Post Session: Quick Review

Indian markets extended their jubilation to the new week and surged by more than half a percent on Monday to make it a three day winning streak, on easing geopolitical concerns and a sharp correction in global crude prices. The key gauges surpassed their crucial 35,100 (Sensex) and 10,650 (Nifty) bastions. Markets started off with decent gains as sentiments remained upbeat with Industry chamber CII’s statement that businesses across several key sectors are seeing firm growth in sales and orders, indicating that the economy is on a recovery path and investments will pick up. CII said the impact of sustained structural reforms is now being felt on the ground as a mammoth economy is turning around. Domestic sentiments were also buoyed with CARE Ratings’ report stating the country’s industrial output is expected to log five to six per cent growth in this fiscal, bettering 4.3 per cent growth rate clocked in the previous fiscal.

Sentiments on the street improved further with Union Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that the commerce and industry ministry will work on several areas, including formulation of a comprehensive action plan to boost exports and give special thrust on industrial corridors in the last one year of the NDA government. Adding some optimism among the investors, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said that India has transformed from being a part of the ‘fragile five’ to the ‘bright spot’ on the global economic stage. He added that the government will now focus on consolidation of the initiatives taken in the past. Moreover, appreciation in Indian rupee too uplifted sentiments. The rupee firmed up by 32 paise to 67.45 against the dollar at the time of equity markets closing on increased selling of the US currency by exporters and banks.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly in green, on signs that the United States and North Korea were working towards holding a summit in June. European markets were trading in green in early deals on Monday, after Italy's president vetoed the nomination of a fiercely eurosceptic economy minister, averting a potential eurozone crisis.

Back home, shares of airline companies such as Jet Airways, SpiceJet and InterGlobe Aviation (Indigo) flied high on Monday thanks to a correction in global oil prices that are likely to help airlines reduce their operating cost. However, majority of IT stocks ended lower despite IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad stating that they are soon going to finalise the new electronics policy whose sub-segment will be export-oriented initiatives in the field of electronics. He also said that India is aspiring to become a $1 trillion digital economy in next few years, riding on opportunities in areas like IT and IT enabled services, e-commerce, electronics manufacturing, digital payments and cyber security.

The BSE Sensex ended at 35116.73, up by 191.86 points or 0.55% after trading in a range of 35006.50 and 35240.96. There were 21 stocks advancing against 10 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.30%, while Small cap index was up by 1.59%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.39%, PSU up by 2.36%, Capital Goods up by 2.19%, Healthcare up by 1.97% and Industrials up by 1.57%, while IT down by 1.78%, TECK down by 1.37% and Consumer Durables down by 0.01% were the few losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Sun Pharma up by 6.46%, Coal India up by 3.37%, Asian Paints up by 2.16%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.97% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.84%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, TCS down by 2.41%, Power Grid down by 2.36%, Infosys down by 1.20%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.83% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.70% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, hailing ‘scam-free’ governance of the last four years, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stated that India has transformed from being a part of the ‘fragile five’ to the ‘bright spot’ on the global economic stage. He added that the government will now focus on consolidation of the initiatives taken in the past.

Jaitley also listed various efforts taken by the government to create transparent systems through legislative and institutional changes and noted that these things have led a scam-free governance in the country.  Besides, he said that the country has witnessed a journey from indecisiveness to clarity and decisiveness.

Finance Minister further highlighted that the country is now the fastest growing major economy in the world, which was early on the verge of becoming a ‘basket case’ and also expressed confidence that the country is likely to hold this position in the years to come. He also underlined the country’s transformation from a tax non-compliant society to a tax-compliant society, praising reform measures like the Goods and Services Tax and demonetization which are formalising the Indian economy.

The CNX Nifty is ended at 10682.45, up by 77.30 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 10640.55 and 10709.80. There were 34 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Sun Pharma up by 6.49%, HPCL up by 6.20%, GAIL India up by 5.69%, BPCL up by 5.68% and Lupin up by 5.11%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 3.90%, Power Grid down by 2.41%, HCL Tech down by 2.40%, TCS down by 2.39% and Hindalco down by 1.83% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC increased 3.2 points or 0.06% to 5,545.75, Germany’s DAX rose 12.38 points or 0.1% to 12,950.39 and UK’s FTSE 100 surged 13.54 points or 0.18% to 7,730.28.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Monday as signs the United States and North Korea were still working towards holding a summit helped investors shrug off falling commodity prices. Japanese shares ended marginally higher amid positive developments from the Korean Peninsula. Though, Chinese shares fluctuated before closing slightly lower even as a government report showed China's industrial profit growth quickened markedly in April. Chinese industrial profits surged 21.9 percent year-over-year in April, well above the 3.1 percent increase in March. In the first four months of this year, industrial profits advanced 15.0 percent annually compared with an 11.6 percent rise in the first three months.