Post Session: Quick Review

Friday’s trading session turned out to be extremely sanguine for local equity markets, which going from strength to strength, concluded at day’s highest point, on the back of buying across sectors, as the euphoria surrounding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide victory in the general election drove the bull-run. Trading for the day began on a firm note, tracking mostly positive trade in Asian equities. Traders took encouragement with Fitch Ratings’ statement that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) apparent landslide victory is likely to improve business sentiment and outlook for private investment. It said that from a credit rating perspective, Fitch would focus on the extent of the next government's efforts to improve India's weak fiscal finances. Sentiments remained up-beat as India Inc has welcomed the thumping majority accorded to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Lok Sabha Elections 2019. BJP and its allies are leading in 355 seats while the saffron party alone is leading in 305 seats.

The local equity indices gathered further ground in late afternoon session, taking support with a report that with poll uncertainty behind, investors will now be keen to know the future course of action to boost economy, solution to ease liquidity situation and measures to address financial sector dislocation. Sharp recovery in the rupee value against dollar along with encouraging earnings by some blue-chip firms also fuelled the uptrend. Traders also took note of Moody's statement that its credit view on India will depend on policies of the new government and expressed hope that the country would continue with its fiscal consolidation plan.

On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, even as trade worries persisted and a slump in oil prices pulled down energy stocks. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington's complaints against Huawei Technologies might be resolved within the framework of a US-China trade deal. European markets were trading in green, despite trade war fears continuing to put global stocks under pressure. Back home, stocks related fertiliser sector ended higher with the rating agency ICRA in its latest report stating said that the fertiliser sector in India expects faster clearance of the overdue subsidy payments, including through 'Special Banking Arrangement' to help companies tide over their liquidity problem during the second tenure of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government.

The BSE Sensex ended at 39442.03, up by 630.64 points or 1.62% after trading in a range of 38824.26 and 39476.97. There were 27 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 2.09%, while Small cap index was up by 2.47%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 4.11%, Capital Goods up by 3.98%, Industrials up by 3.60%, Telecom up by 3.54% and Auto up by 3.01%, while there were no losing indices on BSE sectoral front. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ICICI Bank up by 5.25%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.54%, Bharti Airtel up by 4.36%, Vedanta up by 4.26% and SBI up by 4.00%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, NTPC down by 0.54%, HCL Tech. down by 0.09%, TCS down by 0.09% and Hindustan Unilever down by 0.06% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, expressing hope that India will continue with its fiscal consolidation plan, Moody’s Investors Service has said that its credit view on the country will depend on policies of the new government. As per the trend, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will form the government at the Centre for the second successive term with absolute majority.

The US-based rating agency said any credit implications of the outcome of India's general election will be determined by the policies adopted by the government in the next few years. These policies are yet to be formulated. It expects the broad push towards fiscal consolidation to remain, although with greater policy emphasis on supporting low incomes.

Moody’s had upped India's rating to ‘Baa2’ from ‘Baa3’ in 2017, changing outlook to ‘stable’ from ‘positive’, and said reforms would help stabilise rising levels of debt. Besides, deviating from the fiscal consolidation path as per the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, the government in February's interim budget pegged the fiscal deficit for 2019-20 at 3.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as against the original target of 3.1%. The fiscal deficit was 3.4% of GDP in 2018-19.

The CNX Nifty ended at 11846.65, up by 189.60 points or 1.63% after trading in a range of 11658.10 and 11859.00. There were 44 stocks advancing against 6 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were ICICI Bank up by 5.25%, Vedanta up by 4.58%, Larsen & Toubro up by 4.55%, Zee Entertainment up by 4.49% and Tata Steel up by 4.28%. (Provisional)

On the flip side, Tech Mahindra down by 1.20%, NTPC down by 0.50%, TCS down by 0.19%, Hindustan Unilever down by 0.19% and ONGC down by 0.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 45.54 points or 0.63% to 7,276.58, France’s CAC rose 41.33 points or 0.78% to 5,322.70 and Germany’s DAX was up by 85.38 points or 0.71% to 12,037.79.

Asian markets ended mixed on Friday, even as trade worries persisted and a slump in oil prices pulled down energy stocks. US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Washington's complaints against Huawei Technologies might be resolved within the framework of a US-China trade deal. At the same time, he called the Chinese telecommunications giant ‘very dangerous’. During a weekly briefing, Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Gao Feng said the Trump administration must ‘show sincerity and correct their wrong actions’ if the US wants trade talks to continue. ‘Negotiations can only continue on the basis of equality and mutual respect’, Gao said, noting that China is closely monitoring developments and preparing a necessary response. Japanese shares ended slightly lower, with a sharp fall in oil prices and fears of a technology cold war between the US and China weighing on investors' risk appetite.