Post Session: Quick Review

Bulls held a grip over the Dalal Street on Wednesday, with both Sensex and Nifty ending on a strong note. Markets made a positive start, taking support with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s statement that India’s sharp economic recovery post COVID-19 and Budget initiatives will help in sustaining growth momentum in the years to come. She stated the government’s road map for imparting momentum to the economy focusses on growth at the macro level and complementing it with all-inclusive welfare at the micro level, promoting digital economy and fintech, technology-enabled development, energy transition and climate action and relying on a virtuous cycle of investment and growth.

Traders remained positive with Union minister Narayan Rane’s statement that the government is setting up a global market intelligence network to boost India's exports from the micro, small and medium enterprises sector. He said the Global Market Intelligence Network will act as a knowledge repository of export-related data on foreign markets and facilitate easier market access for MSME exporters. Some support also came as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that gross NPAs of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) have reduced to Rs 7.73 lakh crore as of December 31, 2021, against Rs 10.36 lakh crore as of March 31, 2018, due to transparent recognition of stressed assets.

Indices remained under a grip of bulls during the trading session, as domestic sentiments remained positive, after Sanjiv Mehta, President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said that the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), India's Free Trade Agreement with UAE, is good for all types of businesses and industries be it small scale or large scale and holds benefit for both goods and services sector. Besides, Underlining that India dealt with the pandemic with ingenious methods, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said the country converted a crisis into an opportunity.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as bond markets suggested pain ahead for the U.S. economy, tempering hopes of a negotiated end to the Ukraine conflict that had earlier buoyed equities. Asian markets settled mostly higher, even after the total value of retail sales in Japan was down 0.8 percent on year in February, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said on Wednesday - coming in at 11.537 trillion yen. That missed expectations for a loss of 0.3 percent following the downwardly revised 1.1 percent increase in January (originally 1.6 percent).

The BSE Sensex ended at 58683.99, up by 740.34 points or 1.28% after trading in a range of 58176.00 and 58727.78. There were 21 stocks advancing against 9 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.78%, while Small cap index up by 1.09%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Realty up by 1.49%, Bankex up by 1.36%, Industrials up by 1.25%, Auto up by 1.20% and IT up by 1.15%, while Metal down by 2.89%, Oil & Gas down by 0.86%, Basic Materials down by 0.59%, Power down by 0.40% and Utilities down by 0.37% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.82%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.09%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.81%, Power Grid up by 2.60% and Nestle up by 2.20%. On the flip side, ITC down by 2.16%, Tata Steel down by 1.98%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.69%, Bharti Airtel down by 0.68% and Titan Co down by 0.60% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, emphasizing upon the significance of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the GDP of the country, Union Minister for MSME Narayan Rane has said that MSMEs are growth accelerators making a significant contribution to GDP and need to be strengthened.

The minister also noted that for a long time now, MSMEs have been working amidst minimum resources and yet making a significant contribution to the GDP of the country. The Minister said it is, therefore, necessary that these growth accelerators are handheld and strengthened. He said in this direction there has definitely been significant collective efforts to strengthen the sector and various schemes of the government are directed towards opening up new avenues for MSMEs.

Narayan Rane further said that the Government has well ensured that the MSME sector receives an unhindered credit flow from financial institutions, technology support for development and modernization, access to export markets, infrastructure facility, training and capacity building facility and welfare of workforce.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17498.25, up by 172.95 points or 1.00% after trading in a range of 17387.20 and 17522.50. There were 32 stocks advancing against 18 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finserv up by 3.80%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 3.69%, Tata Consumer Products up by 3.05%, Bajaj Finance up by 3.02% and Hero MotoCorp up by 2.76%. On the flip side, ONGC down by 5.26%, Hindalco down by 4.99%, JSW Steel down by 4.82%, ITC down by 2.12% and Tata Steel down by 1.99% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 4.90 points or 0.07% to 7,532.35, France’s CAC decreased 74.93 points or 1.1% to 6,717.23 and Germany’s DAX was down by 200.79 points or 1.35% to 14,619.54.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Wednesday on expectations of a possible end to the Russia-Ukraine conflict after Russia promised to scale down military operations around Ukraine's capital Kyiv. Chinese shares gained with hopes for additional policy support to shore up the world’s second largest economy. Although, the eastern part of China’s financial hub of Shanghai city is in its third day of a lockdown. Japanese shares ended lower as investors booked profits heading into the end of the fiscal year.