Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended Friday's trade on an optimistic note with gains of around a percent. Hectic buying activity which took place during last leg of trade mainly drove the markets higher with key gauges recapturing their crucial 39,050 (Sensex) and 11,750 (Nifty) bastions. Markets started the first day of May F&O series on a positive note, as traders took some support with the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) data showing that bank credit rose by 14.19 percent to Rs 96.45 lakh crore while deposits grew 10.60 percent to Rs 125.30 lakh crore in the first fortnight ended on April 12. In the year ago fortnight, deposits were at Rs 113.29 lakh crore and advances stood at Rs 84.46 lakh crore. Sentiments remained positive with a private report stating that private equity (PE) and venture capital (VC) investments hit an all-time high of $7 billion in March, as high-voltage action by global investors like Canada’s Brookfield and Singapore’s GIC on street continues unabated despite the ongoing general elections.

Indices extended their gains to reach at fresh intraday high points in late trade, as investors’ sentiment was buoyed by IBBI Chairperson M S Sahoo’s statement that resolution plans under IBC have yielded 200 per cent of liquidation value for creditors in addition to rescuing viable firms. He also noted that this is significantly better as compared to the previous regime which yielded a recovery of 25 per cent for creditors through a process which took about five years and entailed a cost of 9 per cent. Markets were also supported by positive Q4 numbers posted by several companies. Meanwhile, traders took some optimism with Governor Shaktikanta Das’ statement the central bank is aligning its framework to help the market intermediaries provide financial access to the bottom- of-the-pyramid.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Friday in cautious trade as investors digested a mixed set of US earnings and awaited the release of US first-quarter gross domestic product data due out later in the day for directional cues. European markets were trading in red, as market participants reacted to another flurry of corporate earnings. Back home, stocks related to oil & gas sector ended higher despite  Fitch Ratings’ statement that financial profiles of state-owned oil marketing companies such as Indian Oil Corp (IOC) may be at risk in the near to medium term due to pressure from the government to increase shareholder returns.

The BSE Sensex ended at 39064.87, up by 334.01 points or 0.86% after trading in a range of 38765.33 and 39103.16. There were 17 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index fell 0.42%, while Small cap index was down by 0.22%.(Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 2.20%, Bankex up by 1.46%, Oil & Gas up by 1.25%, IT up by 1.19% and Energy up by 1.10%, while Consumer Durables down by 1.05%, Auto down by 1.02%, Telecom down by 0.95%, Consumer Disc down by 0.72% and Realty down by 0.54% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Steel up by 7.03%, ICICI Bank up by 2.95%, Axis Bank up by 2.63%, TCS up by 2.07% and SBI up by 2.02%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors - DVR down by 3.90%, Tata Motors down by 2.71%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.04%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 0.96% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.96% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest data showed that bank credit rose by 14.19% to Rs 96.45 lakh crore, while deposits grew 10.60% to Rs 125.30 lakh crore in the first fortnight ended on April 12. In the year ago fortnight, deposits were at Rs 113.29 lakh crore and advances stood at Rs 84.46 lakh crore. For the fiscal ended March 2019, bank credit had risen by 13.24% and deposits grew by 10.03%. This was 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.

The data showed that on a year-on-year basis, non-food bank credit increased by 13.2% in February 2019 as compared with an increase of 9.8% in the year-ago period. Loans to the services sector almost doubled with a 23.7% growth in February compared to 14.2% in the same month last year. Advances to agriculture and allied activities increased by 7.5% in February as compared to an increase of 9% in February 2018.

Credit to the industry rose by 5.6% in February, up from an increase of 1% in February 2018. Credit to the infrastructure, chemical and chemical products, and all engineering sectors accelerated. However, credit growth to basic metal & metal products, textiles, and food processing decelerated/contracted. The RBI said personal loans rose 16.7% in February down from 20.4% in February 2018.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11755.85, up by 114.05 points or 0.98% after trading in a range of 11661.75 and 11762.90. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 6.93%, BPCL up by 3.63%, GAIL India up by 3.00%, ICICI Bank up by 2.87% and JSW Steel up by 2.83%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tata Motors down by 2.70%, Bajaj Auto down by 1.59%, Grasim Industries down by 1.36%, Dr. Reddys Lab down by 0.95% and Bharti Airtel down by 0.93% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 22.44 points or 0.3% to 7,411.69, France’s CAC was down by 1.99 points or 0.04% to 5,555.68 and Germany’s DAX fell 2.52 points or 0.02% to 12,280.08.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday in cautious trade as investors digested a mixed set of US earnings and awaited the release of US first-quarter gross domestic product data due out later in the day for directional cues. Chinese shares ended down as concern deepened about the prospect of the government scaling back stimulus. Japanese shares ended slightly lower as the country heads into its 10-day Golden Week holiday beginning this weekend. A raft of mixed local economic data also weighed on markets. Retail sales in Japan rose 0.2% sequentially in March, a government report showed. That beat expectations for a flat reading and was down from the 0.4% increase in February. Industrial output fell 0.9% on month in the month, missing expectations for a flat reading following the 0.7% increase in February. Overall consumer prices in the Tokyo area were up an annual 1.4% in April, while the jobless rate came in at a seasonally adjusted 2.5% in March. Furthermore, Seoul shares declined on economic worries after data on Thursday showed the country's GDP shrank the most in a decade in the first quarter of 2019.