Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks oscillated between positive and negative terrain throughout the day and ended the session modestly in green. The encouraging quarterly earnings by few companies and a better trend in other Asian bourses also influence sentiments. The equity benchmarks made a gap-up opening and traded with traction in early deals, taking support with Reserve Bank of India’s governor’s statement that there is further scope for banks to reduce lending rates as the Reserve Bank has already brought down its policy rates by 175 basis points since January 2015. Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das rejecting arguments that fiscal deficit target of 3.2 per cent is optimistic, said it is realistic and there is all possibility that revenues will exceed the target as Budget has not taken into account the demonetisation windfall. He also said India will be able to pull off a 7% plus growth rate next fiscal as the Budget for 2017-18 has come up with several measures to provide a fillip to various sectors. Some support also came on reports that Indian economy attracted $4.68 billion Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in November 2016, up 60 percent over the corresponding period last year of $2.93 billion. During the period, India received the maximum FDI from Singapore, Mauritius, the UK, the US, the Netherlands and Japan. Some caution prevailed with RBI bi-monthly survey on consumer confidence which highlighted that Indian households are less confident of their current economic situation as people are uncertain about their immediate income, employment and spending capabilities. The RBI monitored current situation index (CSI) which provides a gauge of households’ assessment of general economic conditions like employment, their own income and price situation declined sharply to 102.0 in December 2016 from 108.7 in November 2016.

On the global front, barring Nikkei all other Asian markets closed higher, as investors grew more confident about the world’s second-largest economy. Japan’s core machinery orders rebounded more than expected in December from the prior month’s fall and are seen rising again this quarter - an encouraging sign of a pick-up in capital expenditure. China stocks hit eight-week highs getting a boost from glass and cement makers. Shares of many construction-related Chinese firms have performed strongly over the past year as higher government spending on infrastructure projects and a housing frenzy triggered a building boom. Hong Kong stocks hit four-month highs, with resources and industrial stocks among the best performers. European stocks moved higher after the release of upbeat corporate earnings reports, although political uncertainty continued to weigh.

The BSE Sensex ended at 28322.55, up by 32.63 points or 0.12% after trading in a range of 28152.18 and 28469.48. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.23%, while Small cap index was up by 0.20%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.62%, TECK up by 1.59%, Realty up by 0.96%, Consumer Durables up by 0.49% and FMCG up by 0.38%, while Metal down by 0.63%, Bankex down by 0.54%, PSU down by 0.33% and Capital Goods down by 0.20% were the losers on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were TCS up by 2.59%, Infosys up by 1.34%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.27%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.06% and GAIL India up by 1.05%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.36%, Cipla down by 2.25%, NTPC down by 1.74%, SBI down by 0.79% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.79% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, continuing its protectionist approach to support the domestic steel industry hit by cheap imports, the government has extended the anti-dumping duty on certain cold-rolled flat steel products from four nations including China and South Korea, by two months. The duty will be the difference between the landed value of the steel products and $594 per tonne.

With an aim to restrict cheaper imports, government in August 2016 had issued a notification to impose an anti-dumping duty on import of cold-rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel from China, South Korea, Japan and Ukraine, for six months which has been amended by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) to extend the levy of duty by two months from the present six months. Safeguard measures cannot be imposed for a longer term until an investigation by the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping concludes (DGAD).

The anti-dumping duty was imposed on a recommendation of the DGAD, which come to the provisional conclusion that the subject goods have been exported to India from the subject countries below normal value (and) the domestic industry has suffered a material injury on account of subject imports from the subject countries. DGAD also felt that the injury has been caused by the dumped imports of the subject goods from the subject countries.

The CNX Nifty ended at 8786.55, up by 17.50 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 8724.10 and 8821.40. There were 28 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 2.56%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.34%, TCS up by 2.21%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.20% and Aurobindo Pharma up by 1.49%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Hindalco down by 2.65%, Cipla down by 2.52%, Tata Steel down by 2.22%, NTPC down by 1.63% and Bank of Baroda down by 1.39% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.84 points or 0.04% to 7,191.66, Germany’s DAX increased 23.94 points or 0.21% to 11,567.32 and France’s CAC increased 20.84 points or 0.44% to 4,787.44.

Asian equity markets ended higher on Thursday, although Japanese markets remained under pressure owing to the yen's overnight strength. Trading volumes remained rather thin in the wake of growing concerns over political instability in Europe and lingering uncertainty over US President Donald Trump's policies. With cues waited from Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's meeting with US President Donald Trump Friday in Washington, D.C., investors ignored better-than-expected core machinery orders data. Reports showed Japan's Core machinery orders rose 6.7 percent in December from the previous month, beating forecasts for an increase of 3.1 percent. Meanwhile, Chinese shares closed at a two-month high after reports that China would step up supply-side reforms and reduce overcapacity in the construction material sector. The Malaysian market was closed for Thaipusam festival.