Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended with strong gains on Friday. After an optimistic start, key indices remained higher for the whole day, taking support with CARE Ratings’ report that Indian economy will grow in the range of 11-11.2 per cent in the coming financial year. It said the high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in FY22 will be on the back of low base effect in FY21 and broad-based recovery across the economy. Adding more optimism, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das expressed confidence that the second wave of Covid infections will not derail India’s economic journey.

Firm trade continued over the Dalal Street during the trading session, as bulls held their tight grip in the markets, on the back of positive cues from the global markets. Domestic sentiments remained optimistic, amid reports that as part of furthering the ease of doing business in the country, the government is set to introduce a single-window clearance mechanism for investors by mid-April in order to attract greater foreign investment. The single-window portal will integrate the existing clearance systems of various central and state departments.

During afternoon deals, markets added more gains, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) stating that India's economy is on the path of gradual recovery, real GDP growth, return to positive territory in fourth quarter of 2020. And that's for the first time actually since the start of the pandemic and it's supported by a pickup in gross, fixed capital formation. Some comfort also came with Chief Economic Advisor K V Subramanian’s statement that the investment climate is going well in India and the private sector should skill their workforce in the interest of its business.

On the global front, European markets were trading higher despite an increase in COVID-19 cases across the continent. Asian markets ended in green on Friday, after South Korea's consumer confidence improved in March. The survey results from Bank of Korea showed that the consumer confidence index rose to 100.5 in March from 97.4 in February. The indicator measuring current living standards rose two points to 89 in March and that concerning the outlook for living standards increased one points to 95.

The BSE Sensex ended at 49008.50, up by 568.38 points or 1.17% after trading in a range of 48699.91 and 49234.66. There were 26 stocks advancing against 4 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.66%, while Small cap index was up by 1.08%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 3.49%, Consumer Durables up by 2.76%, Telecom up by 2.24%, Basic Materials up by 1.85% and FMCG up by 1.76%, while there were no losing sectoral indices on the BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 4.38%, Asian Paints up by 4.28%, Titan Co up by 4.06%, Hindustan Unilever up by 3.45% and Bajaj Auto up by 2.82%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.97%, Indusind Bank down by 0.58%, ITC down by 0.17% and Maruti Suzuki down by 0.01% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, with an aim to strengthen the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘Digitally empowered India’, Union Minister for Finance & Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman has launched Central Scrutiny Centre (CSC) and Investor Education and Protection Fund Authority’s (IEPFA) Mobile App - two tech-enabled initiatives by Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Sitharaman said that Digital India is a campaign launched by the Government of India in order to ensure that the Government's services are made available to citizens electronically by making the country digitally empowered in the field of technology. She further said that these two initiatives would create a new corporate and investor friendly ecosystem. Going forward, MCA would bring in more tech-enabled services for ease of doing business and ease of living for the people.

The Finance Minister also said that the Ministry of Corporate affairs has been engaged in a continuous journey of digitisation, automation and improvement, for the good of the society, the corporates, the economy and the professionals.

The CNX Nifty ended at 14507.30, up by 182.40 points or 1.27% after trading in a range of 14414.25 and 14572.90. There were 42 stocks advancing against 7 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Steel up by 6.04%, Bajaj Finserv up by 4.53%, Asian Paints up by 4.29%, Hindalco up by 4.19% and Tata Motors up by 3.80%. On the flip side, UPL down by 1.72%, Power Grid down by 0.83%, Eicher Motors down by 0.77%, Indusind Bank down by 0.53% and ITC down by 0.33% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 53.00 points or 0.79% to 6,727.83, France’s CAC increased 39.30 points or 0.66% to 5,991.71 and Germany’s DAX was up by 139.04 points or 0.95% to 14,760.40.

Asian markets ended in green on Friday in tandem with rise in US stocks with the upbeat labor report, pause in crude oil rally, faster vaccine rollout, and end to some restrictions in bank, reinforced economic rebound optimism boosting the market sentiments. China, Hong Kong and Japan were major gainers of the day. As per reports, China's Shanghai rebounded from its previous session's three month lower rate, boosted by beaten down consumer firms and strong foreign inflows. Though the Sino-Western confrontation has dulled the market.