Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded on a firm note throughout the day and ended in green with gain of around a percent. Bulls were on rampage on D-Street after clocking fresh milestones with benchmark indices extending their gains. The advance decline ratio was neutral with one stock advancing against each declining one. The equity benchmarks made an optimistic start and traded jubilantly with frontline gauges conquering their crucial 11,000 (Nifty) and 36,000 (Sensex) levels for the first time ever, in early deals. Sentiments remained upbeat after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO) has projected that India will grow at 7.4% in 2018 as against China’s 6.8%, making it the fastest growing country among emerging economies following last year’s slowdown due to demonetization and the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST). It has also projected a 7.8% growth rate for India in 2019. Separately, as per the survey conducted India has emerged as the fifth most attractive market for investments and the optimism over global economic growth is at a record level. The findings come on a day when the rich and powerful are meeting in Davos for the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual summit.

Meanwhile, traders also took some encouragement from report that India has moved up on a global index of talent competitiveness to the 81st position, but remains a laggard among the BRICS nations. Separately, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its latest ‘Investment Trends Monitor’ report has stated that India has been ranked at the tenth position among the top host economies for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in 2017, backed by inflow of $45 billion overseas investment, while US, China and Hong Kong secured top three places in the list. Investors took note that India’s oil ministry is pushing for a cut in excise duty on petrol and diesel in the upcoming 2018-19 budget to cushion the impact of rising oil prices on its vast consumer base. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who faces elections in key states later this year, and a nationwide election in early 2019, has faced pressure over a rise in retail prices of petrol and diesel to a record level.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green. The yen ticked up slightly after the Bank of Japan kept monetary policy unchanged as expected but made tweaks to its views on inflation that some trader say pointed to a slightly less pessimistic central bank view on consumer prices. Confidence among Japanese manufacturers jumped in January to an 11-year high, the poll showed, highlighting corporate optimism driven by nearly two years of uninterrupted economic expansion and a buoyant stock market. The European markets were trading in green as sentiment was boosted by news a deal to temporarily end the US government shutdown was made and following upbeat quarterly reports from companies in the region.

Back home, realty stocks closed in green on private report that residential property markets across India’s top 30 cities have shrugged off the impact of de-monetization and absorbed the short-term blow of several regulatory changes aimed at formalizing the real-estate sector. The report added that in the quarter-ended September, these property markets, including tier I and II cities, started showing initial signs of returning to normalcy as sales registered the best performance in five quarter.

The BSE Sensex ended at 36140.89, up by 342.88 points or 0.96% after trading in a range of 35863.98 and 36147.75. 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 1.18%, while Small cap index was up by 0.30%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 4.31%, PSU up by 2.09%, Oil & Gas up by 1.77%, Bankex up by 1.67% and Energy up by 1.48%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.17% was the sole losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.04%, Coal India up by 2.94%, Infosys up by 2.17%, ICICI Bank up by 1.96% and IndusInd Bank up by 1.90%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.85%, Tata Motors down by 0.98%, Asian Paints down by 0.87%, HDFC Bank down by 0.47% and TCS down by 0.45% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), in its latest ‘Investment Trends Monitor’ report has stated that India has been ranked at the tenth position among the top host economies for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows in 2017, backed by inflow of $45 billion overseas investment, while US, China and Hong Kong secured top three places in the list.

The report said that though the global flows of FDI fell by 16% in 2017 to an estimated $1.52 trillion from a revised $1.81 trillion in 2016, FDI in developing countries remained at a level similar to the previous year. Besides, it noted that developing Asia become largest investment destination with 2% increase in FDI amid the global slump and share of developing Asia in global inflows rose to 30% in 2017 from 25% in 2016, due to surge in value of cross border M&A sales.

As per the report, India witnessed a sharp increase in cross border deals in 2017, with surge in value of deals to $22 billion from $8 billion, on the back of a number of large deals including acquisition of 49% stake in Essar Oil, by Petrol Complex, Singapore owned by Rosneftegaz of Russia. The report further noted that globally the value of cross border M&A got contracted by 23% during the last year but developing economies saw increase of 44% in this value.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11083.55, up by 117.35 points or 1.07% after trading in a range of 10994.55 and 11092.90. There were 35 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Vedanta up by 5.21%, GAIL India up by 4.50%, SBI up by 3.93%, Hindalco up by 3.88% and Tata Steel up by 3.73%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Eicher Motors down by 2.26%, Ambuja Cement down by 2.18%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.93%, Wipro down by 1.60% and Bharti Infratel down by 1.37% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 16.15 points or 0.21% to 7,731.59, Germany’s DAX increased 116.22 points or 0.86% to 13,579.91 and France’s CAC increased 6.15 points or 0.11% to 5,548.14.

Asian equity markets ended in green on Tuesday after the three-day US government shutdown ended and the Bank of Japan maintained its massive monetary stimulus program. The US House and the Senate voted Monday to end the government shutdown and subsequently passed a bill to fund the government for about three weeks after Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell promised to address the fate of young immigrant 'Dreamers'. Regional markets shrugged off news that the US will impose steep tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels. Chinese shares ended higher as investors turned more optimistic about growth in 2018. Further, Japanese shares rallied as the Bank of Japan kept the monetary policy unchanged and offered a more upbeat view on inflation expectations, helping ease jitters that it might shift toward a tighter policy.