Post Session: Quick Review

Indian equity benchmarks ended last trading session of FY22 in red terrain on Thursday. Markets started in green terrain, as the International Monetary Fund said India, which has received a record number of foreign direct investment during the last few years despite COVID-19 crisis, has quite a few safeguards in place to mitigate the risks from capital flows. Adding optimism among traders, Union Minister of State for Commerce Anupriya Singh Patel said India’s export of agricultural products have touched $40.87 billion in the first 10 months of the current fiscal and it is 25.14 percent more than the financial year.

Despite volatility, indices traded higher for the most part in the first half of the trading session, as the Finance Ministry has expanded the scope of the Rs 5 lakh-crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) in order to support MSMEs engaged in travel, tourism and hospitality sectors to overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Traders took note of union Minister of State for MSME Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma’s statement that Government has been putting special focus to bring MSMEs into the defence supply chain and thereby boosting self-reliance of the country. He said MSMEs can also contribute to the rapidly increasing defence exports market.

However, in the second half of the trading session, markets traded lower, after India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) lowered India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth forecast to 7-7.2 per cent for FY23, from 7.6 per cent projected earlier, citing the rising uncertainty over Russia-Ukraine war and the resultant dampening of consumer sentiment. Traders got worried, amid a private report stating that after the record USD 23 billion of additional investments in the domestic equities in FY21, foreign funds have massively slashed their fresh exposure to the country to USD 3.7 billion in FY22, also pairing down their holdings in NSE500 to 19.9 per cent or worth USD 582 billion, down from their peak of 21.4 per cent.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower on the last trading day of March, a month marked by global geopolitical and economic uncertainty after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Asian markets ended mostly in red, after China's manufacturing and service sectors contracted in March due to the lockdown. The survey results from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that the non-manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index fell to 48.4 in March from 51.6 in February. A score below 50.0 indicates contraction in the sector. Similarly, the manufacturing PMI came in at 49.5, down from 50.2 in the previous month.

The BSE Sensex ended at 58568.51, down by 115.48 points or 0.20% after trading in a range of 58485.79 and 58890.92. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.29%, while Small cap index up by 0.31%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Telecom up by 1.90%, FMCG up by 1.12%, Power up by 0.88%, Utilities up by 0.73% and PSU up by 0.42%, while Healthcare down by 0.98%, Metal down by 0.43%, IT down by 0.33%, TECK down by 0.18% and Energy down by 0.09% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.95%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.66%, Axis Bank up by 1.39%, Indusind Bank up by 0.93% and Bharti Airtel up by 0.80%. On the flip side, Reliance Industries down by 1.46%, Wipro down by 1.44%, Dr. Reddy's Lab down by 1.04%, Ultratech Cement down by 0.59% and Infosys down by 0.55% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, In order to support MSMEs engaged in travel, tourism and hospitality sectors to overcome the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Finance Ministry has expanded the scope of the Rs 5 lakh-crore Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS).

The coverage, scope and extent of benefits under ECLGS 3.0 pertaining to hospitality, travel, tourism and civil aviation sectors have been expanded. As per the latest modification, new borrowers, in the sectors covered under ECLGS 3.0, who have borrowed between March 31, 2021, and January 31, 2022, will now be eligible to avail the emergency credit facilities.

The ministry also noted that the credit limit for eligible borrowers has been increased to 50 per cent of their fund-based credit outstanding from 40 per cent earlier. Individuals and proprietary concerns in the sectors covered under ECLGS 3.0 can also now avail of emergency credit facilities.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17464.75, down by 33.50 points or 0.19% after trading in a range of 17435.20 and 17559.80. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were JSW Steel up by 2.10%, Britannia up by 1.84%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 1.66%, Hindustan Unilever up by 1.62% and Tata Consumer Products up by 1.51%. On the flip side, Hindalco down by 5.05%, Divi's Lab down by 3.01%, Apollo Hospital Ent. down by 2.14%, Wipro down by 1.48% and Reliance Industries down by 1.43% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 5.19 points or 0.07% to 7,573.56, France’s CAC decreased 16.24 points or 0.24% to 6,725.35 and Germany’s DAX was down by 21.94 points or 0.15% to 14,584.11.

Asian markets ended mostly in red on Thursday tracking weakness in Wall Street overnight as optimism around the peace talks between Ukraine and Russia faded and concerns grew over the prospect of rapid rise in interest rates hurting US economic growth. Chinese shares settled lower amidst drop in China's PMI readings following the shutdown of much of Shanghai and two smaller industrial cities to fight the Covid-19 outbreak. Data showed that the purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China's manufacturing sector fell to 49.5 in March from 50.2 in the previous month and below expectations of 49.9. While, the PMI for China's non-manufacturing sector suffered a sharper drop to 48.4 in March, from the previous reading of 51.6.