Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks traded in green for most part of the day and saw a strong relief rally in the late hour of trade which helped to close Thursday’s session not only at intraday high levels but also recapture their crucial 11,250 (Nifty) and 37,450 (Sensex) bastions. Markets started off with marginal gains, as traders took some support with a report that the India's services exports rose by 6.6 per cent to $17.94 billion in March. Services imports in March too grew by 10.55 per cent to $11.37 billion. The trade balance in services for the month under review is estimated at $6.58 billion. But, traders soon turned cautious with report that India’s export growth slid to a four-month low of 0.64% in April as shipments of engineering goods, gems and jewellery, leather and other products declined, widening the trade deficit to a five-month high. Imports increased by 4.5%, the highest growth in the last six months as crude oil and gold shipments shot up in the month. Investors also remain concerned with report that monsoon rains are expected to hit Kerala on June 6, five days after its normal onset date. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also said the southwest monsoon arrival over the State is likely to be slightly delayed.

Though, markets once again entered into green terrain and managed to keep their heads above water in early noon deals, as traders found solace with report that Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) would focus on enhancing industry's competency and employment generation under its seven point charter for the southern region this year. It would focus on high growth sectors like manufacturing, automobiles, information and communication technology as part of its move to enhance industry's core competitiveness. Buying got intensified during final hours of trade, taking support from the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (PHDCCI) statement that a decisive government at the Centre would be crucial to push India's growth trajectory to the next level and further improve the ease of doing business scenario.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday, while European markets were trading mostly in red, after United States (US) president Donald Trump signed an order that is expected to restrict Chinese telecommunications firms Huawei and ZTE Corp from selling their equipment in the US.

The BSE Sensex ended at 37461.53, up by 346.65 points or 0.93% after trading in a range of 37052.30 and 37518.94. There were 25 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 0.37%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Oil & Gas up by 1.87%, Basic Materials up by 1.63%, Metal up by 1.54%, PSU up by 1.48% and Realty up by 1.36%, while Telecom down by 1.02% and Healthcare down by 0.10% were the only losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.98%, Tata Motors up by 3.57%, Tata Motors - DVR up by 2.78%, Infosys up by 2.74% and ONGC up by 2.46%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.86%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.62%, Indusind Bank down by 1.32%, Coal India down by 1.17% and ITC down by 0.50% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, dampening prospects of higher farm and economic growth, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said that the monsoon is likely to be delayed this year as its arrival expected on June 6, five days after its normal onset date. It added that this year, the statistical model forecast suggests that the monsoon onset over Kerala is likely to be slightly delayed. It also said conditions are becoming favourable for advance of southwest monsoon over the southern part of Andaman Sea, Nicobar Islands and adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal during May 18-19.

The normal onset date for monsoon over Kerala is June 1, which also marks the official commencement of the four-month rainfall season. If the monsoon arrives late, it will be third such instance since 2014 when it arrived on June 5, followed by June 6 in 2015 and June 8 in 2016. Though, it said that the delay in the arrival of monsoon may not necessarily have an impact on the overall rainfall. Last year, it had hit Kerala on May 29, three days before the normal onset date. Yet, the country received ‘below-normal’ rainfall.

Similarly, in 2017, the monsoon arrived in Kerala on May 30, but the overall rainfall was 95% of the long period average (LPA), which falls under the below normal category. Besides, in its initial forecast released in April, the IMD had predicted a near-normal rainfall with an LPA of 96%, which falls on the border of ‘below-normal’ and ‘normal’ rainfall category.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11279.05, up by 122.05 points or 1.09% after trading in a range of 11143.35 and 11281.55. There were 39 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Zee Entertainment up by 7.74%, BPCL up by 4.91%, Ultratech Cement up by 4.04%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.99% and Indian Oil Corp. up by 3.88%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Yes Bank down by 3.46%, Bharti Airtel down by 1.83%, Indusind Bank down by 1.39%, Cipla down by 0.98% and Coal India down by 0.96% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 8.60 points or 0.12% to 7,288.35 and France’s CAC fell 5.95 points or 0.11% to 5,368.31, while Germany’s DAX increased 12.24 points or 0.1% to 12,111.81.

Asian markets ended mixed on Thursday as investors weighed hopes for trade talks against Donald Trump's ban on US firms from using foreign telecoms equipment, which has been seen as a kick against China, offsetting reports that US President Donald Trump plans to delay imposing tariffs on car imports from European Union by up to six months in order to allow negotiations to continue. Japanese shares ended down, with weak US and Chinese data as well as continued Sino-US trade frictions weighing on sentiment. Meanwhile, Chinese shares ended higher on expectations that the government will roll out measures to support growth amid external uncertainties.