Post Session: Quick Review

Indian markets managed to maintain their winning streak for ninth consecutive day led by hefty buying in banking counters. However, below expectation Q4FY23 guidance by IT major -- TCS, kept Indian markets lower most part of day on Thursday. Now investors turned their focus towards Infosys’ earnings, which scheduled to be released later in the day. Besides, traders were worried with rising crude oil prices. Traders failed to cheer up with retail inflation data. India’s retail inflation based on Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to a 15-month low of 5.66 per cent in March 2023 and came back to the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) comfort level of 6 per cent. The CPI was 6.44 per cent in February 2023 and 6.95 per cent in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, India’s factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose marginally to 5.6 per cent in February 2023 from 5.5 per cent in January 2023.

Indices made slightly negative start following negative US markets cues overnight. Investors were cautious over the growth prospects, as the UN Trade and Development Conference (UNCTAD) in its latest Trade and Development Report Update stated that India's economic growth is projected to decelerate to 6 per cent in 2023 from 6.6 per cent in 2022. Further, markets extended their downward trend as sentiments got hit after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India remains concerned about the global economic outlook and geopolitical environment, despite this year's projected growth rate of over six percent for the country's economy. However, markets recovered from losses and turned positive in last leg of trade. Traders took some support after a private report stated that exports saw a rise of 6% to $447 billion in FY23, up from $442 billion in FY22.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in red despite Euro zone industrial output was stronger than expected in February, mainly thanks to a rise in production of capital and non-durable consumer goods. Asian markets ended mixed after minutes from the Fed's Open Markets Committee March 21-22 meeting indicated that Fed officials see the U.S. economy entering a 'mild recession' by year's end in the wake of the banking crisis. Back home, credit rating agency, India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has said that non-bank finance companies (including housing finance companies) are likely to face increased funding challenges in FY24, which is likely to impact their growth aspirations.

The BSE Sensex ended at 60,431.00, up by 38.23 points or 0.06% after trading in a range of 60,081.43 and 60,486.91. There were 17 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.16%, while Small cap index was up by 0.33%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.38%, Realty up by 1.17%, Auto up by 0.35%, Consumer Durables up by 0.22% and FMCG was up by 0.20%, while IT down by 2.05%, TECK down by 1.94%, Capital Goods down by 0.57%, Oil & Gas down by 0.55% and Healthcare was down by 0.41% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.15%, Power Grid up by 1.89%, Axis Bank up by 1.60%, Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.35% and Bajaj Finserv up by 1.33%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.79%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.13%, HCL Tech down by 2.09%, TCS down by 1.61% and NTPC down by 1.45% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, with good performance of the power, mining and manufacturing sectors, India’s factory output growth measured in terms of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) rose marginally to 5.6 per cent in February 2023 from 5.5 per cent in January 2023. There was an improvement on an annual as well as sequential basis. The IIP stood at 1.2 per cent in February 2022. For the month of February 2023, the Quick Estimates of IIP with base 2011-12 stood at 138.7. For the first 11 months of fiscal 2022-23 (April-February), the growth in IIP works out to be 5.5 per cent, down from 12.5 per cent in the year-ago period.

As per the IIP data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the manufacturing sector’s output grew 5.3 per cent in February 2023 from 0.2 per cent a year ago. Mining output growth remained flat at 4.6 per cent during the month under review compared to the year-ago period. Power generation surged 8.2 per cent in February 2023 against 4.5 per cent. The Indices of Industrial Production for the Mining, Manufacturing and Electricity sectors for the month of February 2023 stood at 129.0, 136.8 and 174.0 respectively.

As per use-based classification, the capital goods segment recorded a growth of 10.5 per cent in February against a growth of 1.3 per cent a year ago. Consumer durables output during the month declined by 4 per cent against a contraction of 9.7 per cent a year ago. Consumer non-durable goods output expanded by 12.1 per cent against a decline of 6.8 per cent earlier. Infrastructure/construction goods posted a growth of 7.9 per cent compared to an 8.6 per cent expansion in the same period a year ago.

The data also showed that the output of primary goods logged 6.8 per cent growth in the month against 4.6 per cent in the year-ago period. The intermediate goods output in February contracted by 0.3 per cent compared to a growth of 4.1 per cent during the corresponding month last year. Besides, the indices stood at 139.7 for Primary Goods, 104.4 for Capital Goods, 143.2 for Intermediate Goods and 164.0 for Infrastructure/ Construction Goods for the month of February 2023. Further, the indices for Consumer durables and Consumer non-durables stood at 108.4 and 154.3 respectively for the month of February 2023.

The CNX Nifty ended at 17,828.00, up by 15.60 points or 0.09% after trading in a range of 17,729.65 and 17,842.15. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.21%, HDFC Life Insurance up by 2.86%, Eicher Motors up by 2.71%, Apollo Hospital up by 1.81% and Power Grid up by 1.72%. On the flip side, Infosys down by 2.74%, Tech Mahindra down by 2.08%, HCL Tech down by 2.07%, TCS down by 1.63% and NTPC down by 1.56% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in red, UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 2.08 points or 0.03% to 7,822.76 and Germany’s DAX was down by 2.6 points or 0.02% to 15,701.00. On the flip side, France’s CAC was up by 71.55 points or 0.96% to 7,468.49.

Asian markets recovered from initial losses and ended mixed on Thursday after minutes from the Fed's Open Markets Committee March 21-22 meeting indicated that Fed officials see the U.S. economy entering a ‘mild recession’ by year's end in the wake of the banking crisis. Besides, U.S. inflation rate eased to 5 percent in March, the lowest rise in almost 2 years, but many market participants said they still expect the Fed to raise rates by another quarter point early next month. However, Japanese shares rose modestly to extend gains for a fifth day running on optimism of a recovery in the domestic retail sector. Meanwhile, Shares of embattled Chinese developer Sunac China Holdings sank 53.5 percent in Hong Kong as the stock resumed trade following a suspension of more than a year.