Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity markets traded on a firm note throughout the day and ended with gain of over half a percent. The buying by retail investors coupled with sustained foreign fund inflows and better-than-expected earnings by some more companies influenced sentiments. The last hour of trade helped the benchmarks Sensex , Bank Nifty and Nifty to close at record highs. Nifty crossed 10,000 mark for the first time. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries (RIL) also ended at record closing high. The equity benchmarks made a positive start and traded in fine fettle in early deals as sentiments remained upbeat with report that the government approved an addition of 7.47 lakh new registration applications under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

Investors took note of private brokerage firm report which highlighted that retail inflation in India is expected to rise noticeably from trough in June to 4.4 per cent in the second half of this year, driven mostly by food prices and the base effect. The report added that although inflation has bottomed, in the medium term it is expected to see a significant uptrend and rise above the RBI’s target. Power sector stocks were buzzing as the Ministry of Power has said that outstanding liabilities of power distribution companies to central public sector undertaking power producers have halved under the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana. The markets may remain volatile this week as traders may roll over positions in the Futures & Options (F&O) segment from the near month i.e. July 2017 series to next month i.e. August 2017 series. The near month July 2017 derivatives contracts will expire on Thursday i.e. July 27, 2017.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green, as investors awaited the Federal Reserve’s policy decision later in the day for more clues on its tightening plans. China’s securities regulator said that it will regulate and expand access to capital markets for all types of investors, while also encouraging more long-term institutional participation. The European markets were trading in green as supportive crude prices and strong results from energy firms and autos companies helped shares inch higher, while banks were the worst-performing sector as results disappointed.

Back home, Federal Bank closed in red after the bank failed to meet estimates as provisions for bad loans rose. The bank posted a 26 per cent rise in Q1 net profit, but lagged estimates as provisions for bad loans rose. Asian Paints closed in red after the company reported a fall of 20% in its net profit at Rs 400.95 crore for the quarter under review as compared to Rs 501.18 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income of the company increased by 5.57% at Rs 3680.71 crore for Q1FY18 as compared to Rs 3486.50 crore for the corresponding quarter previous year.

The BSE Sensex ended at 32407.51, up by 179.24 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 32226.08 and 32413.63. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.22%, while Small cap index was up by 0.24%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.63%, Capital Goods up by 1.09%, Utilities up by 0.94%, Bankex up by 0.84% and Healthcare up by 0.75%, while TECK down by 0.19% and IT down by 0.11% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 2.18%, Sun Pharma up by 2.04%, ICICI Bank up by 2.01%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.73% and Cipla up by 1.59%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 2.93%, Asian Paints down by 1.38%, TCS down by 0.61%, Infosys down by 0.30% and SBI down by 0.22% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the government has claimed that Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime has brought about reduction in tax rates of most of the commodities to be consumed by the weaker sections of society. Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar elaborating it has said that the GST’s self policing mechanism will bring about transparency and accountability in business transactions, ensuring the gains are passed on in the form of reduced prices of goods and services.

Gangwar further said that the GST would positively impact the country’s business environment and help the domestic sectors become more competitive.

The Minister of State for Finance also said that following the GST implementation, the government will soon come up with an anti-profiteering authority which will help to ensure the benefit of tax reduction is passed on to consumers.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10020.50, up by 55.95 points or 0.56% after trading in a range of 9965.95 and 10025.95. There were 30 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 6.07%, Indusind Bank up by 2.43%, Eicher Motors up by 2.40%, Sun Pharma up by 2.30% and Cipla up by 2.29%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Axis Bank down by 3.09%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.56%, Asian Paints down by 1.27%, ACC down by 1.22% and Ambuja Cement down by 1.19% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 48.44 points or 0.65% to 7,483.26, Germany’s DAX increased 66.24 points or 0.54% to 12,330.55 and France’s CAC increased 46.23 points or 0.9% to 5,207.31.

Asian equity markets ended mostly in green on Wednesday as higher commodity prices and upbeat earnings news from the US helped keep investors’ sentiments buoyant ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged, but investors will be paying close attention to the accompanying statement for clues regarding future rate hikes. Japanese shares ended higher as the dollar extended an overnight rally against the yen and long-dated US Treasury yields jumped after US Senate Republicans narrowly agreed to open debate on healthcare reform. Hong Kong shares ended higher as gains by energy and financial shares overcame sluggishness in other sectors hit by profit-taking after the Hang Seng index temporarily breached the 27,000 mark in early trade. Meanwhile, Chinese shares ended little changed on concerns over further regulatory tightening after the China Securities Regulatory Commission said it would maintain ‘normalization’ of initial public offerings.