Markets extend winning streak for sixth straight session

Indian equity barometers ended Monday’s trading session in green territory and extended their winning streak for sixth straight session, with Sensex and Nifty regaining their crucial psychological levels of 38,000 and 11,450, respectively. The markets made a cheerful start of the day, as India’s merchandise exports continued their growth momentum for fifth straight month. Exports grew by 2.44% in the month of February 2019, over the same month of last year, on account of growth in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, textiles, handloom, engineering goods and chemicals. Traders were positive, amid reports that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came out with guidelines for financial instruments, with an aim to prevent misuse of price-sensitive information by participants in markets. The guidelines have become effective from March 16, 2019. Some support also came with a report that overseas investors poured in more than Rs 20,400 crore in the domestic capital market in the first half of March, mainly driven by positive global cues.

However, in noon deals, key indices pared their gains to trade lackluster, impacted by a private report stating that India will underperform this year compared to other emerging markets as valuations continue to be a concern for the country. But, last-hour buying along with firm global cues lifted the equity indices to settle higher. The market participants took encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that infrastructure development and clearing backlog of defence procurement will be the government’s priorities for the future. He also noted that rural India development and improvement of healthcare and education would be the other priority areas. Traders took a note of report that industry body Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) released a charter of demands to make India a $5 trillion economy by 2025.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, as Austria's consumer price inflation eased slightly in February to its lowest level in February. The figures from Statistics Austria showed that the consumer price index climbed 1.5% year-on-year in February, following a 1.8% rise in January. The latest inflation rate was the weakest since December 2016, when the price growth was 1.4%. The slowdown in inflation in February was largely driven by sharp decline in clothing prices and air fares. Asian markets ended in green, as investors awaited signs the US and China could be making progress in negotiations on resolving the trade war between the two biggest economies.

On the sectoral front, stocks related to the realty industry remained in focus, amid reports that the all-powerful GST Council in its 34th meeting to be held on March 19 is expected to take up various issues including the implementation of lower GST rates for the real estate sector. Further, banking sector stocks ended higher, aided by credit rating agency ICRA’s statement that reduced net non-performing assets will drive considerable improvement in solvency of public sector banks (PSBs). Slippages will reduce during FY20 and reach levels of 1.9-2.4%, which is acceptable.

Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 70.75 points or 0.19% to 38,095.07, while the CNX Nifty was up by 35.35 points or 0.31% to 11,462.20.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 38,369.59 and 37,952.10, respectively and there were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.20%, while Small cap index was down by 0.13%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 2.46%, Energy up by 1.70%, Oil & Gas up by 1.55%, PSU up by 0.94% and Bankex up by 0.88%, while Auto down by 1.36%, Telecom down by 1.28%, IT down by 1.15%, TECK down by 1.06% and Capital Goods down by 0.79% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 2.84%, Power Grid up by 2.29%, Axis Bank up by 2.21%, Reliance Industries up by 1.89% and Tata Steel up by 1.77%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.56%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.47%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.08%, HCL Tech. down by 1.51% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.34% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, in order to protect environment from ill-effects of lead-based equipment, the Power Ministry may issue soon new norms for bringing greener options of electricity transmission cables like aluminium. The Power Ministry and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) are working on greener options.  Aluminium-based cable sheaths are greener and cheaper alternative than lead and switching to greener alternatives is an obvious choice to protect the environment and health concerns.

As per World Health Organisation estimates, 240 million people globally are overexposed to lead poisoning. The lead-based metallic sheath used in power cables for earthing and anti-corrosion purposes contributes to 35-48% of the weight of cables of voltage levels ranging from 66 kV to 220 kV.

A single kilometer of cable, which weighs about 20 tonne/km has lead content of almost 8 tonne/km. The underground power cables have an average life span of 25-30 years and once they are laid, they are never dismantled.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 11,530.15 and 11,412.50. There were 31 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were IOC up by 3.65%, HPCL up by 3.45%, Bajaj Finance up by 2.77%, Reliance up by 2.64% and Axis Bank up by 2.63%. On the flip side, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.57%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.37%, Wipro down by 2.33%, Bharti Airtel down by 2.32% and Eicher Motors down by 1.45% were the top losers.

All the European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 rose 48.76 points or 0.67% to 7,277.04, France’s CAC gained 6.74 points or 0.12% to 5,412.06 and Germany’s DAX was up by 6.24 points or 0.05% to 11,691.93.

Asian markets ended higher on Monday as weak US economic data released on Friday cemented hopes that the US Federal Reserve could strike a dovish stance this week. The US Federal Reserve was also set to begin its March policy meeting later in the week. Investors also remained hopeful for a US-China trade deal after Xinhua news agency reported the US and China have made further concrete progress on the text of the trade agreement between the two sides. Chinese shares ended higher on expectations that there is scope to ease monetary policy to support economic growth this year. Japanese shares rose despite weak February export data. The country's exports fell for a third month in February amid waning external demand, putting pressure on the Bank of Japan to offer more stimulus.