Post Session: Quick Review

Erasing all of their initial gains, Indian equity benchmarks ended Wednesday’s trade in red terrain, on the back of selling by participants tracking negative leads from other Asian markets. Key indices made a gap-up opening and traded in fine fettle, as traders took support with report that the RBI has received a good response to its dollar swap window on March 26, establishing the instrument as a credible liquidity tool and paving the way for more such auctions in the coming months. Banks offered $16.31 billion for the proposed swaps of up to $5 billion. The RBI accepted $5.02 billion at a cut-off premium of Rs 7.76 for three-year dollars - close to the rate at which the market was trading at. Some support also came with a private report indicated that although 2018 brought some cyclical challenges, India maintains top ranking in overall consumer sentiment, while Brazil has overtaken China to come second.

Markets hold gains in afternoon deals after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India has emerged as a Space Power today; till now only US, Russia and China have achieved this; now India is the 4th country to achieve this feat. He added “we have enough satellites that are contributing in various segments such as agriculture, disaster management, communication, weather, navigation etc.” Moreover, India has successfully targeted a live satellite, anti-satellite weapon A-SAT, on a low Earth orbit. Mission Shakti took three minutes to complete. The PM also said “our aim is to maintain peace over war mongering.” However, bourses shed early gains to turn negative in late afternoon session, after former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan expressed doubts over Indian economy growing at 7% when not enough jobs were being created. He also said the current cloud over the GDP numbers must be cleared by appointing an impartial body to look at the data.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday, while European markets were trading in red, with investors unnerved over fears of a potential U.S. recession. Back home, Aviation stocks were in focus with private report that the turbulence at Jet Airways seems to have had an adverse impact on the growth in air passenger traffic in the county. The number of passengers travelling through domestic airways in February stood at 11.34 million, a 5.6% year-on-year (y-o- y) increase, the slowest pace of growth in a month in five years.

The BSE Sensex ended at 38,132.88, down by 100.53 points or 0.26% after trading in a range of 38,475.93 and 38,001.34. There were 10 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.59%, while Small cap index was up by 0.64%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 0.70%, Consumer Durables up by 0.51%, Finance up by 0.43% and Metal up by 0.05%, while Utilities down by 1.08%, Energy down by 1.01%, Power down by 0.95%, Auto down by 0.77% and Oil & Gas down by 0.72% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Yes Bank up by 5.62%, Indusind Bank up by 5.27%, SBI up by 1.57%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.18% and Vedanta up by 1.12%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, NTPC down by 2.25%, Tata Motors down by 1.85%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.49%, Power Grid Corporation down by 1.36% and HDFC down by 1.30% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, calling for a faster and more inclusive growth, Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that tax reforms were slowly increasing India’s tax base and shifting the social norms from one where it was alright to avoid taxes to one where the majority is willing to pay.

Naidu further termed knowledge as the key driver of the growth of Indian Economy going ahead and will play a vital role in improving the living conditions of the people. He also highlighted the rapid economic progress and fiscal consolidation that India had undergone. He further added that an emerging economy like India would constantly bring in new laws and regulations at par with international best practices.

Besides, Vice President noted that India has to reach out to other countries to access cost-effective technology, investment, and energy to manage its domestic challenges. He called for appropriate economic and foreign policies to navigate through this emerging and uncertain landscape.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11,445.05, down by 38.20 points or 0.33% after trading in a range of 11,546.20 and 11,413.00. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Yes Bank up by 5.87%, Indusind Bank up by 5.68%, Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.78%, JSW Steel up by 1.71% and SBI up by 1.48%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, HPCL down by 2.82%, NTPC down by 2.70%, Tata Motors down by 1.94%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.89% and Eicher Motors down by 1.67% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 10.81 points or 0.15% to 7,185.48; France’s CAC shed 17.44 points or 0.33% to 5,289.94 and Germany’s DAX was down by 39.34 points or 0.34% to 11,380.14.

Asian markets ended mostly lower on Wednesday as some disappointing US data added to investor worries about global growth. Brexit-related developments and the US-China trade talks also remained on investors' radar. Japanese shares ended lower as many stocks began trading ex-dividend. Though, Chinese shares ended higher as a drop in industrial profits in the January-February period raised speculation the government might announce fresh measures to prop up growth.