Post Session: Quick Review

The domestic equity markets witnessed a real roller costar ride on Thursday to end mixed. Buying in last leg of trade helped Sensex to end with gain of over one third of a percent, while Nifty ended slightly in red. After Union budget session, investors once again shifted their focused towards Adani Group’s news flow on Thursday. Markets saw extreme volatility during the day due to Adani-Hindenburg issue. Investors maintained risk-averse approach throughout the day as they still analyzing budget impactful stocks. Meanwhile, traders opted to book profit after yesterday’s gains. However, in a stunning move, Adani Enterprises decided to withdraw its Rs 20,000 crore follow-on public offering (FPO), saying that going ahead with the issue would not be morally correct and the interest of the investors is paramount. Besides, investors took a dovish cue from Fed Chair Jerome Powell's remarks on Wednesday that 'the disinflationary process has started' in the world's largest economy, although he also signalled that interest rates would continue rising and that cuts were not in the offing.

After negative start, soon indices turned volatile following Fed decision. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers expect to deliver a couple more interest-rate increases before putting their aggressive tightening campaign on hold. Traders were cautious as both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England are expected to hike interest rates by 50 basis points each later in the day. Besides, Moody's Investors Service said that the Indian federal government’s aim to achieve a fiscal deficit target of 4.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025/26 could see some risks. The current pattern suggests that perhaps there could be some upward pressure on expenditure especially if they (government) continue with this focus on capex. Markets wavered between gains and losses with investors taking their position around the neutral lines till late afternoon session.  

On the global front, European markets were trading higher as investors reacted to dovish comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and awaited interest-rate decisions from the European Central Bank and the Bank of England later in the day. Asian markets ended mostly in green after the Federal Reserve said the U.S. economy is moving toward lower inflation but more interest rate hikes are planned. Back home, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said a number of measures such as tweaks in customs duties on certain products announced in the Union Budget for 2023-24 will help boost the country's exports.

 The BSE Sensex ended at 59,932.24, up by 224.16 points or 0.38% after trading in a range of 59,215.62 and 60,007.67. There were 16 stocks advancing against 14 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.21%, while Small cap index was up by 0.36%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were FMCG up by 2.18%, IT up by 1.65%, TECK up by 1.60%, Industrials up by 0.60% and Bankex was up by 0.45%, while Utilities down by 3.78%, Power down by 3.43%, Oil & Gas down by 2.05%, Energy down by 1.82% and Metal was down by 0.88% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were ITC up by 4.72%, Indusind Bank up by 3.78%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.35%, Infosys up by 1.97% and Wipro up by 1.79%. On the flip side, HDFC down by 2.04%, NTPC down by 1.71%, Power Grid down by 1.66%, Bajaj Finance down by 1.66% and Tata Steel down by 1.60% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service’s senior vice president, Christian de Guzman has said the Indian federal government's aim to achieve a fiscal deficit target of 4.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025/26 (FY26) could see some risks.

Guzman said the current pattern suggests that perhaps there could be some upward pressure on expenditure especially if they (government) continue with this focus on capex. The government's budget gap, which hit a high of 9.5% of GDP in 2020/21 as the spread of COVID-19 infections brought the economy to a halt, has narrowed since but remains well above the medium-term goal of 4.5% of GDP by 2025/26.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her budget speech said India's federal government will target a budget deficit of 5.9% of GDP for 2023/24. Earlier, Moody's said the narrower fiscal deficit underscores the government's commitment to longer-term fiscal sustainability. It added that the high debt burden and weak debt affordability remain key constraints that offset India's fundamental strengths.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17,610.40, down by 5.90 points or 0.03% after trading in a range of 17,445.95 and 17,653.90. There were 19 stocks advancing against 31 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were ITC up by 4.76%, Britannia up by 4.62%, Indusind Bank up by 3.27%, Hindustan Unilever up by 2.35% and Infosys up by 2.10%. On the flip side, Adani Enterprises down by 26.70%, Adani Ports down by 6.60%, UPL down by 6.16%, HDFC Life Insurance down by 4.46% and Divi's Lab down by 2.68% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher, UK’s FTSE 100 increased 18.26 points or 0.23% to 7,779.37, France’s CAC rose 37.7 points or 0.53% to 7,114.81 and Germany’s DAX was up by 195.93 points or 1.27% to 15,376.67.

Asian markets settled mostly higher on Thursday tracking overnight rally in Wall Street after the US Fed raised rates by 25 bps, as widely expected. And at the same time, US Fed Chair Powell said disinflationary process has started but ongoing increases in rates will be needed to curb price pressures. Seoul shares rose, even as the south Korea consumer price index rose 5.2% in January on an annualised basis. Japanese shares gained, despite a stronger yen weighed on exporters. Chinese shares ended flat ahead of a slew of earnings from prominent firms in the coming weeks.