Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity Markets traded with volatility for whole trading session and somehow managed to end in green terrain on Thursday, on the back of buying by participants. Markets started off with marginal gains, as traders took some support with IMF’s statement that some reforms in India have shown the benefits of digitalization which has also reduced the opportunities for discretion and fraud. Some support also came in with a private report that Paraguay is looking to India for building up its infrastructure and solutions for diversifying the South American nation’s economy. The landlocked country is planning to give more tax incentives to Indian companies wanting to invest abroad. Meanwhile, India and Sweden have launched a joint programme that will work towards addressing a range of challenges around smart cities and clean technologies among others.

Indian bourses erased initial gains and turned negative in early noon session, as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of key domestic cues of retail inflation data and industrial production data due tomorrow. Caution was also seen among investors ahead of important March quarter earnings. Traders remain concerned as Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that rising protectionism, fluctuation in commodity prices and inadequate availability of liquidity are the three major challenges, which exporters will face in the coming months.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, as cautious European and U.S. central banks reinforced investors’ worries about the slowing global economy and trade protectionism. European markets were trading in green. Back home, majority of steel sector stocks ended in green with the Indian Steel Association stating that steel demand in India is likely to grow by 7.1 percent in calendar year 2019 and by 7.2 percent in the next calendar year 2020 driven by sectors like construction, capital goods and railways. As for financial years 2019-20 and 2020-21, it forecasted steel demand to grow by 7.2 percent.

The BSE Sensex ended at 38619.37, up by 34.02 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 38460.25 and 38649.42. There were 19 stocks advancing against 12 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.11%, while Small cap index was down by 0.03%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.30%, Oil & Gas up by 1.09%, Telecom up by 1.08%, Consumer Durables up by 0.78% and Auto up by 0.53%, while IT down by 1.11%, Metal down by 1.08%, TECK down by 0.85%, Realty down by 0.74% and Bankex down by 0.27% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bharti Airtel up by 2.28%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.80%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.65%, Reliance Industries up by 1.51% and Tata Motors - DVR up by 1.42%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.61%, Infosys down by 1.47%, Sun Pharma down by 1.38%, Axis Bank down by 1.37% and TCS down by 1.24% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, listing out challenges to be faced by exporters, Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has said that rising protectionism, fluctuation in commodity prices and inadequate availability of liquidity are the three major challenges, which exporters will face in the coming months. It added the World Trade Organization (WTO) has already cautioned that the global trade growth is expected to be lower in 2019 than it was last year.

FIEO Director General Ajay Sahai has said that protectionism will continue to rise and it will impact global demand for goods. He said that the other two challenges include fluctuation in commodity prices and inadequate availability of credit as banks are not coming forward to lend exporters. He said ‘These challenges would impact India’s exports, so we need to gear up for this’.

Suggesting measures to resolve the issue, he said timely support by the government would help deal with these issues. He also suggested the banks to follow online procedure for credit lending as it will ease the processes. The WTO had in its preliminary estimates predicted a 3.7 per cent expansion of global trade for this year, but has revised that down to 2.6 per cent.

Sahai further said that as per the current growth rate, India’s merchandise exports will touch $330 billion in 2018-19. During the April-February period of 2018-19, exports grew 8.85 per cent to $298.47 billion, while imports rose by 9.75 per cent to $464 billion. During 2017-18, the overseas shipments grew by about 10 per cent to $303 billion and in 2013-14, it aggregated at about $315 billion. Promoting exports helps a country to create jobs, boost manufacturing and earn more foreign exchange.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11601.40, up by 17.10 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 11550.55 and 11604.20. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Indiabulls Housing Finance up by 2.27%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.03%, Bajaj Auto up by 1.88%, Bajaj Finserv up by 1.73% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.62%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.77%, Power Grid down by 1.36%, Infosys down by 1.27%, Sun Pharma down by 1.25% and Tech Mahindra down by 1.20% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 2.09 points or 0.03% to 7,424.00, France’s CAC rose 30.37 points or 0.56% to 5,480.25 and Germany’s DAX was up by 6.03 points or 0.05% to 11,911.94.

Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, as dovish messages being sent from the ECB and the Federal Reserve added to investor concerns over slowing global growth. Investors also braced for more Brexit uncertainty after EU leaders agreed to extend the date of Britain's departure from the bloc to the end of October. Chinese shares ended lower despite more signs of progress in US-China trade talks. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said that a call with Chinese Vice-Premier Liu He on Tuesday night was productive and the two sides have settled on a mechanism to police any agreement, including new enforcement offices. Meanwhile, Japanese shares ended little changed as the yen strengthened and investors awaited earnings results from Yaskawa Electric, a manufacturer with large exposure to China.