Post Session: Quick Review

Thursday turned out to be a fabulous day of trade for Indian equity markets, where frontline gauges garnered a gain of over half a percent, recapturing their crucial 27,400 (Sensex) and 8,450 (Nifty) levels, as Hillary Clinton’s chances of winning the US presidential elections improved. After making a gap-up opening, domestic bourses traded in tight band for most part of the day’s trade, as market participants took encouragement with a survey that India improved its ranking by one spot in a global index of business optimism, with policy reforms and Goods and Services tax (GST) expected to become a reality soon. India was ranked second on the optimism index during the third quarter (July-September 2016). Some support also came with report that foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country grew by over 30 percent to $ 21.62 billion during the first half of 2016-17. During April-September of 2015-16, India received FDI worth $ 16.63 billion.

Report that National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) has pegged India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth at 7.6 percent for the fiscal year 2016-17, backed by pick-up in rural demand and positive signals’ on the manufacturing front, too aided sentiments. Markets came off their intra-day highs, as traders booked some of their profit at higher levels in last leg of trade, but managed to end the session with a gain of over half a percent, snapping three days of continuous fall.

Firm opening in European counters too aided sentiments. European shares were trading firm on Monday, as investors reacted to news that US law enforcement officials will not pursue charges against Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server. Asian markets rallied and the Japanese market ended with a gain of over one and a half percent, as the yen weakened the most in a month after dollar strengthened on latest FBI report.

Back home, there was broad based buying witnessed in the markets and apart from the blue chips, the broader markets too participated strongly in the rally. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said that private sector expansion is needed in a big way to let the economy start firing on all cylinders. He said that public investment and foreign capital on which the economy is firing are intact and domestic investment is still a challenge. On the sectoral front, stocks related to metal counter remained on buyers’ radar after copper price edged higher in the global commodities markets.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty gained over sixty points to end tad below the psychological 8,500 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by over one hundred and eighty points to finish above its psychological 27,400 mark. Broader markets too traded in-line with benchmarks.

The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 2,007 shares on the gaining side against 857 shares on the losing side while 147 shares remain unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex ended at 27458.99, up by 184.84 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 27398.72 and 27591.15. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 1.19%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.94%, Healthcare up by 1.75%, Bankex up by 1.70%, Realty up by 1.50% and PSU up by 1.47%, while Capital Goods down by 0.09% was the lone losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Lupin up by 6.93%, SBI up by 4.06%, ICICI Bank up by 3.36%, ITC up by 3.05% and Tata Steel up by 2.10%. On the flip side, TCS down by 2.18%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.34%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.09%, Tata Motors down by 0.94% and ONGC down by 0.85% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a positive surprise Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India increased by 30% at $21.62 billion during the April-September period of the current fiscal as against $16.63 billion in the same period last fiscal. Ease of doing business and relaxation in the FDI policy are helping to attract more and more FDI in the country.

During the period, the sectors which attracted maximum inflows include hardware and software, trading business, automobile industry and chemicals. India received maximum FDI from countries, including Mauritius, Singapore, the Netherlands and Japan. The government has recently eased FDI norms in sectors like civil aviation and construction this will help in attracting more overseas funds.

In 2015-16, FDI went up 29 percent to $40 billion as compared to $30.93 billion in the previous fiscal. FDI is considered essential for India, which needs around $1 trillion to overhaul its infrastructure such as ports, airports and highways to put growth on a higher trajectory. Growth in foreign investments helps improve the country's balance of payments (BoP) situation and strengthen the rupee.

The CNX Nifty ended at 8497.05, up by 63.30 points or 0.75% after trading in a range of 8481.45 and 8535.85. There were 36 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Lupin up by 6.88%, Hindalco up by 5.51%, Aurobindo Pharma up by 5.38%, SBI up by 4.06% and Bank of Baroda up by 3.86%. On the flip side, Bharti Infratel down by 2.38%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.32%, TCS down by 2.30%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.54% and Hindustan Unilever down by 1.22% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC surged 83.61 points or 1.91% to 4,461.07, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 99.98 points or 1.49% to 6,793.24 and Germany’s DAX was up by 186.83 points or 1.82% to 10,445.96.

Asian equity markets ended in green on Monday, as investors remained cheerful after the Federal Bureau of Investigation cleared US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton of potential criminal charges in its private email server probe. The FBI's latest announcement lifted a cloud over her presidential campaign two days before the presidential election. Japanese shares climbed on a weaker yen against dollar, after FBI’s report on Clinton’s case and the latest US jobs report kept prospects of a near-term Fed rate hike alive. Chinese shares ended higher with commodity-related stocks outperforming after Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Saturday, that the government would maintain steady growth and speed up economic transformation. Further, Hong Kong shares traded higher even as realty stocks fell sharply after a hike in stamp duty on property transactions.