Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded below neutral line throughout the day and ended with cut of more than eight tenth of a percent. Selling extended during last hour of trade with Nifty slipping below 10,600 mark and Sensex losing 300 points. The sentiments were dampened with bears taking control on account of falling rupee, rising oil prices and drama over Karnataka election. The Supreme Court has ordered a floor test to be conducted on Saturday. Oil prices held firm on strong demand, ongoing supply cuts led by producer cartel OPEC and looming US sanctions against major crude exporter Iran. Oil prices hit $80 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since November 2014. Separately, India’s oil imports from Iran surged to 640,000 barrels per day (bpd) in April, its highest level since October 2016, according to data from shipping and industry sources, as refiners raised purchases ahead of looming US sanctions against Tehran. Overall, India imported 4.51 million bpd in April, 2.5% higher than a year ago. Some pessimism also crept in on private report stating that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to keep policy rates unchanged in the forthcoming monetary policy review. The RBI will announce its second bi-monthly monetary policy on June 6. The report added that the probability of a June hike would increase if international oil prices rise further, or the rupee depreciates significantly ahead of the June meeting.

The street shrugged off report which highlighted that with robust private consumption, a slightly more supportive fiscal stance and benefits from past reforms, the United Nations (UN) in its mid-2018 report projected Indian economy to grow at 7.6% in the fiscal year 2018-19. It added that the country will remain the fastest growing economy in the world. But, it also said that although capital spending has shown signs of revival, a more widespread and sustained recovery in private investment remains a crucial challenge in the nation. Telecom companies stocks were under pressure despite the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) stating that players in the telecom industry have so far invested Rs 10.4 lakh crore in India. It added that the proliferation of telecom infrastructure in the rural and remote areas has resulted in efficient connectivity and improved usability of telecom services.

Meanwhile, select banking stock were buzzing as Finance minister Piyush Goyal promised all possible support to the 11 state-run banks that are under the RBI’s Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework and expressed confidence that public sector banks will overcome legacy issues very soon. Mixed reactions were witnessed in gold and jewellery stock after the World Gold Council (WGC) in its report said that the gold jewellery demand is likely to face pressure in the long term, however, the country’s demographics will offset the trends and boost demand. The report added that jewellery demand will persist in developed markets, however, the excitement will be in the emerging markets as their economies grow. Aviation stocks closed in red despite Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data showing that domestic air passenger volume surged 26% in April to 11.51 million over the year-ago period driven by the tourists season, which began from the previous month. 

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly higher. The Bank of Japan’s key inflation gauge showed that price gains slowed for a second straight month in April, underscoring the central bank’s struggles to hit its 2% inflation target. The latest fall in the BOJ’s key inflation gauge will likely heighten questions about the sustainability of its stimulus program. The European markets were trading mostly in red. The euro zone’s current account surplus with the rest of the world narrowed a touch in April, despite a small rise in the trade surplus, adjusted data from the European Central Bank showed. The bloc of 19 countries using the euro recorded a working day and seasonally adjusted surplus of 32.0 billion euro in March, down from 36.8 billion euro a month before.

The BSE Sensex ended at 34848.11, down by 301.01 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 34821.62 and 35163.11. There were 6 stocks advancing against 25 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.39%, while Small cap index was down by 1.59%. (Provisional)

The only gaining sectoral indices on the BSE was FMCG up by 0.81%, while Capital Goods down by 3.00%, Industrials down by 2.46%, Metal down by 2.38%, Healthcare down by 2.06% and Basic Materials down by 1.82% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Hindustan Unilever up by 2.01%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.92%, ITC up by 1.08%, IndusInd Bank up by 0.37% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.30%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Larsen & Toubro down by 3.55%, Tata Motors down by 3.22%, ICICI Bank down by 3.16%, Sun Pharma down by 3.09% and Tata Steel down by 3.08% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, amid improving regional connectivity with the government’s ‘Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik’ (UDAN) scheme, the domestic air passenger count has gone up by 24.41% during January-April 2018. According to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) data, Indian carriers carried 453.03 lakh passengers during period under review as against 364.13 lakh during the corresponding period of previous year.

The data report also showed that domestic airlines flew 115.13 lakh passengers in April, registering a growth of 26.05%, over to 91.34 lakh passengers carried in the same period last year. Besides, in terms of passenger load factor (PLF), SpiceJet were leading among all with 95.5% PLF during the month of April 2018, followed by IndiGo (91.9) and GoAir (89.5).

In terms of on time performance (OTP), IndiGo has taken lead from the rest with 86.6% of its flights arriving and departing as per schedule from four metro airports, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, followed by SpiceJet and GoAir (86.1% each).

The CNX Nifty ended at 10595.75, down by 86.95 points or 0.81% after trading in a range of 10589.10 and 10674.95. There were 12 stocks advancing against 38 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 3.75%, Bajaj Finserv up by 2.92%, Tech Mahindra up by 2.55%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.34% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 2.02%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Cipla down by 4.00%, Indiabulls Housing down by 3.65%, Wipro down by 3.59%, Tata Motors down by 3.32% and Tata Steel down by 3.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 2.03 points or 0.03% to 7,785.94, Germany’s DAX decreased 6.43 points or 0.05% to 13,108.18, while France’s CAC increased 2.56 points or 0.05% to 5,624.48.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Friday as US and Chinese officials held a new round of talks seeking to avert a trade war between the world's two largest economies. Japanese shares ended higher after a weaker yen lifted exporters, while financial stocks extended their rally as US bond yields remained high. Further, Chinese shares rebounded after two days of losses, with oil stocks raising the most.