Indian markets recover last session losses; Sensex ends above 29000 mark

Indian stock markets witnessed a fairly stable day of trade on Thursday as healthy quarterly results, consistent buying by foreign funds and a rise in global crude oil prices, buoyed the investors' sentiments. Some support also came with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the government is 'running against time' for the implementation of GST, but added that he would certainly like to give it a try. He said the new GST, once implemented, would have a transformational impact by creating a common market in the country, while also acting as a transfer mechanism that would aid poorer states. Adding the confidence among investors, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said that implementation of GST will bring small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into the national value chain and committed many more reforms. Furthermore, with an aim to give capital markets a big push, regulator SEBI is likely to ease out regulations for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and Infrastructure Investment Trusts (InvITs), this month. However, there was some concern too with the report that the country-wide monsoon deficit stood at 4% with northeastern and eastern states reporting 13% less rains from June 1 to September 7, 2016. June witnessed a rain deficiency of 11%, while July had 7% of surplus rainfall. August again witnessed a dip of 9.7%.

Meanwhile, Auto stocks edged higher after the repot that domestic passenger vehicle sales grew for a 14th straight month in August with a 16.68% increase, promoting auto industry body Siam to revise upward its growth estimate for the ongoing fiscal to 10-12%.  Metal and mining stocks gained traction as Chinese trade data topped forecasts and imports recorded their first annual rise since late 2014.  However, IT and Tech stocks succumbed to heavy selling pressure as TCS gave a cautious outlook for the coming quarters, stating that clients are holding back on discretionary spending. As many investors avoiding to build heavy positions ahead of the European Central Bank (ECB)'s monetary policy decision later in the global day, several stock specific actions hogged the limelight during the session like Technofab Engineering jumped after the company bagged two new orders from Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCIL), amounting to Rs 227 crore. IRB Infrastructure Developers rose after an investment trust backed by the company filed a draft offer document with the market regulator for an initial public offer. On the other hand, Alstom T&D India declined after the company reported net loss of Rs 197.41 crore in Q1 June 2016 compared with net profit of Rs 10.15 crore in Q1 June 2015.

On the global front, rebounding from day’s lows, several Asian markets ended in positive territory on Thursday as Chinese trade data topped forecasts and oil extended overnight gains on API data, indicating a massive draw in crude inventories last week. China's imports rose 1.5% year-on-year in August, the first rise in 22 months and beating expectations in a positive sign for the world's second-largest economy. However, Japanese markets edged lower dragged down by financials after the Bank of Japan deputy governor said the central bank will not rule out deepening negative interest rates to achieve its inflation target. Meanwhile, European stocks were slightly higher in early trade, with bank shares gaining ground before the European Central Bank unveils’ its latest monetary policy decision. Investors have become increasingly convinced the ECB will extend its asset-buying program beyond March 2017, but there’s still question as to whether such a move will be made Thursday.

Back home, the local market got off to a weak start as the indices breached the psychological 8900 and 28,900 levels in the early moments of trade since investors largely remained influenced by the pessimistic sentiments prevailing in Asian markets. However, the frontline indices soon gathered momentum and traded with around quarter percent gains through the morning session of trade. Second half of the session saw the key gauges capitalize on the momentum further and spurt to session’s highest levels in dying hour. However, a mild profit booking in dying moments of trade ensured that the key indices shut shop off the intraday highs. Finally the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty, got buttressed by around four tens of a percent to settle above the crucial 8,8950 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s sensitive Index-Sensex accumulated over hundred points and closed above the psychological 29,000 mark.

The market breadth remained in the favour of advances, as there were 1608 shares on the gaining side against 1151 shares on the losing side while 194 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 118.92 points or 0.41% to 29045.28, while the CNX Nifty gained 34.55 points or 0.39% to 8,952.50. 

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low 29077.28 and 28854.56, respectively. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.15%, while Small cap index was up by 0.83%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 3.03%, Consumer Durables up by 1.19%, FMCG up by 1.00%, Metal up by 0.92% and Auto up by 0.91%, while IT down by 2.49% and TECK down by 1.81%, Bankex down by 0.04% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 3.69%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.55%, Tata Steel up by 3.32%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.71% and Lupin up by 2.44%. On the flip side, TCS down by 5.14%, GAIL India down by 1.92%, Wipro down by 1.77%, Infosys down by 1.62% and NTPC down by 0.96% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the government is expecting an investment of $6 billion (approximately Rs 40,000 crore) in the airport sector and is hoping to see a growth of over 30% in passenger numbers in five years. Out of the total estimated amount, around $1 billion would be used for reviving airports and about $3 billion would be for upgrading aerodromes owned by the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

To boost the aviation sector, recently government has come out with new civil aviation policy with various measures for improving regional air connectivity and developing airports, among others. It also seeks to revive un-served and under-served airports as well as improve regional air connectivity under the Regional Connectivity Scheme (RCS). According to the new civil aviation policy, around 75 out of 450 airstrips/airports have scheduled operations and revival of the remaining ones would be demand driven, depending on firm demand from airline operators. Also, no-frills airports would be developed at an indicative cost of Rs 50-100 crore, without insisting on its financial viability.

During the January-July period this year, the number of passengers carried by domestic carriers jumped 23% as compared to the year-ago period. In July alone, the domestic air passenger traffic soared nearly 26% registering double-digit growth for the 24th consecutive month. Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said that as the domestic aviation space is projected to see substantial growth there would be need for around 100 small aircraft in the next three years.  He further said the government is looking to amend regulations with respect to certain aspects of leasing of aircraft and added that the Ministry would amend rules to make sure lessors can take back aircraft in case of default in line with Cape Town Convention. It provides the protocol to be followed with regard to leasing of aircraft equipment, including the aircraft.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 8,960.35 and 8,896.00. There were 37 stocks advancing against 14 decliners on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 3.81%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 3.45%, Bajaj Auto up by 3.29%, Tata Steel up by 3.17% and Grasim Industries up by 2.89%. On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 5.57%, TCS down by 4.62%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.66%, BHEL down by 2.16% and HCL Tech down by 1.92% were the top losers.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 35.08 points or 0.51% to 6,881.66 and France’s CAC increased 0.12 points or 0% to 4,557.78, while Germany’s DAX decreased 16.83 points or 0.16% to 10,736.15.

The Asian markets made mostly a higher closing on Thursday as Chinese trade data topped forecasts and oil extended overnight gains on API data, indicating a massive draw in crude inventories last week. The focus turned to the European Central Bank meeting later in the day, with investors waiting to see whether ECB President Mario Draghi will announce an extension of the bond-purchase program. Japanese shares closed a tad lower, dragged down by financials after the Bank of Japan deputy governor said the central bank will not rule out deepening negative interest rates to achieve its inflation target. Investors ignored revised GDP data, which showed that Japan's economy expanded at a better-than-estimated 0.7 percent annualized pace in April-June. Meanwhile, Chinese stocks fluctuated in a narrow range and finished roughly flat as positive news on the data front was offset by receding hopes for additional monetary policy support. Reports showed that China's imports unexpectedly rose in August for the first time in nearly two years, boosted by coal and other commodities, suggesting domestic demand may be picking up and putting the world's second-largest economy on a more balanced footing.