Post Session: Quick Review

Wednesday turned out to be a fabulous day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks, where frontline gauges garnered gains of over a percent on the back of widespread buying by participants and healthy quarterly results of index heavyweights. Markets ended higher for the fifth day in a row, with Nifty settling above crucial 11,050 mark, while Sensex ending just shy of 37,000 mark. Indices made an optimistic start and traded with traction, as local investors cheered with the finance ministry expecting economic growth to accelerate to 7.5% in 2019-20 from 7.2% projected for the current fiscal. The mood remained upbeat with United Nations’ latest report that India is among the several countries that stand to benefit from the ongoing trade tensions between the world's top two economies - the US and China.

Barometers continued their rally to reach at fresh intraday high points in last leg of trade, taking support from the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas & Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Dharmendra Pradhan’s statement that India has emerged as a bright spot in the global economy in the recent years. He also added with strong economy and supportive policy environment, the Government remains committed to inclusive, holistic and sustainable high economic growth. Local sentiments also got buttressed with reports that Commerce Ministry met Export Promotion Councils to discuss various issues being faced by exporters and examine ways by which India’s merchandise exports may reach $ 325 billion by March 2019. 

On the global front, Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said that he would hold a two-day summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam at the end of February as part of a bold new diplomacy. European markets were trading in red, as investors continued watching the latest company results as a barometer of economic growth. Back home, banking sector stocks ended mixed after India Ratings’ report stating that around Rs 3.5 lakh crore or 3.9% of the stressed corporate loans continue to remain unrecognised on the books of banks and nearly 40% of them may become dud assets by September 2020.

The BSE Sensex ended at 36992.42, up by 375.61 points or 1.03% after trading in a range of 36680.88 and 37002.31. There were 27 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.01%, while Small cap index rose 0.05%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.65%, Oil & Gas up by 1.78%, TECK up by 1.67%, Energy up by 1.60% and IT up by 1.58%, while Consumer Durables down by 0.43%, Power down by 0.22% and Utilities down by 0.11% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 4.36%, Bajaj Finance up by 4.25%, ONGC up by 2.98%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.30% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.15%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, NTPC down by 0.87%, Indusind Bank down by 0.73%, Axis Bank down by 0.58% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 0.07% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over growth of Indian economy, the Finance Ministry has said that it expects Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth to accelerate to 7.5 per cent in 2019-20 (FY20) from 7.2 per cent projected for the current fiscal (FY19).  Besides, the growth was 8.2 per cent in 2016-17, the year in which the government demonetised high-denomination currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has said ‘We are looking at nominal growth of 11.5 per cent for 2019-20. Our assumption is 7.5 per cent real growth and 4 per cent inflation. We have been reasonable.’

Clarifying focus of the Budget 2019-20, Garg said it has tried to touch a major portion of the population of the country in some way or the other. Second is the conviction of the government that don't give doles but invest in the long-term asset creation with a view to making the life of people better. Invest in real factors, which build the life, which can make things more and more productive.  

He further said the other distinguishing feature is that there should be fiscal consolidation and no expansionary policy, otherwise, it fuels inflation and crowd out private investment. He added that enhancement of rural connectivity, rural electrification and housing for all are efforts in that direction.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11069.05, up by 134.70 points or 1.23% after trading in a range of 10962.70 and 11070.00. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 8.16%, Zee Entertainment up by 6.87%, Cipla up by 6.71%, Grasim Industries up by 4.63% and Tata Steel up by 4.53%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Adani Ports &SEZ down by 3.03%, Indusind Bank down by 1.02%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.97%, Titan Co down by 0.67% and NTPC down by 0.62% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 24.32 points or 0.34% to 7,153.05, France’s CAC fell 15.70 points or 0.31% to 5,067.64 and Germany’s DAX was down by 55.64 points or 0.49% to 11,312.34.

Asian markets ended higher on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump said that he would hold a two-day summit with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam at the end of February as part of a bold new diplomacy. However, Trump's second State of the Union address lacked details on progress in US-China trade talks. Ahead of a fresh round of negotiations in Beijing next week, Trump said a new trade deal must include real structural change to end unfair trade practices, reduce chronic trade deficit and protect American jobs. Japanese shares ended a tad higher as investors remained focused on Trump's State of Union speech and corporate earnings. Meanwhile, several markets in the region remained closed for the Lunar New Year holidays, including South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, China and Hong Kong.