%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.08% and Cipla up by 0.62%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.29%, Lupin down by 2.28%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.09%, Sun Pharma down by 1.92% and Axis Bank down by 1.44% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has levied definitive anti-dumping duty of $ 0.277 - 0.404 per kilogram on import of Methyl Acetoacetate from the US and China for five years to protect domestic makers from cheap shipments. Methyl Acetoacetate is used in industries like pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and polymers, among others.

Directorate General of Anti-dumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) after its investigation into the matter recommended in its final findings that the chemical has been exported to India from the two counties below normal values and the domestic industry has suffered material injury due to it. In order to remove injury to the domestic industry it stated that the material injury has been caused by the dumped imports of subject goods from the subject countries while recommending the levy on imports of the chemical.

The probe was initiated by DGAD in January last year to ascertain if the chemical was being dumped in the country. The probe followed a petition by Laxmi Organic Industries.

The CNX Nifty ended at 8201.05, down by 19.75 points or 0.24% after trading in a range of 8186.05 and 8234.70. There were 19 stocks advancing against 32 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bank of Baroda up by 2.32%, Yes Bank up by 1.46%, Tata Motors up by 1.44%, Hindalco up by 1.23% and Ultratech Cement up by 1.19%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 2.62%, Bharti Infratel down by 2.26%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.19%, Lupin down by 2.12% and Axis Bank down by 1.81% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 6.06 points or 0.14% to 4,427.84, Germany’s DAX gained 28.71 points or 0.28% to 10,131.97 and UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 61.24 points or 0.99% to 6,270.87.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Monday after fluctuating in early trade, in response to a shockingly weak US employment report as well as a disappointing report on the non-manufacturing sector. Data from the Labor Department showed that US employment edged up by just 38,000 jobs in May compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 158,000 jobs, reflecting the smallest increase in employment in more than five years. The job gains in March and April were also downwardly revised to 186,000 and 123,000, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 59,000 jobs. A separate report from the Institute for Supply Management showed that growth in US service sector activity slowed by much more than expected in May. Hong Kong shares reversed earlier losses and ended slightly higher on Monday, supported by gains in energy and materials shares as oil and metal prices rose. Chinese stocks closed a tad lower ahead of a flurry of data due this week and the upcoming Dragon Boat Festival holidays. Japanese shares hit four-week low as the dollar slid to a one-month low against the yen on the back of weaker-than-expected US jobs data, adding pressure on the outlook for Japanese exporters. Markets in South Korea remained closed for Memorial Day.