Post Session: Quick Review

Indian markets held green trend throughout the day and ended with gains of over half a percent amid value buying. Traders took support from India's current account deficit (CAD) data. Besides, investors were braced for monthly F&O expiry. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended in green. 

Markets made optimistic start and remained higher, as traders took support after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said India's current account deficit declined to $10.5 billion or 1.2 per cent of the GDP in October-December quarter of current fiscal from $11.4 billion in the previous three months and $16.8 billion a year back. Besides, some support also came in as Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran said various initiatives from the government and growing investment are going to create more job opportunities during the decade. Indices continued their upward momentum in afternoon session. Sentiments were positive with Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India stating that India's engineering exports to Russia doubled to $1.22 billion till February during the 2023-24 fiscal. It said the shipments to the country stood at $616.68 million in the previous fiscal. Traders also took a note of Fitch Ratings’ report that the profitability of Indian banks is likely to continue to improve, although net interest margin (NIM) compression will limit earnings upside over the medium term. In late afternoon session, markets touched their day’s high levels, as investors continued to hunt for fundamentally strong stocks.

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green as investors awaited more economic data due this week, while H&M shares jumped on upbeat quarterly results. Asian markets ended mostly in red despite China's industrial profits increased notably in the first two months of the year driven by the improvement in the manufacturing sector. The data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that industrial profits grew 10.2 percent in the January to February period from the previous year. This has reversed a 2.3 percent fall seen in 2023. Profits of the equipment manufacturing sector logged a notable growth during January to February period. Back home, S&P Global Ratings said India's financial system regulator, the RBI, is showing serious commitment to improving governance and transparency in the sector.

The BSE Sensex ended at 72,996.31, up by 526.01 points or 0.73% after trading in a range of 72,600.73 and 73,138.73. There were 19 stocks advancing against 11 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.01%, while Small cap index was up by 0.70%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Capital Goods up by 1.00%, Consumer Durables up by 0.98%, Industrials up by 0.97%, Realty up by 0.93% and Power was up by 0.67%, while PSU down by 0.58%, IT down by 0.48%, TECK down by 0.40%, Metal down by 0.31% and FMCG was down by 0.21% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Reliance Industries up by 3.50%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.40%, Bajaj Finance up by 1.67%, Titan Company up by 1.52% and Kotak Mahindra Bank up by 1.14%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 1.62%, HCL Tech down by 1.04%, Nestle down by 0.82%, TCS down by 0.75% and Tata Motors down by 0.64% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, Chief Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran has said that Various initiatives from the government and growing investment are going to create more job opportunities during the decade. Nageswaran said the last decade of the century was marked by a decline in capital formation in the economy and moderation in credit growth.

He stated ‘Hopefully, those things are a thing of the past. Non food credit growth is now running close to 20 per cent, balance sheets of companies and banks are in good shape and hiring (is showing improvement).’ Quoting 2021-22 data, he said, employment in agriculture declined by 15 lakh, manufacturing and services added 37 lakh jobs each and the construction sector generated 19 lakh jobs. This trend we hope will continue in the future, as indicated by the robust gross value added growth in manufacturing and construction sectors.

Talking about various government initiatives for job creation, Nageswaran said, skill development, provision of 12 per cent contribution of employers towards EPFO by the government, New Education Policy, and important structural reform in human development have been undertaken. Apart from these, he said, the government has invested in physical infrastructure facilitating industrial and manufacturing growth, and generating employment in those sectors and restoring the health of financial institutions such as banks and non-banks.

Talking about areas of improvement, he said, there is a need to make regulatory and tax policy implementation regimes less onerous, less cumbersome, less coercive, and also less predatory. He said It is still not easy in India to close business in India.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22,123.65, up by 118.95 points or 0.54% after trading in a range of 22,052.85 and 22,193.60. There were 23 stocks advancing against 27 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 3.56%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.25%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.12%, Titan Company up by 1.65% and Bajaj Finance up by 1.63%. On the flip side, UPL down by 2.13%, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.11%, Tata Consumer down by 1.93%, Wipro down by 1.57% and Coal India down by 1.49% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading mostly in green; France’s CAC rose 0.71 points or 0.01% to 8,185.46 and Germany’s DAX was up by 44.95 points or 0.24% to 18,429.30. On the flip side, UK’s FTSE 100 was down by 22.73 points or 0.29% to 7,908.23.

Asian markets settled mostly lower on Wednesday, with Hong Kong markets leading regional losses after Alibaba Group Holding is calling off an initial public offering for its Cainiao logistics arm in a surprise move. Chinese markets declined deeply, even after governor of the People's Bank of China had said Chinese property market is showing some positive signs and the impact on the financial system from volatility in the sector has been limited. Meanwhile, investors are cautiously awaiting US personal consumption expenditure (PCE) inflation data as well as Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech due later in the week to gauge the potential timing of monetary easing. Although, Japanese shares gained while the yen hit a 34-year low against the dollar after Bank of Japan board member Naoki Tamura said short-term interest rates would remain near zero for the time being, even as the Japanese central bank ending negative interest rates last week.