Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded jubilantly throughout the day on Thursday and ended the session with solid gains of over a percent. Hectic buying activity which took place during last leg of trade mainly drove the markets higher with key gauges surpassing their crucial 35,300 (Sensex) and 10,700 (Nifty) bastions. Domestic indices began trading on a positive note and traded in fine fettle on the back of firm trend in the global markets coupled with positive rollover in derivatives segment. Sentiments remained optimistic with report stating that India is likely to retain the position of world’s fastest growing major economy in the January-March quarter, surpassing China’s growth of 6.8 per cent, driven by gains in manufacturing and consumer spending. The poll on the latest quarter’s annual growth was 7.3 per cent, the best pace since July-September 2016, the quarter before the government unexpectedly scrapped high-value currency notes. Traders were also encouraged with report showing that the country’s special economic zones (SEZs) grew 5.44 percent in April to Rs 20,548 crore as against Rs 19,488 crore in the same month a year ago. According to Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs (EPCES), highest growth in outward shipments was recorded from the Cochin SEZ which witnessed a 704 percent jump from Rs 461 crore in April last year to Rs 3,708 crore this year. Sentiments on the street improved further with commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu stating that India will pitch for continuing the eligibility of its 3,500-odd goods for low or zero duties in the US. Adding to the optimism, Electronics and IT secretary Ajay Prakash Sawhney said that the government is likely to finalise new National Policy on Electronics in next couple of months, with an aim to boost design and innovation along with domestic production.

On the global front, Asian equity markets ended mostly in green, as fears of turmoil in Italy were soothed by conciliatory noises from the country's two biggest populist parties. European markets were trading mostly in green in early deals on Thursday, as Italian worries abated and the White House said that preparations for the highly anticipated June 12 summit in Singapore are going well.

The BSE Sensex ended at 35314.10, up by 407.99 points or 1.17% after trading in a range of 34926.08 and 35416.03. There were 20 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell by 0.33%, while Small cap index was down by 0.61%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.86%, Oil & Gas up by 1.29%, Energy up by 0.82%, IT up by 0.74% and PSU up by 0.65%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.06%, Healthcare down by 0.89%, Realty down by 0.77%, Capital Goods down by 0.69% and Industrials down by 0.57% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 5.18%, HDFC Bank up by 4.80%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 3.28%, Indusind Bank up by 2.99% and HDFC up by 2.07%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.83%, Tata Motors down by 2.13%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.58%, TCS down by 0.90% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.86% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, India’s special economic zones (SEZs) registered healthy growth in exports. As per the Export Promotion Council for EOUs & SEZs (EPCES) data, exports from the nations’ SEZs rose 5.44 percent to Rs 20,548 crore in the month of April 2018 as against Rs 19,488 crore in the same month a year ago. It added that the government’s policies have managed to register a healthy growth roadmap for manufacturing and service industry.

According to the data, highest growth in outward shipments was recorded from the Cochin SEZ which witnessed a 704 percent jump to Rs 3,708 crore in April this year from Rs 461 crore in April last year. Falta has observed Rs 905 crore of a surge in the export value of 80 percent than Rs 452 crore of last year export value. Other SEZs observed positive growth are Indore, MEPZ with 14 percent and Noida with 9 percent.

On the sectoral front, EPCES data showed that major sectors recording healthy growth include biotech, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, computer, electronics, non-conventional energy, plastic, rubber, trading and services. The biotech export from the SEZ has also seen a surge of 58 percent year on year basis between years ending April 2017 and April 2018. India has exported computer and electronic software worth Rs 30,892 crore against Rs 24,614 crore last year. Electronics export has surged to 417 percent against last year and non-conventional energy export has increased by 161 percent to Rs 20 crore in April 2018 from Rs 7 crore in April 2017.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10739.25, up by 124.90 points or 1.18% after trading in a range of 10620.40 and 10763.80. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Adani Ports & SEZ up by 5.05%, HDFC Bank up by 4.84%, Indusind Bank up by 3.96%, Tech Mahindra up by 3.02% and Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.95%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Sun Pharma down by 2.90%, Tata Motors down by 2.18%, Hindalco down by 2.04%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.57% and Dr. Reddys Lab down by 1.36% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC increased 9.05 points or 0.17% to 5,436.40, UK’s FTSE 100 surged 15.79 points or 0.21% to 7,705.36, while Germany’s DAX was down by 56.64 points or 0.44% to 12,727.12.

Asian equity markets ended mostly higher on Thursday as oil prices rebounded, Italy's political turmoil eased and Chinese data topped forecasts. The Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, granted Italy's two populist leaders more time to form a government, helping ease worries that another election will essentially be a referendum on the country's membership of the European Union.  Chinese shares posted strong gains as investors cheered upbeat manufacturing and non-manufacturing data. The manufacturing sector in China continued to expand in May, and at a faster rate, the National Statistics Bureau said with a manufacturing PMI score of 51.9. That exceeded forecasts for 51.4, which would have been unchanged from the April reading. The bureau also said that its non-manufacturing PMI came in with a score of 54.9. That also beat expectations for 54.8, which also would have been unchanged. Further, Japanese shares closed higher on bargain hunting as concerns about Italy's political turmoil receded.