Indian markets display spirited performance; Sensex rallies around 200 pts

A session after displaying a pitiful performance, Indian equity indices have managed to pull through a brilliant performance by gaining over half percent on Tuesday, thanks to the hefty buying by funds and retail investors ahead of March quarter earnings, which begin later this week. Sentiments got boost after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that some new measures for NPAs are being contemplated and the government is making all conscious efforts to tackle bad loans. Besides, optimistic buying in blue-chip stocks ahead of industrial production (IIP) data for February and retail inflation for March tomorrow also kept markets on course. Some support also came with the report that India's oil consumption fell for the third straight month in March as the demand growth in diesel, petrol and other products came to a crawl. The oil demand fell by 0.65% in March to 17,358 thousand metric tonnes (TMT). However, gains remained capped with the report that India's inflation is seen climbing to within touching distance of the central bank's 4% medium-term target in March, driven by higher food costs. According to the report, having sunk to its lowest level for at least five years in January, consumer price inflation is expected to have risen to 3.98% last month from February's 3.65%. Furthermore, leading exporters' body EEPC India has raised a red flag against the debilitating impact of sharp rise in rupee against dollar in the last three months on exports, which may slip off from the recovery path, if the situation persists further. Since the first week of January, rupee has gained by close to six per cent, eroding significantly the exporters' margins and more importantly the competitive edge against India's trade rivals in the international markets. Meanwhile, shares of private electricity generation companies, Adani Power and Tata Power Company, came under sharp selling pressure on reports that the Supreme Court has disallowed compensatory tariff to both the companies.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Tuesday as the political tinderbox in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula added to uncertainty over the looming French vote, pushing edgy investors into safer assets such as the yen and Treasuries. The latest polls from France are providing another twist in the race for the presidency, with far-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon now making ground against the rest of the pack ahead of the first round of voting on April 23. Further, Oil prices were also active, owing both to the geopolitical concerns and reports of a disrupted pipeline near Libya's Sharara oil production facility. Meanwhile, European markets were also subdued and looked to be heading for a second day in the red.

Back home, the benchmark got off to a soft start as the indices showed signs of consolidation in early trade, tracking weak trade in other Asian markets. However, the frontline indices slowly but steadily started gathering steam and surged by around half a percent by late morning trades. Thereafter, the indices kept oscillating in a narrow range through the day's trade. Finally, the NSE's 50-share broadly followed index - Nifty garnered over half a percent to settle above the crucial 9,200 levels, while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index - Sensex smashed a double century and closed just above the psychological 29,780 mark. Moreover, the broader markets too went home with notable gains in the session. The market breadth remained optimistic, as there were 1724 shares on the gaining side against 1153 shares on the losing side, while 144 shares remained unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 212.61 points or 0.72% to 29788.35, while the CNX Nifty was up by 55.55 points or 0.61% to 9,237.00.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 29804.51 and 29570.58, respectively and there were 20 stocks on gainers side as against 10 stocks on the losers side on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained by 0.39%, while Small cap index was up by 1.01%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.56%, Capital Goods up by 1.48%, PSU up by 1.45%, Realty up by 1.29% and Bankex up by 0.99%, while Metal down by 1.56% and Basic Materials down by 0.29% were the only losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 3.16%, Power Grid up by 2.23%, ICICI Bank up by 1.89%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.80% and SBI up by 1.63%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 4.78%, Cipla down by 1.66%, Tata Steel down by 1.44%, Bajaj Auto down by 0.54% and Reliance Industries down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, furthering its tirade against cheap imports and to protect the domestic steel industry, the government may impose anti-dumping duties on certain hot and cold rolled steel products from various countries, including China, Japan and Korea.

The Directorate General of Antidumping and Allied Duties (DGAD) which administers the anti-dumping and countervailing measures in India, in separate investigations recommended anti-dumping duties on hot-rolled flat products of alloy or non-alloy steel from China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia. In two separate investigations, the DGAD concluded that there has been a significant increase in the volume of dumped imports from these nations.

DGAD has also recommended imposing duties on cold-rolled cold reduced flat steel products of iron or non-alloy steel or other alloy steel of all widths and thickness, not clad, plated or coated' from China, Japan, Korea and Ukraine. Moreover, in its two separate investigations, the DGAD has found that there has been a significant increase in the volume of dumped imports from these nations, due to which the domestic industry has suffered material injury.

In its latest notification DGAD has stated that the import of hot-rolled flat products from certain firms of countries like China, Japan, Korea, Russia, Brazil and Indonesia may attract an anti-dumping duty equivalent to the difference between the landed value of steel products and $ 489 per tonne. On the other hand, the import of cold-rolled steel items from China, Japan, Korea and Ukraine may attract an anti-dumping duty equivalent to the difference between the landed value of steel products and $ 576 per tonne.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 9,242.70 and 9,172.85. There were 31 stocks in green as against 20 stocks in red on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 3.03%, ICICI Bank up by 2.11%, Ambuja Cements up by 2.08%, Power Grid up by 2% and Bank of Baroda up by 1.99%. On the flip side, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 5.38%, ZEEL down by 2.60%, Tata Power down by 1.78%, Cipla down by 1.64% and Tata Steel down by 1.50% were the top losers.

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 20.65 points or 0.17% to 12,179.87, France’s CAC decreased 5.54 points or 0.11% to 5,101.91, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 35.63 points or 0.48% to 7,384.57.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in red on Tuesday as rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula as well as uncertainty over the French election kept investors nervous. Japanese shares retreated as a stronger yen amid rising geopolitical tensions put pressure on exporters. However, Chinese shares bucked the weak trend to hit 15-month highs after Beijing on Saturday announced plans to build Xiongan New Area, modelled on the Shenzhen special economic zone next to Hong Kong that helped kick start China's economic reforms in 1980.