Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets witnessed a choppy trade and closed with gains of around three tenth of a percent as investors picked beaten down counters. The official forecast of an average monsoon in 2017 and expectations of positive quarterly results is likely to push markets higher in the near-term. Investors took note of a report that a normal monsoon this year should continue to revive rural demand and allow the RBI to cut rates by 25 bps in August. According to the report, rural demand is already reviving and the autumn kharif farm income has jumped by 26 percent last year. The central bank, in its monetary policy review meet on April 6, kept the repurchase or repo rate -- at which it lends to banks -- unchanged at 6.25%. The street also took note of a top IMF official’s statement that India’s growth has been impressive in the recent years which makes room for tax broadening efforts by the government. India has recorded quite an impressive growth performance in recent years. The Fund view is that the elimination of fuel subsidies and the targeting of social benefits has delivered in terms of allowing the union budget target to be achieved at 3.5 percent of GDP. 

The equity benchmarks made a cautious start and traded in green in early deals as traders took some support from report that after a gap of seven years, domestic investors are once again emerging as a force to reckon with in the Indian equity market as foreign fund flows remain volatile. Domestic money flow into Indian equities outstripped foreign fund flows in a cumulative two-year cycle in FY16-17 for the first time in seven years, while a broad-based comparison of stock ownership suggests favourable tailwind for Indian funds and investors. Investments in domestic capital markets via participatory notes (P-notes) have surprisingly surged to 4-month high of Rs 1.78 lakh crore at the end of March despite stringent norms put in place by SEBI to curb inflow of illicit funds. According to SEBI data, total value of P-note investments in Indian markets -- equity, debt and derivatives -- increased to Rs 1,78,437 crore at March-end, from Rs 1,70,191 crore at the end of February.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green, as signs of resilience emerged in some markets, while steadying commodity prices - especially for oil - prompted some bargain hunting among investors. Japanese stocks failed to hold on to slim gains and closed flat today. The European markets were trading mostly higher as investors continued to focus on the upcoming French presidential election, with the first round voting scheduled on April 23 2017 and following a fresh round of corporate earnings reports.

Back home, stocks of aviation companies InterGlobe Aviation, SpiceJet and Jet Airways closed in green after data showed that air traffic during March quarter was almost 18.6 percent higher than the corresponding period last year. InterGlobe Aviation’s firm IndiGo led the market share, flying nearly 40 percent passengers last month. Majority of sugar stocks closed in green after the government yesterday decided to extend stock limits on sugar traders by another six months till October 2017 to check sweetener prices that are ruling at Rs 42-44 per kg. The move will enable state governments to impose stock limits and licensing requirements in respect of sugar.

The BSE Sensex ended at 29412.68, up by 76.11 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 29341.68 and 29453.06. There were 20 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.63%, while Small cap index was up by 1.11%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.82%, Basic Materials up by 1.54%, Consumer Durables up by 1.34%, IT up by 1.03% and Consumer Disc up by 0.99%, while Bankex down by 0.47%, Power down by 0.33%, Energy down by 0.30%, Oil & Gas down by 0.20% and Healthcare down by 0.19% were the losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were GAIL India up by 2.09%, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone up by 1.93%, HDFC up by 1.47%, HDFC Bank up by 1.17% and Lupin up by 1.16%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 2.78%, Axis Bank down by 2.25%, Power Grid down by 1.49%, Sun Pharma down by 1.33% and Coal India down by 0.90% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, with an aim to transform the country into a global steel leader, both as steel producer and steel consuming nation, the steel ministry will soon seek Cabinet nod for a proposed new national steel policy, which seeks to more than double India’s domestic steel production capacity to 300 million tonnes (mt) by 2030 from the current 126 million tonnes (mt).

The proposed policy focuses on impediments like raw material availability, import dependency, production cost and also seeks to increase focus on expansion of the MSME sector, enhance research and development (R&D) and thus develop a technologically advanced and globally competitive industry that promotes economic growth.

The steel ministry expects that the steel demand will continue to grow this year,  given the stress on the infrastructure sector and noted that the country need to increase steel production by 10 per cent, exports by 103 per cent and massively reduce imports this year. The domestic crude steel production grew by 8.5 per cent at 97.38 mt in fiscal 2017, while consumption grew from 81.5 mt to 83.9 mt. Export of finished steel rose 102.1 per cent to 8.244 mt while imports fell 36 per cent to 7.4 mt during the year.

The CNX Nifty ended at 9136.45, up by 32.95 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 9102.65 and 9143.90. There were 35 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Grasim Industries up by 6.20%, Bank of Baroda up by 2.69%, GAIL India up by 2.64%, Zee Entertainment up by 2.46% and Indiabulls Housing up by 2.29%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.76%, ICICI Bank down by 2.74%, Axis Bank down by 2.24%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.76% and Tata Power down by 1.52% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in green; Germany’s DAX increased 30.15 points or 0.25% to 12,046.60, France’s CAC increased 52.37 points or 1.05% to 5,056.10, while UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 5.39 points or 0.08% to 7,108.97.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Thursday as the yen's strong trend paused, oil prices rebounded from an overnight selloff, and Japan reported stronger-than-expected exports in March. Reports showed that Japan's exports rose at a faster-than-expected 12 percent pace in March, while imports jumped nearly 16 percent from a year earlier. A revival of demand in China helped push exports up 16.4 percent from the year before to 1.3 trillion yen ($11 billion), while exports to the US climbed 3.5 percent to 1.35 trillion yen ($12 billion). Chinese shares ended marginally higher as investors lapped up stocks that would benefit from the newly-launched Xiongan economic zone. However, Japanese stocks ended nearly flat as investors became cautious ahead of global risk events such as the first-round of French presidential elections at the weekend and mounting tensions over North Korea.