Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended Monday’s trade on a lower note, owing to sharp rise in crude oil prices. Domestic indices made a slightly positive start and immediately turned in negative zone, as traders remained on sidelines ahead of March-quarter corporate earnings. IT major TCS and Infosys will kick off the March quarter earnings season on April 12. Traders also took note of President Donald Trump’s statement that India charges America over 100% tariffs on a large number of products while the US imposes nothing on the similar or same items. He said, urging his administration to work on the ‘stupid trade’. Selling further crept in despite Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that India is expected to become the third largest economy in the world by 2030 with GDP touching $10 trillion, helped by consumption and investment growth. Currently, the size of the Indian economy is about $2.9 trillion. Talking about avenues of growth for the next 20 years, the finance minister listed infrastructure creation, rural expansion and gender parity, among others.

In the final hour of trading, key bourses added more losses and traded near intraday low levels, as sentiments on the street weakened further with Care Ratings’ latest report that Indian IT majors hit due to H1-B visa restrictions. It said that Restrictions on the H1-B visas by the US have compelled Indian tech companies to hire more locally and led to an escalation in employee costs. The mood also remained down beat on depreciation of rupee against the dollar. Investors also noted Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu’s statement that he has underlined a need to develop a proper matrix to understand changes in the Indian economy and job creation that is happening at a rapid pace.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Monday due to stronger-than-expected US jobs growth data as well as signs of progress in US-China trade talks helped ease concerns about the global economy. Non-farm payroll employment jumped by 196,000 jobs in March after edging up by a revised 33,000 jobs in February, though wage increases slowed in the month. European markets were trading in red, as investors prepared for what is expected to be a tough U.S. earnings season. Back home, majority of auto stocks ended lower with data released by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showing that domestic passenger vehicle (PV) sales declined by 2.96 percent to 2,91,806 units in March 2019 from 3,00,722 units in the year-ago month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 38715.12, down by 147.11 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 38520.96 and 39041.25. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.69%, while Small cap index was down by 0.38%.(Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were IT up by 1.14%, TECK up by 0.94%, Power up by 0.42%, Telecom up by 0.25% and Capital Goods up by 0.15%, while Realty down by 2.22%, Energy down by 1.71%, Oil & Gas down by 1.47%, PSU down by 0.93% and Metal down by 0.89% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Infosys up by 1.59%, ONGC up by 1.18%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.09%, TCS up by 0.98% and Power Grid up by 0.87%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 2.66%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.63%, Vedanta down by 2.40%, Tata Motors down by 2.31% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 2.18% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing optimism over growth of Indian economy, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the country is expected to become the third largest economy in the world by 2030 with Gross Domestic Product (GDP) touching $10 trillion, helped by consumption and investment growth. He added that GDP would be $5 trillion by 2024. Currently, the size of the Indian economy is about $2.9 trillion.

He said ‘That's when we will be amongst first three - US, China and India and then of course, we would in the rat race of the big three wanting to catch up with much mightier competitors. So the sheer size and opportunities is going to expand.’ Listing out avenues of growth for the next 20 years, he noted that infrastructure creation, rural expansion and gender parity, among others.

On the poverty of the country, he said the 2011 Census showed that 21.9% of India's population lived below the poverty line (BPL) and with the present rate of growth, this might have further reduced to 17%. He added that it should shrink to 15% by 2021 and further down to single digits by 2024-25. At the same time, the middle class population would increase to 44% from 29% in 2015. He said ‘Therefore as you look ahead you would see poverty deplete, you will see an exponential growth of middle class and probably by 2030 almost half of India would be in that category (middle class)’.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11611.30, down by 54.65 points or 0.47% after trading in a range of 11549.10 and 11710.30. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 1.51%, Infosys up by 1.40%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.31%, TCS up by 1.29% and Power Grid up by 1.20%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 4.83%, Indian Oil Corp. down by 4.10%, Bajaj Finance down by 2.97%, Vedanta down by 2.61% and Yes Bank down by 2.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 13.75 points or 0.18% to 7,433.12, France’s CAC shed 4.04 points or 0.07% to 5,472.16 and Germany’s DAX was down by 50.08 points or 0.42% to 11,959.67.

Asian markets ended mixed on Monday due to stronger-than-expected US jobs growth data as well as signs of progress in US-China trade talks helped ease concerns about the global economy. Non-farm payroll employment jumped by 196,000 jobs in March after edging up by a revised 33,000 jobs in February, though wage increases slowed in the month. Chinese shares ended on a flat note on hopes for more policy easing and amid optimism over ongoing trade talks with Washington. Hong Kong shares ended up after Chinese official broadcaster CCTV reported that there was ‘new progress’ in trade talks that concluded in Washington on Friday. Meanwhile, Japanese shares closed down as investors braced for the upcoming corporate earnings season.