Markets to get a positive start reacting to exit poll numbers

The Indian markets sensing the exit poll outcome of the 5 states, picked up pace in final hours of the last session and posted modest gains. Today the start is likely to be in green with the exit polls confirming that the ruling party in center BJP will be near to forming government in 4 out of 5 states that went to election.  Though the global cues are mixed but the markets going for a long weekend will be accumulating gains today ahead of the final poll verdict on March 11. There will be some cautiousness too with the domestic rating agency ICRA stating that higher oil and gold imports will end the four-year trend of moderation in the current account deficit (CAD) in 2017-18, and the gap will widen to $ 30 billion or 1.2 percent of the GDP. It expects both a rise in prices as well volumes in both the commodities. The IT stocks will be buzzing with the government trying to assuage concerns of Indian professionals over H1B visa, saying the steps taken by the US were aimed at illegal immigration and it would continue to engage with the Donald Trump administration on the issue.

The US markets managed a modestly positive close in last session, though the consolidation continued and the markets showed a lack of direction throughout the trading session ahead of the release of the Labor Department's closely watched jobs report on Friday. The Asian markets have made a mixed start and some of the indices are marginally in red, however the Japanese market has strengthened and was up by over a percent as the yen weakened against the dollar.

Indian benchmarks ended the range bound day of trade on a flat note with positive bias as investors remained cautious ahead of exit polls data for assembly elections in 5 states which will be released later in the day. Actual results will be announced on Saturday, and will help to shape the next two years of Modi’s government as it heads for the 2019 general election. Sentiments got some support after Prime Minister Narendra Modi express the hope of reaching a breakthrough on the goods and services tax (GST) bill in the Budget session of Parliament that resumed after a month-long break on Thursday. The government is looking to roll out the new tax regime from July 1. Further, some support also came with the report that Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will chair a high-level meeting with Reserve Bank officials on Friday to address the issue of non-performing assets in the banking sector. The meeting, which will also be attended by Financial Services Secretary Anjuly Chib Duggal, will discuss ways of resolution of stressed assets urgently. However, gains remained capped with the ICRA’s report that India's current account deficit is expected to see a 50 per cent rise to $30 billion in 2017-18 from $20 billion in the current financial year on higher oil and gold imports. Since 2013-14, a combination of lower crude oil and gold imports has helped curtail India's current account deficit, absorbing the impact of declining merchandise exports, services trade surplus or remittances in some of these years. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 27.19 points or 0.09% to 28929.13, while the CNX Nifty was up by 2.70 points or 0.03% to 8,927.00.