Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a weak note throughout the day and ended the session in negative territory as investors remained cautious over the blast in Manchester at a pop concert. The markets tried to recover from their intraday lows but LOC tension dragged the market in last hour of trade. The Indian army said that it is engaging in ‘punitive fire assaults’ on Pakistani posts that were aiding infiltrators into India. The escalation in the war of words between India and Pakistan and any major action on the recent beheading of two Indian soldiers by the Pakistani Army could influence sentiments on Dalal Street. The equity benchmarks made a dismal start and traded with a cut of over half a percent in early deals as traders remained concerned with a suspected terrorist attack in UK. The explosion struck an Ariana Grande concert in northern England on Monday, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens. Some selling also crept in on report that as the implementation of Goods & Service Tax (GST) is nearing, there are concerns that it could put pressure on the working capital of industries. According to credit rating agency- India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra), GST implementation will affect the working capital cycle of business in the initial phase owing to the lock up of input credit and noted that easy liquidity in the system is essential to minimize the magnitude of such disruption at the earliest and to absorb the sudden changes in requirement of short term finance.

Investors shrugged off report by rating agency CRISIL which enlightened that even though steps taken by the Modi Government have not accelerated growth, they will benefit over the medium term, and bank NPAs and job creation demand greater focus of the administration now on. The agency said the government is trying to tackle difficult aspects like corruption, red-tape and inefficiencies, and the policy measures, along with fortuitous tailwinds, have meant India’s macroeconomic fundamentals are looking much better now. The market may remain volatile this week as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. May 2017 series to next month i.e. June 2017 series. The near month May 2017 derivatives contracts will expire on Thursday i.e. May 25, 2017.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mixed, reacting to the news of a deadly suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester. Japanese manufacturing activity expanded at the slowest pace in six months in May as export orders slowed, in a warning sign that global demand may be weakening. European markets were trading in green as investors digested deadly suicide bombing news and further political and economic turmoil in the euro zone. All political campaigning ahead of the UK general elections, due to be held on June 8, was suspended until further notice.

The BSE Sensex ended at 30351.42, down by 219.55 points or 0.72% after trading in a range of 30316.92 and 30610.64. There were 8 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.70%, while Small cap index was down by 2.01%. (Provisional)

The only gainer on the BSE was Auto up by 0.17%, while Realty down by 2.84%, Healthcare down by 2.77%, Power down by 1.99%, Utilities down by 1.92% and Consumer Durables down by 1.82% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.54%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.49%, Wipro up by 0.92%, Tata Steel up by 0.72% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.69%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 6.29%, Cipla down by 4.72%, Sun Pharma down by 4.27%, Bajaj Auto down by 3.28% and GAIL India down by 2.79% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, supported by the government’s various initiatives, India has surpassed Japan to become the second leading steel producer in the world. According to data released by the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), the country has registered a growth of about 9 per cent, making 3.32 million tonnes of steel in 2016 as against 3 million tonnes in 2015. China remained the world’s leading producer, while the U.S. ranked fourth in production at 2.48 million tonnes.  

Praising the great development of the industry, the Indian Stainless Steel Development Association (ISSDA), India's apex stainless steel industry association said that country’s sustained efforts in collaboration with industry has made this possible and has urged the government to continue the policy support to take the Indian stainless steel industry to newer heights.

ISSDA has further expressed optimism over recently launched National Steel Policy, noting that it will give impetus for long term benefits. It added that several government initiatives like 'Make in India', smart cities, focus on improving sanitation and waste management facilities, building new infrastructure etc is likely to give a strong push to the stainless-steel industry in future.

The CNX Nifty ended at 9381.00, down by 57.25 points or 0.61% after trading in a range of 9370.00 and 9448.05. There were 18 stocks advancing against 33 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Maruti Suzuki up by 2.48%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.69%, Eicher Motors up by 1.43%, Wipro up by 0.90% and HCL Tech up by 0.88%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone down by 6.84%, Aurobindo Pharma down by 6.11%, Cipla down by 5.40%, Sun Pharma down by 3.87% and Bajaj Auto down by 3.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 7.88 points or 0.11% to 7,504.22, Germany’s DAX increased 36.8 points or 0.29% to 12,656.26 and France’s CAC increased 32.65 points or 0.61% to 5,355.53.

Asian equity markets made a mixed closing on Tuesday as investors digested news of a terrorist attack in Manchester, northern England, and fresh revelations provided additional evidence that the White House actively sought to undermine the FBI investigation into Russia. Nineteen people have been killed and around 50 others injured at an Ariana Grande concert late Monday in Manchester, England, police have said. Separately, the Washington Post reported that US President Donald Trump urged two senior intelligence officials in March to publicly deny any evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The focus also remained on this week's FOMC minutes from the May meeting expected to reinforce the case for a June 14 Fed funds rate hike. Japanese shares ended lower as news of a suspected terrorist attack in Britain and the political crisis gripping Washington lifted the safe-haven yen and kept export-oriented shares under selling pressure. Further, Chinese shares ended lower on renewed concerns over a regulatory crackdown on shadow banking and speculative trading.