Indian benchmarks manage to end higher; Sensex closes above 27300 mark

Indian benchmarks indices carried forward their northbound journey for yet another session on Thursday, ended slightly higher as investors awaited fresh triggers amid an uncertain global scenario. It turned out to be a rather volatile day of trade as the indices rebounded after drifting to lower levels in the morning session as sustained position build up was witnessed in several frontline stocks. Sentiments got some support with Minister for Road Transport and Shipping Nitin Gadkari’s statement that it is the appropriate time to invest in India and added that the country is also working on ways to improve purchasing power of common men as that will present further opportunities. Further, market participants got some comfort with the private report indicating that strong domestic demand and cost competitiveness in exports will help Indian companies to overcome uncertainties from global geopolitical changes and domestic policy-making. According to report, faster economic growth as well as reforms will make India a good macroeconomic story and this, coupled with the stable credit profile of companies, bodes well for foreign currency bonds by Indian issuers. However, gains remained capped over policy uncertainties about the incoming Donald Trump administration in the U.S. and depreciation in rupee value against the dollar. Extending the previous session losses, the rupee plunged by another 14 paise to 68.22 against the previous close of 68.08 at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, as investors turned cautious after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hinted that interest rates in the United States could rise quickly this year. With the US economy close to full employment and inflation headed toward the Federal Reserve's 2% goal, it ‘makes sense’ for the US Federal Reserve to gradually lift interest rates, Fed Chair Janet Yellen told the Commonwealth Club of California in San Francisco on Wednesday. However, Japanese shares ended higher, lifted by the yen’s weakness, which is a boon to export manufacturers. Meanwhile, European markets rose in early trade ahead of European Central Bank (ECB)'s rate decision scheduled today, where central Bank is expected to hold rates in its first meeting of 2017.

Back home, the local benchmark got off to a sedate opening tracking the dismal leads prevailing in Asian markets following lackluster cues from Wall Street overnight. Thereafter, the key indices oscillated in an extremely tight range through the session, lacking any significant trigger at domestic front. Eventually, the NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty got buttressed by around quarter percent to settle below the crucial 8,450 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index-Sensex ended around fifty points and closed above the psychological 27,300 mark. On the BSE sectoral space, Oil & Gas counter remained the top gainer in the space with over two percent gains followed by PSU index which ended with gain of around a percent. Good buying was also observed in Consumer Durables, Power and Auto counters. On the flipside, Banking and Realty sectors settled with moderate cuts. 

The market breadth remained optimistic as there were 1441 shares on the gaining side against 1286 shares on the losing side, while 199 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 50.96 points or 0.19% to 27308.60, while the CNX Nifty rose 18.10 points or 0.22% to 8,435.10.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 27348.19 and 27219.89, respectively and there were 14 stocks on gainers side against 16 stocks on the losers side on the index.

The broader indices made a positive closing; the BSE Mid cap index ended higher 0.41%, while Small cap index was up by 0.33%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.03%, PSU up by 1%, Consumer Durables up by 0.89%, Power up by 0.81% and Auto up by 0.52%, while Bankex down by 0.19% and Realty down by 0.11% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 5.31%, Power Grid up by 1.79%, ONGC up by 1.62%, Tata Motors up by 1.44% and ITC up by 1.22%. On the flip side, Lupin down by 1.28%, Axis Bank down by 0.95%, Sun Pharma down by 0.87%, Wipro down by 0.80% and HDFC Bank down by 0.73% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, briefing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance about demonetisation, the Reserve Bank of India Governor Urjit Patel has said that discussions between the central bank and the government over the demonetisation issue began in early 2016. He also said that about Rs 9.2 lakh crore have been reintroduced in the economy since the old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes were demonetised on November 8, 2016.

The crucial meeting was held to discuss the demonetisation of the currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 and the impact thereof. During the meeting, Congress members of the committee asked questions like whose decision it was to withdraw high currency notes and also raised questions about the autonomy of the RBI. The questions put up by the panel ranged from the total amount of money that came back during the demonetisation period, the total amount of new bills of Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 that were printed, what how much was sent to the banks for remonetisation.

However, Patel refused to answer the questions on how much money has been deposited in banks since the move was announced and said that calculations were still on. Therefore, the finance ministry has sought time from the panel to provide answers to the queries raised during the meeting in which the finance secretary made a presentation before the committee as the members seemed not too satisfied with the replies. Patel is also scheduled to appear before the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament on the same issue on January 20.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 8,445.15 and 8,404.05. There were 24 stocks in green against 27 stocks in red on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were GAIL India up by 5.79%, Idea Cellular up by 2.89%, BPCL up by 2.83%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.77% and Eicher Motors up by 2.76%. On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 1.60%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 1.50%, Lupin down by 1.45%, Sun Pharma down by 1.25% and ZEEL down by 1.23% were the top losers.

The European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 45.97 points or 0.63% to 7,201.64, Germany’s DAX decreased 10.89 points or 0.09% to 11,588.50 and France’s CAC decreased 15.42 points or 0.32% to 4,837.98.

Asian equity markets ended on a mixed note on Thursday following the lackluster cues overnight from Wall Street, due to uncertainty about President-elect Donald Trump's policies ahead of his inauguration on Friday. Federal Chair Yellen delivered hawkish comments on Wednesday, adding that the economy is approaching the Fed's dual mandate of inflation and employment. She further mentioned that the US is near full employment and with inflation figures stabilizing, there is a need for gradual Fed tightening, although she did not mention the exact timing of an interest rate hike. Chinese markets ended lower, with energy and infrastructure companies turning lower after a price correction this week and as investors remained cautious ahead of the Lunar New Year. Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended higher, lifted by the yen’s weakness, which is a boon to export manufacturers.