Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded with volatility throughout the day and ended with modest gains. The markets snapped their four day losing streak with Sensex surpassing 33,000 mark. The market breath was in favour of declines with one stock advancing against two declining ones. Indian equity benchmarks traded with modest gains in early deals as sentiments were upbeat after RBI data showed that the country’s manufacturing sector witnessed an improvement in sales growth in the third quarter this fiscal on annual basis, though net profit has remained subdued due to lack of support from other income. The sales of manufacturing companies increased by 14% in the October-December quarter of 2017-18 compared to similar period of the previous fiscal while net profit declined by 2.4% in the third quarter. Separately, as per ICRA report the credit to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) is expected to grow at 12-14 per cent over the next five years, helped by higher lending by non-banking finance companies (NBFC) to the segment. The report added that NBFC and housing finance companies are expected to expand at about 20-21 per cent compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) in this space during the period, while bank credit to this segment, which accounted for about 84 per cent of total MSME credit, is estimated to grow at a lower CAGR of 9-11 per cent.

Some support also came with Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan’s statement that India can achieve a growth rate of 10%. He added that some key reforms are needed to accelerate India's Growth Rate. However, selling crept in between as adding to the pessimism, Bibek Debroy, the head of Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) and Niti Aayog Member, said that India’s net exports are not doing well even as the global economy is on the recovery path. Debroy further highlighted that India is facing a dilemma from the point of view of pushing exports, as exporters would like exchange rate to depreciate, however exchange rate might not depreciate as much as exporters want because of capital inflows.

Meanwhile, information technology (IT) stocks remained buzzing in today’s trade despite introduction of a Bill to take on call-centres. A legislation has been introduced in the Congress that would require call centre employees overseas to disclose their location and give customers a right to ask to transfer their call to a service agent in the US. Separately, select aviation stocks closed in green as data showed that domestic air passenger traffic rose by 24.14 per cent in February as compared to the corresponding month last year, helped by an increased tourist-season demand. The data released by DGCA showed that in February, domestic airlines flew 1.07 crore passengers compared to 86.55 lakh passengers flown during the corresponding period last year.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mixed. Confidence among Japanese manufacturers edged up in March from three months ago and the service sector’s mood hit a three-year high, signaling solid readings in the central bank's closely-watched quarterly tankan survey. The European markets were trading mostly in red as tech stocks stayed under pressure after concerns over increased regulation and taxation of large tech companies prompted selling overnight on Wall Street. British inflation was weaker than expected in February as the impact of the 2016 Brexit vote faded from the figures, easing some of the squeeze on consumers who have seen their pay rise more slowly than prices.

Back home, select telecom stocks were buzzing in today's trade as the telecom department (DoT) amended telco licence norms to extend the payment tenure for auctioned airwaves from 10 to 16 years and also eased the spectrum holdings caps in step with recent Cabinet decisions. The moves are part of the government’s efforts to boost the health of the beleaguered telecom industry that is saddled with nearly Rs 8 lakh-crore of debt and has seen a plunge in revenues and profits amid continuing price wars.

The BSE Sensex ended at 33040.63, up by 117.51 points or 0.36% after trading in a range of 32810.86 and 33102.74. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.31%, while Small cap index was down by 0.09%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.66%, TECK up by 1.53%, Telecom up by 0.86%, Auto up by 0.57% and Healthcare was up by 0.56%, while Oil & Gas down by 0.85%, Energy down by 0.64%, Metal down by 0.32%, Bankex down by 0.29% and PSU was down by 0.17% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 3.43%, Sun Pharma up by 2.63%, Infosys up by 1.97%, Dr. Reddy’s Lab up by 1.95% and Wipro up by 1.93%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, ONGC down by 1.47%, ICICI Bank down by 0.97%, Yes Bank down by 0.89%, Reliance Industries down by 0.59% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, aviation regulator, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has indicated that the Indian airlines have registered 24.14% growth in domestic passengers during the month of February, on the back of increased tourist-season demand. It noted that in February, domestic airlines flew 1.07 crore passengers compared to 86.55 lakh passengers flown during the corresponding period last year.

According to the data, the SpiceJet continued to maintain its pole position on the load factor front by flying its planes 96.3% seats full, followed by IndiGo, which flew its planes with 91.8% seats full. Vistara came third by flying its planes with 91.2% seats full. Besides, the SpiceJet also took the lead on 'on-time performance' at 78%, while the IndiGo clocked 74.8% and the Vistara closely following third at 73.8%. The on-time performance of the Air India was at 68.8%. The performance was computed based on data from Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad airports.

The DGCA further revealed that IndiGo led the industry with the highest market share of 39.9%, followed by Jet Airways (14.6%) and Air India (13.2%). However, the data stated that more number of flights were cancelled in February this year (0.89%) as compared to the corresponding period last year (0.39%), affecting 44,294 passengers. It cited technical factors as the prime reason for the cancellations.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10137.55, up by 43.30 points or 0.43% after trading in a range of 10049.10 and 10155.65. There were 33 stocks advancing against 17 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bharti Infratel up by 4.96%, Tech Mahindra up by 4.09%, Eicher Motors up by 3.63%, Tata Steel up by 3.43% and Bosch up by 2.66%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Vedanta down by 6.20%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 2.47%, ONGC down by 1.33%, BPCL down by 1.10% and GAIL India down by 0.92% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in red; Germany’s DAX decreased 22.54 points or 0.18% to 12,194.48, France’s CAC decreased 13.12 points or 0.25% to 5,209.72, while UK’s FTSE 100 increased 8.35 points or 0.12% to 7,051.28.

Asian equity markets ended mixed on Tuesday as trade-war worries persisted and investors waited for cues from the new Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's first policy meeting starting later in the day, with the central bank widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points. Sentiment was also dampened after Facebook shares suffered the biggest one-day drop in four years overnight amid allegations that political consulting firm Cambridge Analytica inappropriately obtained and used the social media giant's user data. Chinese shares ended higher as China's legislature nominated Yi Gang, vice-governor of the People's Bank of China, as its new chief. Further, Japanese shares ended lower as domestic tech stocks tracked US counterparts' declines on Wall Street. Many investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of a Japanese public holiday and the two-day Fed meeting expected to produce a rate hike.