Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded with volatility throughout the day and ended the session with marginal losses, tracking a selloff in global markets amid a political crisis in Italy. Markets extended their losses to the second straight session with Nifty holding its 10,600 mark. Domestic indices began trading on a negative note, amid feeble global cues. Trading sentiments remained subdued with report that hardening domestic fuel prices are likely to weigh on the Reserve Bank’s rate setting panel, MPC, at its 3-day meet from June 4. The monetary policy review will take into account the retail inflation, which rose to 4.58% in the month of April 2018, as compared to 4.28% in March 2018 and 2.99% in April 2017, on account of increasing prices of petrol and diesel. Some concerns also came despite exporters body FIEO stating that India’s exports are expected to record a growth of about 15-20 per cent and touch $350 billion in the current fiscal on account of a host of factors including rise in commodity prices. Investors also maintained a cautious approach ahead of Futures and Options (F&O) derivative expiry for May series due tomorrow.

However, the markets managed to pare most of their early losses in second half of the session, taking support from FICCI’s report that India’s GDP growth is expected at 7.1% for the January-March quarter of the last fiscal and 6.6% for the entire 2017-18. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) is scheduled to release GDP numbers for the fourth quarter as well as the 2017-18 fiscal on May 31. But, key indices again slipped into red terrain as some pessimism remained among the investors after Moody’s Investors Service has cut India's GDP growth forecast to 7.3% in 2018, from previous forecast of 7.5% due to higher oil prices and tighter financial conditions. It, however, kept growth expectation for 2019 unchanged at 7.5%.

Back home, majority of banking stocks ended lower after audits undertaken by the Reserve Bank of India which revealed that bad loans at the country’s five biggest state-run banks are about Rs 47,000 crore more than what the lenders had assessed. Consumer durable stocks remained under pressure with a private report stating that price of air-conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines and microwave ovens are set to get costlier by 2-5% from June 2018 on account of rupee depreciation, rising crude oil prices and rates of key raw material steel and copper hardening up.

On the global front, Asian markets closed in red, as turmoil in Italy sparked a frantic dash for safety, while investors have also been spooked by fresh worries about the China-US trade row. European markets were trading mixed in early deals on Wednesday, amid a deepening political crisis in the euro zone's third-largest economy.

The BSE Sensex ended at 34916.60, down by 32.64 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 34735.11 and 35017.45. There were 10 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.16%, while Small cap index was down by 0.16%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 0.36%, Metal up by 0.23%, Power up by 0.22%, Bankex up by 0.17% and FMCG up by 0.07%, while Healthcare down by 0.78%, Capital Goods down by 0.70%, Industrials down by 0.67%, Oil & Gas down by 0.64% and Consumer Durables down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.25%, Coal India up by 2.52%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.61%, Yes Bank up by 1.57% and Hindustan Unilever up by 1.21%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.21%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 1.94%, ICICI Bank down by 1.79%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.22% and Axis Bank down by 1.14% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, amid various supporting factors like rising commodity prices along with depreciation of Indian rupee, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) President Ganesh Gupta has said that Indian exports is likely to grow at 15-20% to touch $350 billion in FY19, despite increasing global protectionism.

However, Gupta expressed need of fiscal and non-fiscal incentives from the government, in order to drive shipments in both advanced and emerging markets. He is also hopes that the government will actively engage with trading partners particularly with the US to protect trade interest of the country. He further highlighted that the US decision to impose economic sanctions on Iran would create an opportunity for domestic exporters to increase their shipments to that country. He also pointed that the country may face challenge if sanctions will be imposed on the financial system.

Besides, FIEO President underlined the issues being faced by exports at insurance front, saying that Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGC) delay the process of claims, which impact exporters and added that the FIEO has raised this issue with the commerce ministry.

The CNX Nifty is ended at 10614.70, down by 18.60 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 10558.45 and 10648.70. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.97%, Coal India up by 2.41%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.26%, Yes Bank up by 1.73% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.33%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, HPCL down by 2.81%, Tata Motors down by 2.09%, Grasim Industries down by 1.92%, ICICI Bank down by 1.74% and Hindalco down by 1.73% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mixed; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 9.67 points or 0.13% to 7,642.31, Germany’s DAX rose 26.14 points or 0.21% to 12,692.65, while France’s CAC was down by 42.76 points or 0.79% to 5,395.30.

Asian equity markets ended lower on Wednesday due to heavy selling pressure as lingering concerns over US-China trade talks, political uncertainty in Spain and fears that a snap election in Italy will turn into referendum on the country's euro membership sapped investors' appetite for risk. Chinese shares ended lower following reports that the Trump administration is considering imposing a hefty 25 percent tariff on the $50 billion worth of Chinese goods even as a US delegation is set to travel to Beijing for talks to resolve the dispute. Further, Japanese shares fell sharply as global bourses extended losses and the yen gained ground against the dollar and euro on fears over the stability of euro zone. Investors ignored preliminary figures showing that Japan's retail sales increased at a faster-than-expected pace in April. Retail sales climbed 1.6 percent year-over-year in April, faster than the 1.0 percent rise in March.