Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended in red on Friday. The start of the day was on a positive note, taking support with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry report showing that as economic activities gather pace and investor sentiments revive, GDP growth is likely to enter a double-digit growth trajectory and may grow at more than 11 per cent in the next financial year. Some support also came with Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan’s statement that the country's exports are steadily recovering and it is expected to record a healthy growth rate in March.

Indices remained higher, as the Centre said the acceleration in delivering COVID-19 vaccine shots has been achieved in collaboration with the private sector which administered more than 23 per cent of the doses. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 71.23 percent of coronavirus vaccine doses have been administered in government hospitals, while 28.77 percent of these doses have been contributed by private facilities. Some support came with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) stating that it will conduct simultaneous purchase and sale of government securities for Rs 10,000 crore each under Open Market Operations (OMOs) on March 18, 2020.

Positive trade continued over the Dalal Street during the first half of the trading session, as domestic sentiments were optimistic, after the Minister of State for Labour and Employment Santosh Kumar Gangwar said that the Centre is providing fiscal stimulus of more than Rs 27 lakh crore as part of the Aatmanirbhar financial package. Gangwar said that the government increasing public expenditure on various schemes run by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Rural Development and Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.

But in the second half of the session, indices turned negative to end lower, amid SBI report stating that India’s combined federal and states’ budget gap in the current fiscal year will reach 12.7% on increased healthcare spending and a collapse in revenue amid the pandemic. Besides, India reported 21,668 fresh Covid-19 cases on Thursday pushing the overall tally to 11,305,979, according to Worldometer. The death toll from the deadly infection jumped to 158,326. The country continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks 11th among worst-hit nations by active cases.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower, as a rise in Treasury yields resurfaced some investor caution. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday, after producer prices in Japan were up 0.4 percent on month in February. The Bank of Japan said that was shy of expectations for an increase of 0.5 percent and was unchanged from the January reading. On a yearly basis, producer prices sank 0.7 percent - in line with expectations following the 1.6 percent decline in the previous month. Export prices were up 1.4 percent on month and 0.3 percent on year, the bank said, while import prices jumped 4.1 percent on month but lost 3.5 percent on year.

The BSE Sensex ended at 50792.08, down by 487.43 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 50538.43 and 51821.84. There were 4 stocks advancing against 26 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended mixed; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.45%, while Small cap index was up by 0.14%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Utilities up by 1.33%, Power up by 0.74%, Consumer Durables up by 0.26% and Oil & Gas up by 0.13%, while Auto down by 1.60%, Energy down by 1.39%, Bankex down by 1.28%, Consumer Disc down by 0.94% and FMCG down by 0.91% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Power Grid up by 2.28%, Titan Co up by 0.76%, ONGC up by 0.52% and Infosys up by 0.48%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.10%, Maruti Suzuki down by 2.40%, ICICI Bank down by 2.06%, Sun Pharma down by 2.04% and Reliance Industries down by 1.97% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in order to boost export potential of India’s agricultural and processed food products, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) has launched its first Virtual Trade Fair (VTF).

The fair with a theme ‘India Rice and Agro Commodity’, will focus on showcasing the exports potential of various agricultural commodities. Importers as well as exporters will be key participants of the VTF. The potential buyers or importers and visitors will get to explore a wide range of food products presented by the exporters through this virtual fair.

Because of COVID-19 related restrictions on physical travel and trade, APEDA has initiated the concept of VTF for sustaining India’s agricultural and processed food products exports and also exploring new markets for expanding export footprints.

The CNX Nifty ended at 15030.95, down by 143.85 points or 0.95% after trading in a range of 14953.60 and 15336.30. There were 9 stocks advancing against 41 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were BPCL up by 2.70%, Indian Oil Corp. up by 2.48%, Power Grid up by 2.28%, JSW Steel up by 1.15% and Titan Co up by 0.76%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 3.13%, Hindalco down by 2.98%, SBI Life Insurance down by 2.82%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 2.81% and Maruti Suzuki down by 2.42% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 21.94 points or 0.33% to 6,715.02, France’s CAC decreased 5.88 points or 0.1% to 6,027.88 and Germany’s DAX was down by 73.23 points or 0.5% to 14,496.16.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Friday, tracking Wall Street gains overnight with investors' optimism over the passing of the $1.9 trillion US stimulus package and after data showing a less than expected rise in jobless claims last week. Market sentiments improved further after a dovish European Central Bank (ECB) meeting prompted a retreat in bond yields and eased global concerns about rising inflation. Chinese shares ended higher despite worries about the latest Sino-US tensions after the Jeo Biden administration amended licenses for companies to sell to telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies. Further, Japanese shares gained with optimism about a swifter economic recovery from the pandemic following encouraging US labor market data and easing bond yields.