Fatigued markets settle with paltry gain

Indian stock markets went through a disappointing day of trade on Wednesday, as what started on a promising note ended as a dismal show, with investors turning cautious ahead of the US Fed meet outcome later today and expiry of July derivative contracts on Thursday. The US Fed is likely to hold the rate, but the comments will have an influential impact on the liquidity standpoint and for any chance of an increase in the interest rate by Dec-2016. Investors got some confidence after media reports indicated that Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stated that his government would line-up a stimulus package of $265 to boost the struggling economy. On the domestic front, sentiments got some support from reports that Infrastructure spending has picked up in the country and NHAI is executing 205 projects including 18 worth Rs 13,500 crore on hybrid annuity mode. Also, NHAI is looking to bid out 30,000 km of projects in the next 2-3 years, which include several Greenfield expressway projects.  Some support also came with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Arvind Panagariya’s statement that a good monsoon can help add a percentage point to India’s GDP growth in the current fiscal, from 7.6% in 2015-16.

In a big boost for the passage of the key GST Bill, a majority of states on Tuesday backed the government on key issues which have been stalling the Bill. This has raised hopes that with greater numbers backing the bill, it could be taken up in the Rajya Sabha or upper house in the current monsoon session of Parliament. The GST is seen as the biggest ever tax reforms in the country since independence. 

On the global front, most of the Asian markets ended the session on positive note on Wednesday, as investors turned optimistic after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said his government would present a $265 billion stimulus package to reflate the Japanese economy. This would be more than expected earlier, but critics will be watching to see how much actually new spending is. Japan's Nikkei rose nearly 2 per cent, leading the region higher. However, mainland China indexes bucked the regional rally, falling around 2 percent, on worries about regulatory restrictions. Meanwhile, European stocks and US futures moved higher in early trade, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest decision on interest rates.

Back home, the session was more like a rollercoaster ride, where the frontline indices started the session on firm note and touched the day’s highs in early trade, but the sentiments turned pessimistic in late morning trades and index started drifting lower even declining in negative territory in late afternoon trades, however the markets regained its momentum in the final hour of trade and finished the day in positive territory. Finally the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, got buttressed by over a quarter percent to settle above the crucial 8,600 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index-Sensex accumulated forty points and closed above the psychological 28,000 mark. On the BSE sectoral space, Banking counter remained the top gainer in the space with around a percent gains, followed by the Auto, Teck and Metal indices which ended with gains of over half a percent. On the flipside, FMCG, Consumer Durables and Realty counters witnessed some selling pressure and ended in the negative terrain. The market breadth remained pessimistic as there were 1317 shares on the gaining side against 1342 shares on the losing side, while 206 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained by 47.81 points or 0.17% to 28024.33, while the CNX Nifty rose by 25.15 points or 0.29% to 8,615.80.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low 28210.88 and 27899.93, respectively. The broader indices made a positive closing; the BSE Mid cap index ended up by 0.60%, while Small cap index was up by 0.49%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.89%, Auto up by 0.71%, TECK up by 0.61%, Metal up by 0.60% and Capital Goods up by 0.50%, while FMCG down by 0.51%, Consumer Durables down by 0.23% and Realty down by 0.08% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 3.00%, Adani Ports &Special up by 1.83%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.64%, HDFC up by 1.48% and Tata Motors up by 1.38%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 10.07%, ITC down by 1.51%, Tata Steel down by 1.29%, Reliance Industries down by 1.00% and Axis Bank down by 0.90% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to bring transparency and improve the quality of medical education in the country, a high-level panel headed by Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya is likely to suggest winding up of Medical Council of India (MCI) and replacing it with a National Medical Commission. The new body will act as the regulator and also advise the government on policy and curriculum preparation for medical colleges across India.

To bring in professionalism and world-class medical infrastructure, the new body will be assisted by 20-member National Medical Commission, comprising four independent boards, replacing MCI. These boards would be for an undergraduate medical Board, postgraduate board, Assessment and Rating Board and a board of medical register that will keep a record of people qualified to practise as doctors. Each of the four boards would be headed by a chairman and be fully autonomous in its functioning.

The biggest change under the new system would be that its members would be selected on merit by a high powered search-cum-selection panel and would not be elected, as in the past, by MCI. The selection process will be transparent and would ensure that the best of brains in the medical fraternity are members of the commission. To make such a structure operational, the Medical Council of India Act would have to be amended. The MCI is a statutory body with the responsibility of establishing and maintaining standards of medical education and recognition of medical qualifications in India. It registers doctors to practice in India.

The panel which is looking into the issue of poor regulation of medical education by MCI, apart from Panagariya also includes Prime Minister's Additional Principal Secretary PK Mishra, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and Health Secretary Bhahanu Pratap Sharma.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 8,665.00 and 8,572.05. There were 32 stocks on gainers side against 19 decliners on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 4.93%, ICICI Bank up by 3.40%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.38%, Maruti Suzuki up by 1.87% and Adani Ports &Special up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 10.71%, Idea Cellular down by 1.81%, ITC down by 1.53%, Tata Steel down by 1.39% and Reliance Industries down by 1.25% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 22.31 points or 0.33% to 6,746.34, France’s CAC surged 63.44 points or 1.44% to 4,458.21 and Germany’s DAX was up by 84.57 points or 0.83% to 10,332.33.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Wednesday, with stimulus hopes weakening the yen and triggering a broad rally in Japanese shares. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government will draft a stimulus package worth more than 28 trillion yen to reinvigorate the flagging economy. Revived expectations for additional policy stimulus from the Bank of Japan later this week also boosted investor sentiment. Hong Kong shares ended up after official data showed profits of China's major industrial firms rose 5.1 percent year-over-year in June, bringing the annual growth for the year to date to 6.2 percent. However, Chinese shares slumped on fears of regulatory scrutiny after Chinese President Xi Jinping reportedly called for the prevention of asset bubbles.