Post Session: Quick Review

Erasing some of their initial gains, key equity benchmarks ended the volatile day of trade marginally in green on Wednesday, on account of buying in frontline blue chip counters. Markets made positive start and traded slightly in green, as traders took some support with report that India’s industrial production grew 4.9 percent in April, as compared with 4.4 percent jump in March. The factory output index growth rate moderated in March after consistently being above 7 percent between November and February. It expanded 6 percent a year ago. Traders also took some support with the Ministry of Shipping stating that a total of 224 projects -- entailing an investment to the tune of Rs 1.85 lakh crore have been awarded by March 2018 under Sagarmala programme.

Key indices gave up some of their gains in last leg of trade to come off their intraday high points, on the back of higher Inflation data. India’s retail inflation hit a four-month high after jumping to 4.87 percent in May from April’s 4.58 percent driven by costlier food and fuel. Retail inflation, measured by Consumer Price Index (CPI), had fallen to 2.18 percent in May 2017. Anxiety also spread among the investors, as industry body CII warned that rate hike by the Reserve Bank will increase the cost of doing business and impact capital expenditure by India Inc. Besides, weakness in the global markets too arrested some gains. However, markets managed to keep their heads in green terrain, as some solace came with a report that the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has extended the refund fortnight for fast track clearance of pending dues to exporters by two days till June 16.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red; as investors braced for a Federal Reserve policy decision later in the day and any clues it might give on future rate hikes that could alter the course of global economic growth and corporate earnings. Back home, Shares of top telecoms operators Airtel, Idea Cellular and Reliance Communications dropped after Reliance Jio introduced an offer of giving more data to users. The firm is offering 1.5 GB additional data per day to customers on all pre-paid plans priced in the range of Rs 149 to Rs 799.

The BSE Sensex ended at 35752.93, up by 60.41 points or 0.17% after trading in a range of 35715.96 and 35877.41. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index dropped by 0.45%, while Small cap index was down by 0.19%.(Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.34%, TECK up by 0.97%, Consumer Durables up by 0.65%, Healthcare up by 0.57% and Bankex up by 0.36%, while Telecom down by 1.21%, Capital Goods down by 0.69%, Metal down by 0.46%, FMCG down by 0.44% and Industrials down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.75%, TCS up by 2.36%, SBI up by 1.64%, Infosys up by 1.47% and Power Grid up by 1.43%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.12%, Hindustan Unilever down by 1.26%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.21%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.12% and ONGC down by 0.79% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, continuing its rising trend for the second straight month, India’s retail inflation edged higher to 4.87% in the month of May 2018, as compared to 4.58% in April 2018 and 2.18% in May 2017. Rising prices of food items such as vegetables and fruits coupled with high fuel rates lifted the Consumer Price Index (CPI)  to a four-month high in the reported month. Further, consumer food price inflation, a metric to gauge changes in monthly kitchen costs, surged to 3.10% in May from 2.80% in the previous month.

As per the data released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme, the CPI (Rural, Urban, Combined) on Base 2012=100 for May 2018, stood at 4.88%, 4.72% and 4.87% respectively, compared to 2.30%, 2.13% and 2.18% respectively in May 2017. The index value of CPI for combined stood at 137.8. The data also showed that Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI) for all India Rural and Urban for May 2018 stood at 3.85% and 1.66%, respectively, compared to 3.63% and 1.29%, respectively in April 2018. The index value of CFPI for combined stood at 136.5 for the month of May.

According to the data, inflation of food and beverages rose to 3.37% in May 2018 from 3.00% in April 2018. Within the food items, the inflation spiked for vegetables to 8.04%, fruits to 12.33%, Cereals & products to 2.78%, oils and fats to 2.46% and spices to 1.54%. However, the inflation eased for meat and fish to 3.53%, egg to 5.78%, milk and products to 3.20% in May 2018. While, the inflation for clothing and footwear was higher at 5.47%, the CPI inflation of fuel and light surged to 5.80% in May 2018.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10858.75, up by 15.90 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 10842.65 and 10893.25. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Dr. Reddys Lab up by 2.80%, Cipla up by 2.65%, TCS up by 2.37%, Titan Co up by 1.84% and Lupin up by 1.84%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Steel down by 2.14%, Zee Entertainment down by 1.61%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.28%, Adani Ports & SEZ down by 1.23% and Bharti Airtel down by 1.21% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 8.19 points or 0.11% to 7,712.00, France’s CAC rose 10.78 points or 0.2% to 5,464.15 and Germany’s DAX surged 14.74 points or 0.11% to 12,857.04.

Asian equity markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as initial optimism faded over the Trump-Kim summit and investors shifted their focus to upcoming central bank meetings in the US, Europe and Japan. The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates by 25 basis points when it ends its two-day policy meeting later today. On Thursday, the European Central Bank may outline plans for ending its bond purchasing program. The Bank of Japan's policy decision is due on Friday, with no change to policy expected. Chinese shares ended lower, dragged down by telecom shares after ZTE Corp agreed to pay up to $1.4 billion in penalties to the US government. However, Japanese shares closed higher as the yen extended losses ahead of the Fed, ECB and BoJ policy meetings. Meanwhile, markets in South Korea and Indonesia were closed for holidays.