Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks extended their previous session gain as investors remained bullish about the prospects of a good monsoon. The benchmark indices -- BSE Sensex touched fresh all-time intra-day high of 30,590.71, while the NSE index Nifty touched a new peak of 9,517.20 in trade. The equity benchmarks made a positive start in early deals as traders took support from industry body FICCI’s latest Economic Outlook Survey which pegged India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth at around 7.4 percent for the fiscal year 2017-18. The survey was conducted during March and April 2017 and recorded a median GDP group forecast of 7.4 percent for the current fiscal year, with a minimum and maximum level of 7 percent and 7.6 percent respectively. The pick-up in overall GDP growth will also be supported by an improvement in industry and services sector growth. Some support also came with the report that India’s monsoon rains are expected to arrive on the southern Kerala coast on May 30, two days ahead of schedule. India looks likely to receive higher monsoon rainfall than previously forecast as concern over the El Nino weather condition has eased.

Meanwhile, according to a private opinion poll more than 60% of Indians believe that the Narendra Modi government has either met or exceeded their expectations. A greater proportion, 69%, said they feel optimistic about their future as well as that of their families. The government is on track to deliver on promises made in its manifesto, according to 59% of respondents in the survey that had 40,000 participants, who cast more than 200,000 votes on various subjects across 200 cities. Though the street took some support from report that India’s exports jumped in April, on the back of strong performance from petroleum, engineering and textiles sectors, the report also  enlightened that trade deficit swelled to a 29-month high in April as imports led by gold grew sharper than exports.  While imports grew 49% from a year ago to $37.8 billion, buoyed by a 211% rise in gold imports, exports increased 19.7% to $24.6 billion, widening trade deficit to $13.2 billion from $4.8 billion in the year ago period.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in red, as investors grew increasingly wary of the broader market as valuations look stretched and with the latest rally took place in thin volumes and was led by just a few sectors. Japan’s Nikkei 225 closed in green as investors noted Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe statement that the country would continue pushing for a trans-Pacific trade deal while working with the US on checking the missile and nuclear weapon ambitions of North Korea. China stocks reversed earlier losses to end higher for the fourth straight day on Tuesday, as investors were relieved by central bank efforts to boost liquidity in the financial system even as regulators announced fresh curbs on shadow banking. European markets were trading mostly lower as investors continued to weigh global security concerns and awaited the latest batch of corporate earnings.

The BSE Sensex ended at 30587.36, up by 265.24 points or 0.87% after trading in a range of 30363.37 and 30590.71. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.27%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.90%, TECK up by 1.10%, IT up by 1.06%, FMCG up by 1.02% and Auto up by 0.99%, while Metal down by 0.61% was the sole loser on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.15%, TCS up by 2.86%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.62%, SBI up by 2.48% and ITC up by 2.22%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.12%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.89%, Coal India down by 0.81%, Cipla down by 0.53% and GAIL India down by 0.30% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, after introducing revised macroeconomic indicators of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) by changing the base year for data computation to 2011-12 from 2004-05, chief statistician TCA Anant has said that upcoming gross domestic product (GDP) numbers which are scheduled to release on May 31 will include the impact of revised data series for IIP & WPI.

Ananat said that GDP is supposed to reflect accurately the value added as we can estimate using old data that is available. Noting that these changes in base year of data series are call for a revision in GDP numbers, Anant said that new series of numbers will be incorporated to GDP compilation and added that the actual implications on the incorporation will be known only when the GDP data gets released.

The chief statistician said that the next revision in the indices of all economic indicators will coincide. “All of these indices will be revised hopefully coincidentally with the national accounts revision, which will probably be for 2017-18'. The government revised the base year of IIP and WPI to a new base year of 2011-12 from 2004-05 to make the indices a better measure of the economic activity. Under WPI series, it has also added a new WPI food index to capture the rate of inflation in food items and apart from a new base year, the revision also includes change in the basket of commodities and assigning of new weights.

The CNX Nifty ended at 9509.70, up by 64.30 points or 0.68% after trading in a range of 9456.35 and 9517.20. There were 36 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Hero MotoCorp up by 3.06%, ACC up by 2.86%, TCS up by 2.54%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.43% and Bank of Baroda up by 2.33%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.65%, Indiabulls Housing down by 1.10%, ONGC down by 0.88%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.84% and Zee Entertainment down by 0.84% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in red; France’s CAC decreased 19.56 points or 0.36% to 5,397.84, Germany’s DAX decreased 17.9 points or 0.14% to 12,789.14, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 42.28 points or 0.57% to 7,496.65.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in red on Tuesday following weaker economic data from China. Government data showed growth in industrial activity, credit, investment and housing sector activity decelerated in April. That added to indications growth in the world's second-largest economy peaked in the first quarter and is declining. Chinese leaders are tightening access to credit to reduce reliance on debt and investment but April's downturn was sharper than forecast. Further, the Washington Post reported that US President Donald Trump revealed ‘highly classified information’ about a planned Islamic State Operation to two top Russian officials last week, with lawmakers calling the alleged disclosures ‘inexcusable’ and ‘deeply disturbing.’ Though, Chinese shares reversed earlier losses to close notably higher as signs that the government is moving to ease liquidity conditions helped offset worries over slowing economic growth. Japanese shares ended a tad higher as oil continued to rally and the yen weakened against the dollar.