Post Session: Quick Review

Wednesday turned-out to be a disappointing day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks, with frontline gauges ending below their crucial 35,200 (Sensex) and 10,700 (Nifty) levels amid escalating trade tensions between U.S. and China. Domestic indices made a slightly positive start but markets soon erased gains ahead of June F&O expiry. Sentiments were down- beat with a report stating that government debt rose 1.7% to over Rs 76.94 lakh crore in the January-March period of 2017-18 fiscal over the previous quarter. The debt was Rs 75.66 lakh crore as of December 2017. Domestic indices extended slide as sentiments on the street weakened further with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) calling for greater vigilance on the domestic macro-economic front saying conditions, which pushed Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to 7.7% in March 2018 quarter, are changing and warned that bad loan situation might worsen. Further,  a depreciating rupee, which slipped 32 paise to trade at 68.57 against the US dollar on Wednesday, made traders all the more nervous. Traders paid no heed towards report stating that the government is expecting a tremendous improvement in tax buoyancy from the goods and services tax (GST) and, ahead of its first anniversary, expect collections from the landmark levy to average more than Rs 1 lakh crore a month in this fiscal year. Investors even shrugged off a report highlighting that Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has sought investments from Australian superannuation or pension funds in sectors including industrial corridors, ports, smart cities, airports and railway projects.

On the global front, Asian markets ended in red, amid lingering trade war concerns and following the surge in crude oil prices to above $70 a barrel after U.S. officials threatened sanctions on countries that continue to import oil from Iran. Back home, Information technology shares ended higher as the rupee weakened to a 19-month low against the US dollar. Besides, shares of oil marketing companies and aviation ended lower as crude oil prices surged. 

The BSE Sensex ended at 35177.66, down by 312.38 points or 0.88% after trading in a range of 35154.21 and 35618.85. There were 4 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 1.60%, while Small cap index was down by 2.08%.(Provisional)

The lone gaining sectoral index on the BSE was IT up by 0.05%, while Oil & Gas down by 4.10%, PSU down by 3.04%, Utilities down by 3.04%, Capital Goods down by 2.51% and Power down by 2.49% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC Bank up by 0.71%, Coal India up by 0.49%, TCS up by 0.29% and Sun Pharma up by 0.18%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, ICICI Bank down by 3.30%, Larsen & Toubro down by 2.75%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.38%, SBI down by 2.23% and Tata Motors down by 2.22% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing confidence over the robustness of the India’s economic growth, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said that the economy will grow at the rate of at least 7.5% in the current fiscal (FY19) and added that the growth may even go as high as 7.8%, even though as most global rating agencies have kept the country’s growth forecast between 7.3-7.4%.

Kumar further said that since the economy clocked a growth rate of 7.7% in the last quarter of FY18, he doesn’t see it going below that in subsequent quarters. He noted that it should remain 7.7% or higher in the coming quarters. He added that since it was even lower in the first second and third quarters of the last fiscal -- as low as 5.7% in Q1 -- there will be a favorable base effect as well. He also said the economy had overcome the effects of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation, while acknowledging the two moves had led to some casualties.

On the oil prices, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman said that the domestic market has borne oil prices going from $40 to $77 per barrel, and still the growth was 7.7% in the last quarter. And now going forward, the world oil prices are going to soften. There is a declining trend in oil futures. Given that moderation, he said that future price of oil would come down. He added the oil price had not changed much in the domestic market anyway.

The CNX Nifty ended at 10657.55, down by 111.60 points or 1.04% after trading in a range of 10652.40 and 10785.50. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 3.95%, Bharti Infratel up by 2.39%, HCL Tech up by 1.12%, Cipla up by 0.93% and HDFC Bank up by 0.90%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, BPCL down by 8.33%, HPCL down by 7.84%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 6.92%, GAIL India down by 4.87% and UPL down by 3.28% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; Germany’s DAX increased 34.02 points or 0.28% to 12,268.36, France’s CAC added 2.18 points or 0.04% to 5,283.47 and UK’s FTSE 100 was up by 11.39 points or 0.15% to 7,549.31.

Asian equity markets ended broadly lower on Wednesday, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets pacing regional declines, after the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to tighten foreign investment rules and the Trump administration threatened sanctions on countries that continue to import oil from Iran. Chinese markets fell heavily and the yuan hit its lowest level against the greenback since December 2017 on concerns over an ongoing trade dispute with the United States. Further, Japanese shares ended lower as the dollar slipped against the yen on worries over US protectionist policies.