Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded in green terrain throughout the day and saw a strong relief rally in final hours of trade which helped to close the session at intraday high levels on Wednesday. With that, the markets halted their three-day decline, with Nifty settling above crucial 11,700 mark, while Sensex ending just shy of 39,050 mark. Markets started off with marginal gains, as traders took some comfort with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) statement that it will buy government securities worth Rs 25,000 crore next month through two auctions of Rs 12,500 crore each. Based on a review of the evolving liquidity conditions and assessment of the durable liquidity needs going forward, RBI has decided to conduct purchase of government securities under (OMOs). Traders took note of a report that the Ministry of Corporate Affairs plans to start gathering 'primary data' from persons who have put in their money in chit funds and deposit-taking schemes, amid continuing efforts to clamp down on illicit fundraising activities.

The benchmark indices witnessed a sharp surge in the late afternoon trade, taking support from a private report that the US’ decision to end the Iran oil sanctions waiver will not affect India’s investments in Chabahar port in Iran. The revocation of the ‘significant reductions exemption’(SRE) which allowed eight countries, including India, to continue to source Iranian oil for the past six months ends on May 2, following which the US expects oil imports from Iran to go down to zero. Traders took note of a report that around 3.10 crore small farmers have so far received the first tranche of Rs 2,000 each under the PM-Kisan scheme and 2.10 crore peasants have got the second installment as well, costing Rs 10,500 crore to the exchequer.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Tuesday amid worries that China has put any further stimulus on hold as the economy shows signs of regaining its footing. European markets were trading mostly in red, as Germany's business confidence unexpectedly weakened in April to its lowest level in three years. Back home, power sector stocks were buzzing with rating agency ICRA stating that it has estimated 7-7.5 GW solar power capacity addition during the current financial year, which includes 1 GW of rooftop solar.

The BSE Sensex ended at 39044.19, up by 479.31 points or 1.24% after trading in a range of 38571.00 and 39095.35. There were 24 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.47%, while Small cap index was up by 0.45%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 2.38%, Energy up by 2.18%, Telecom up by 1.81%, TECK up by 1.43% and PSU up by 1.40%, while Auto down by 0.36% was the lone losing index on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were HCL Tech. up by 3.14%, Indusind Bank up by 2.80%, ONGC up by 2.74%, Bharti Airtel up by 2.44% and Yes Bank up by 2.43%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.26%, Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.00%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.67%, Hero MotoCorp down by 0.50% and Power Grid down by 0.39% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India has decided to infuse more liquidity into market. It will buy government securities under Open market operations (OMOs) for an aggregate amount of Rs 25,000 crore in May 2019 through two auctions of Rs 12,500 crore each.

Based on a review of the evolving liquidity conditions and assessment of the durable liquidity needs going forward, the central bank has decided to purchase government securities (g-secs). The first auction of Rs 12,500 crore will be conducted on May 2, 2019. The date of the other auction was not announced. It also added that the OMO amount of Rs 25,000 crore was indicative and RBI retains the flexibility to change it, depending on the evolving liquidity and market conditions.

OMOs are conducted by the RBI by sale or purchase of g-secs to regulate money supply in the market. The sale or buying of g-secs infuses or reduces liquidity. OMOs like repo rate, cash reserve ratio and statutory liquidity ratio are monetary policy tools to balances inflation.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11726.80, up by 150.85 points or 1.30% after trading in a range of 11578.85 and 11740.85. There were 42 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Ultratech Cement up by 5.05%, BPCL up by 3.81%, HCL Tech. up by 3.27%, Bharti Infratel up by 3.11% and Indusind Bank up by 2.99%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 3.32%, Hero MotoCorp down by 1.09%, Maruti Suzuki down by 0.90%, Cipla down by 0.72% and Coal India down by 0.55% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 24.32 points or 0.32% to 7,498.75 and France’s CAC was down by 5.72 points or 0.1% to 5,585.97, while Germany’s DAX increased 68.93 points or 0.56% to 12,304.44.

Asian markets ended mixed on Wednesday as investors digested upbeat corporate earnings results from the US and looked forward to further progress in US-China trade talks. According to US Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will head to Beijing next week for talks that start on April 30. Following those talks, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He will lead a delegation to Washington for further discussions that begin on May 8. Japanese shares ended lower as investors braced for a flurry of earnings reports due out on Friday and the 10-day Golden Week holiday starting this weekend. Meanwhile, Chinese shares ended largely unchanged after the country's central bank extended 267.4 billion yuan ($39.8 billion) to some commercial banks to support liquidity in the banking system.