Last hour buying helps markets to end higher

Last hour buying helped Indian equity benchmarks to end the Friday’s trading session on higher note, with Sensex and Nifty garnering gains of around 0.40% each. The start of the day was positive, amid reports that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has injected a total liquidity of Rs 2.98 lakh crore in the market in 2018-19. The First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement, 2019-20 stated that from a daily net average surplus of Rs 27,928 crore during February 1-6, 2019, systemic liquidity moved into deficit during February 7-March 31, reflecting the build-up of government cash balances. But, key indices turned volatile during middle of session, with a private report stating that after 108 economists and former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan, International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Chief Economist Gita Gopinath expressed doubt over India's growth rate, saying that there are still some issues with the way India calculates it.

However, markets erased all of their losses in last hour of the trade to settle in green terrain, following firm European markets. Traders took encouragement with the RBI’s data showing that that banks closed fiscal 2018-19 (FY19) with robust disbursals. The data showed that bank credit rose 13.24% to Rs 97.67 lakh crore for the fortnight to March 29, while deposits grew by 10.03% to Rs 125.72 lakh crore during the same period. This is the second consecutive double-digits credit growth after the same had declined to 4.54% in FY17 at Rs 78.41 lakh crore, which was the lowest since 1963. Some relief also came after the Ministry of Rural Development made recommendations to the Finance Commission to foster higher inclusive growth, equity, efficiency and transparency. The Ministry made a case for additional resources for Rural India.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, after Germany's consumer price inflation slowed in March, as initially expected. The latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed that the consumer price index rose 1.3 percent year-on-year following a 1.5 percent climb in February. That was in line with the flash estimate. In January, inflation was 1.4 percent. Asian markets ended mostly higher, despite mixed trade data from China and traders looked ahead to the start of the US corporate earnings season. Official data showed that China's exports rose 14.2 percent in March from a year earlier. However, imports dropped an annual 7.6 percent.

Back home, stocks related to the metal industry ended higher, even though India's finished steel exports fell more than a third in the 2018-19 fiscal year. Finished steel exports between April 2018 and March 2019 fell 34 percent from the previous year to 6.36 million tonnes. However, sugar stocks fell, despite the All India Sugar Trade Association’s (AISTA) report stating that the country's sugar exports surged to 17.44 lakh tonnes so far in the current marketing year ending September, as against about 5 lakh tonnes shipped in the entire 2017-18. Further, tyre stocks remained in focus, amid rating agency ICRA’s report showing that the domestic tyre demand is expected to grow in the range of 7-9 per cent over the five year period between 2018-19 to 2022-23.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 160.10 points or 0.41% to 38,767.11, while the CNX Nifty was up by 46.75 points or 0.40% to 11,643.45.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 38,818.87 and 38,554.79, respectively and there were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index grew 0.29%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 1.71%, Utilities up by 1.12%, Power up by 0.99%, Auto up by 0.97% and Consumer Disc up by 0.71%, while Telecom down by 1.00%, Capital Goods down by 0.45%, Consumer Durables down by 0.37% and Energy down by 0.31% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 3.14%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.13%, Axis Bank up by 1.61%, Vedanta up by 1.43% and Hero MotoCorp up by 1.43%. On the flip side, Bharti Airtel down by 1.71%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.37%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.22%, Tata Motors down by 1.08% and Indusind Bank down by 0.72% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data on outward foreign direct investment showed that Indian companies’ foreign investment grew 18 percent to $2.69 billion in March 2019 as compared to same month year ago. It indicated that the domestic companies made investment of $2.28 billion in their subsidiaries and wholly-owned units abroad during March 2018.

According to the data, the investment by Indian firms stood at $1.71 billion in February 2019. Of the total investment overseas in March this year, $1.68 billion was in the form of loan, $564.97 million as equity while the rest $443.71 million was in the form of issuance of guarantee.

Data further stated that major investors included Tata Steel, which pumped $1.15 billion in a subsidiary in Singapore. This was followed by JSW Cement ($82 million in a wholly-owned subsidiary in the UAE) and ONGC Videsh ($70.37 million in various joint ventures in Myanmar, Russia and Vietnam).

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 11,657.35 and 11,578.80. There were 27 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 3.71%, GAIL India up by 3.68%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.23%, ZEEL up by 1.57% and CIPLA up by 1.50%. On the flip side, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.13%, Indian Oil Corporation down by 1.52%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.32%, Tata Motors down by 1.19% and Bajaj Finance down by 1.18% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 28.28 points or 0.38% to 7,446.23, France’s CAC rose 13.47 points or 0.25% to 5,499.19 and Germany’s DAX was up by 53.64 points or 0.45% to 11,988.84.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday as positive US data and optimism over a potential US-China trade deal helped offset growth worries to some extent. Japanese shares settled at four-month high as investors braced for earnings and an upcoming 10-day holiday in Japan. Meanwhile, Chinese shares ended flat, as better-than-expected exports brought some relief to investors looking for signs of stabilization in the world’s second-largest economy. Chinese trade data proved to be a mixed bag, with exports rebounding to a five-month high while imports fell more than expected. Official data showed that China's exports rose 14.2 percent in March from a year earlier, beating expectations and marking the strongest growth in five months. Imports dropped an annual 7.6 percent, worse than forecasts for a 1.3 percent fall and widening from February's 5.2 percent fall.