Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a firm note throughout the day and ended in green with gain of around half a percent. The benchmarks snapped three days losing streak, while investors ignored terrorist attack in the UK. The bounce-back in domestic market was on account of both global and local factors. Flows have been very strong on both Domestic and FII (Foreign Institutional Investors) fronts. Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 356.64 crore on March 22, 2017. The equity benchmarks made a positive start in early deals as traders took some encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India’s GDP can grow by 7-8 percent if the global economy picks up. He also said the government is hopeful of implementing from July 1 the Goods and Service Tax (GST) to help check tax evasion. The street was also finding support with Minister of State for Finance Arjun Ram Meghwal statement that a meeting on GST will be chaired by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today and the government may table four GST supplementary legislations in Parliament. The Cabinet on Monday had cleared the four GST related bills to enable roll out of the Goods and Services Tax from July 1. Separately, there was scrip specific action in certain stocks after the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on Wednesday introduced Futures and Options (F&O) contracts in 15 individual securities. These stocks will be available for trading from March 31, 2017. Reliance Defence, InterGlobe Aviation, PVR, among others will be included in the list. Among financials, Capital First, Muthoot Finance, Equitas Holdings, Ujjivan Financial Services, Max Financial Services and Indian Bank will be included in the list, while Dalmia Bharat, Infibeam Incorporation, Suzlon Energy, Piramal Enterprises, Escorts, and Shree Cements are the other stocks to be included.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green, as investors awaited the fate of a key legislative plank of the Republican party-controlled congress and presidency to repeal and replace a healthcare law dubbed Obamacare. China stocks ended slightly higher despite a slump in Shanghai B shares amid worries over tight liquidity and stepped-up regulation. European shares were trading mostly in red as investors were still jittery after the terrorist attack perpetrated in London.

Back home, there was some buzz in Realty sector stocks as the government announced a credit-linked interest subsidy (CLSS) scheme for home loans, leading to savings of more than Rs 2 lakh, or up to Rs 2,000 on EMIs.

The BSE Sensex ended at 29345.17, up by 177.49 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 29198.08 and 29348.91. There were 25 stocks advancing against 5 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.03%, while Small cap index was up by 1.02%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.38%, Industrials up by 1.37%, Oil & Gas up by 1.37%, Utilities up by 1.27% and Power up by 1.25%, while FMCG down by 0.14% was the sole loser on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up by 2.86%, NTPC up by 2.40%, GAIL India up by 2.13%, Hero MotoCorp up by 1.85% and Wipro up by 1.73%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, ITC down by 0.82%, TCS down by 0.76%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.30%, HDFC Bank down by 0.09% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.06% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to give a boost to startups, the Union Cabinet has revised Alternate Investment Funds (AIFs) norms. As per the revisions, AIFs supported by a Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS) shall invest at least twice the amount of contribution received from FFS in start-ups. Besides, the government also approved Rs 1,000-crore initial corpus for the FFS.

The union cabinet also decided that operating expenses for carrying out due diligence, legal and technical appraisals and convening meeting of Venture Capital Investment Committee, among others, would be met out of the FFS to the extent of 0.50 per cent of the commitments made to AIFs and will be debited to the fund at the beginning of each half year, that is April 1 and October 1. Earlier, the cabinet had decided that the FFS shall contribute to the corpus of AIFs for investing in equity and equity-linked instruments of various start-ups at early stage, seed stage and growth stage.

The decision was taken after stakeholders raised certain issues related with AIFs. They said that the process of funding of start-ups by AIFs is long drawn, which starts from pitching by a start- up, commitment by the AIF and then release of funds in tranches. The FFS is being managed and operated by the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI). It contributes to SEBI-registered AIFs that may go up to a maximum of 35 per cent of the corpus of the AIF concerned.

The CNX Nifty ended at 9080.25, up by 49.80 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 9048.60 and 9099.05. There were 39 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 3.21%, Tata Motors up by 2.47%, NTPC up by 2.33%, GAIL India up by 2.10% and Wipro up by 1.84%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 0.82%, TCS down by 0.80%, ITC down by 0.66%, Bosch down by 0.52% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.51% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 15.61 points or 0.21% to 7,309.11, France’s CAC decreased 11.33 points or 0.23% to 4,983.37, while Germany’s DAX increased 11.87 points or 0.1% to 11,915.99.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Thursday as investors monitored oil prices and kept an eye on Capitol Hill to see whether US President Donald Trump can close the deal on the Republican health care bill. The latest reports suggest that House Republicans may not have the votes to pass their healthcare plan. The Republican plan faces an even tougher uphill climb in the Senate, raising concerns about what the GOP can accomplish even with a unified government. If the healthcare bill fails, it could imperil Trump's other policies such as tax reform and increased infrastructure spending. Meanwhile, markets in the region largely shrugged off news of a suspected terrorist attack on Wednesday in London that left 5 people dead and about 40 injured. Japanese shares recovered earlier losses to end a tad higher as a weaker yen helped offset news that the head of a Japanese school at the heart of a political scandal received a donation of one million yen from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's wife in 2015. Further, Chinese shares ended higher despite investor worries over tight liquidity in the interbank market and increased regulatory scrutiny weighing heavily on B shares.