Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended at record closing highs in a volatile trading session and Nifty surpassed 9250 mark. The equity benchmarks made a weak start and traded slightly in red in early deals as traders remained on sidelines ahead of two day Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) policy meet which begins today. The street expects the Reserve Bank of India to maintain status quo on key interest rates at its monetary policy review meeting on April 6, 2017. The commentary will be closely watched, especially after the RBI, in last meet, changed its stance from accommodative to neutral. Buying crept in after industry body Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) said that the impact of demonetization was almost over and the market has started to revive with modest growth in March. Traders were also encouraged with the government’s revenue collection during fiscal year 2016-17 which showed a healthy growth of 18 percent at Rs 17.10 lakh crore as compared to last year. It was highest in last 6 years and also surpassed the revised tax collection target. Indirect tax collection surged by 22 percent at Rs 8.63 lakh crore on the back of robust collection in excise duty mop-up. This has exceeded the Revised Estimates (RE) of Rs 8.5 lakh crore for FY17. Information Technology (IT) stocks were under pressure reacting negatively to the report that in the new guidelines issued by the US administration it has been said that companies applying for visas under the H-1B programme must provide evidence to establish that the particular position is one in a specialty occupation. Separately, tougher and more expensive visa rules announced by the UK Home Office last year are set to take effect from Thursday, affecting Indians and other nationals from outside the European Union (EU).

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green, amid concerns over North Korea’s latest ballistic missile test which landed in the Sea of Japan. Chinese stocks closed in green led by the Shanghai benchmark posting its best day in eight months, as investors cheered Beijing’s decision to launch a new economic zone in Hebei province. Activity in Japan’s services sector expanded at the fastest pace in 19 months in March as outstanding business improved, allowing companies to charge more for their goods. The Markit/Nikkei Japan Services Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to 52.9 in March on a seasonally adjusted basis from 51.3 in February. European shares were trading mostly in green as higher oil prices and deals boosted energy stocks, with investors cheering improved synergies from an oil services takeover.

The BSE Sensex ended at 29961.92, up by 51.70 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 29817.69 and 30007.48. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.51%, while Small cap index was up by 1.10%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 4.51%, Consumer Durables up by 2.38%, Telecom up by 1.69%, Energy up by 1.44% and Capital Goods up by 1.41%, while IT down by 0.86%, TECK down by 0.28% and FMCG down by 0.20% were the few losers on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 4.58%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.16%, Reliance Industries up by 3.26%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.97% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.90%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.51%, Coal India down by 1.71%, Infosys down by 1.25%, ITC down by 1.17% and Asian Paints down by 1.02% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, after making e-procurement from the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) mandatory for all departments, the Commerce Ministry is now planning to set up a company for the management of it. The move will make GeM an autonomous body, which will help in taking all the decisions including those related to finance at a faster pace. The move would also help to take real-time decisions like hiring of manpower.

The GeM is a platform for the Central Government departments to source goods and services online, which also provides the tools of e-bidding and reverse e-auction as well as demand aggregation to facilitate the government users to achieve the best value for the money.

The GeM was launched last year and to make use of this portal, the Finance Ministry has amended the General Financial Rules (GFRs) as per which it is now compulsory to procure items and services from it. Currently, it sells over 9,000 products from 250 categories including computers, stationery and several services. The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) who has developed this portal is working on increasing the number of services ranging from cleaning and plumbing services to the digitisation of records. With increasing use of the portal by central government departments, several states have approached the DGS&D for adopting similar practices.

The CNX Nifty ended at 9255.40, up by 17.55 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 9215.40 and 9273.90. There were 28 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 5.00%, Maruti Suzuki up by 4.33%, Reliance Industries up by 2.94%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.88% and Hindalco up by 2.27%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.88%, HCL Technologies down by 2.11%, Coal India down by 1.69%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.35% and Infosys down by 1.30% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.43 points or 0.17% to 7,334.25, France’s CAC increased 8.98 points or 0.18% to 5,110.11, while Germany’s DAX decreased 29.38 points or 0.24% to 12,252.96.

The European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 12.43 points or 0.17% to 7,334.25, France’s CAC increased 8.98 points or 0.18% to 5,110.11, while Germany’s DAX decreased 29.38 points or 0.24% to 12,252.96.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday even as underlying sentiment remained cautious after North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan and the US said it is considering all options to tackle the threat posed by the country's repeated nuclear arms test. Investors also looked ahead to some key events this week, including the release of minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting later today, the US-China summit starting Thursday, and the closely-watched monthly US jobs report due on Friday. Chinese shares ended higher as investors cheered Beijing's decision to launch a new economic zone in Hebei province, sending shares of several related firms surging by the daily limit of 10 percent. Further, Japanese shares rose as the yen rally paused and data from Markit showed activity in the country's services sector expanded at the fastest pace in 19 months in March.