Markets to extend the jubilation with a positive start

The global rally mood seems to have been initiated by the Indian markets which vehemently rallied around a percent in last session with anxiety over the French elections fading and investors turning their attention towards the earnings season. Today, the start is likely to be in green and the markets will be extending the gains on jubilant global cues. Traders will be getting some encouragement with Reliance Industries numbers, which beating the estimates reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 8,046 crore for the January-March 2017 quarter, up 12.3 per cent from the corresponding period last year, on the back of rebound in global crude oil prices and excellent refining margins. Also, paving the way for July 1 roll out of the GST, the Bihar assembly in a special session unanimously passed the Goods and Services Tax Bill, 2017. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the consensus on Goods and Services Tax (GST) reflects the spirit of ‘one nation, one aspiration, one determination’. The IT sector stocks too may see some upmove, as the US has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants strong economic ties between the two nations, days after finance minister Arun Jaitley raised the issue of restrictions on H-1B visa with his American counterpart. Meanwhile, Indian IT industry body Nasscom has rebutted claims made by an US official that Indian IT companies were cornering the majority of H-1B visas. Contesting the numbers, the IT trade body pointed out Indian software firms accounted for less than 20% of the 65,000 work permits issued annually. There will be some buzz in the pharma sector too, as the government has asked stent manufacturers to maintain uninterrupted supply of coronary stents by invoking emergency clause in public interest. The government took action after receiving reports of shortage of stents in the market and hospitals.

The US markets rallied in the last session taking cues from the French voting, when investors breathed a sigh of relief after a centrist candidate emerged as the favorite to become France's next president.  The Asian markets have extended the rally mood with most of the indices getting a green start, led by the Japanese market which is up by around a percent after Bank of Japan said that corporate service prices in Japan came in line with expectations and were up 0.8 percent on year in March.

Indian equity indices staged a magnificent performance on Monday by vehemently rallying close to a percentage point in the session and re-conquering their important psychological levels. Investor sentiments around the globe turned optimistic after the market’s favoured candidate, Emmanuel Macron, won the first round of the French presidential election. The outcome led to a mass unwinding of safe-haven trades in favour of riskier assets. On the domestic front, sentiments got a boost with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that Indian economy will grow at a clip of 7.5% this fiscal, up from 7.1% in the previous year, and it remains resilient with low inflation, fiscal prudence and low deficit. Participating in G-20 finance ministers' and central bank governors' meeting, Jaitley said emerging economies have become increasingly important in driving global growth, accounting for more than 75% of global expansion. Some support also came after Niti Aayog, the government's premier think-tank, indicating that India will be a Rs 469 lakh crore, or $7.2 trillion, economy by 2030. According to the report, the future is extremely bright for India's economic growth, primarily because of an extremely large GDP base and a projection of average 8% growth over the next 15 years.  Furthermore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon states to ‘speed up capital expenditure and infrastructure creation’ to spur economic growth. He also said the vision of ‘New India’ can only be realized through the combined efforts and cooperation of all the states. Meanwhile, Pharma stocks came under pressure after the regulator has warned the doctors of action if they fail to adhere to its guideline on prescribing the drugs only in generic names and writing prescriptions legibly. Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 290.54 points or 0.99% to 29655.84, while the CNX Nifty was up by 98.55 points or 1.08% to 9,217.95.