Benchmarks snap 3-day winning streak

Indian equity benchmarks snapped a three-day winning streak to close marginally lower on Tuesday due to losses in TECK, IT and Telecom stocks. After a weak start, the markets recovered but remained in negative territory for most part of the session as cautiousness prevailed ahead of the RBI monetary policy decision and the start of Q4 earnings season. Traders also remained cautious with provisional data from the NSE showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 522.30 crore on April 1. Adding to the pessimism, a report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed that India’s dependence for trade on the European Union (EU) and China is rising as global trade has seen a restructuring along the geopolitical lines in the past two years.

Traders overlooked a private survey showing that the manufacturing sector in India closed out FY24 with a stellar performance in March, as companies stepped up hiring in response to strong production and new orders. The HSBC India Manufacturing PMI rose to a 16-year high of 59.1 in March, from 56.9 in February. While this number was the highest since February 2008, it was lower than HSBC's preliminary estimate of 59.2. A reading of over 50 separates expansion from contraction. Traders also paid no heed towards report that the Centre collected Rs 1.78 lakh crore as gross goods and services tax in the month of March, up 11.5% against the same month last year. This is the second highest monthly gross GST collection. This surge was driven by a significant rise in GST collections from domestic transactions at 17.6%.  However, markets managed to trim some losses in final hour of trade following gains in global markets.  

On the global front, European markets were trading mostly in green as strong U.S. manufacturing data helped lift mining and energy stocks. Investors shrugged off the results of a survey showing that Euro zone factory downturn deepened again in March. Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday, as most regional markets reopened after a holiday break with traders reacting to a slew of mixed economic data, primarily from China, Australia and Japan. Soft U.S. inflation data on Friday also boosted hopes that the US Fed could cut interest rates in June.

Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 110.64 points or 0.15% to 73,903.91 and the CNX Nifty was down by 8.70 points or 0.04% to 22,453.30. 

The BSE Sensex touched high and low of 74,099.78 and 73,743.77 respectively. There were 14 stocks advancing against 16 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index rose 1.14%, while Small cap index was up by 1.28%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.82%, Oil & Gas up by 1.53%, Metal up by 1.42%, PSU up by 1.41% and Utilities up by 1.21%, while TECK down by 0.71%, IT down by 0.54%, Telecom down by 0.38% and Bankex down by 0.19% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.95%, Nestle up by 1.42%, Tata Motors up by 1.23%, SBI up by 1.21% and Indusind Bank up by 1.11%. On the flip side, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.84%, HCL Technologies down by 1.82%, ICICI Bank down by 1.52%, Sun Pharma down by 0.90% and Infosys down by 0.84% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the finance ministry has said that Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections in March 2024 witnessed the second highest collection ever at Rs 1.78 lakh crore, with a 11.5 per cent year-on-year growth. This surge was driven by a significant rise in GST collection from domestic transactions at 17.6 per cent. The highest-ever GST collection was recorded at Rs 1.87 lakh crore in April 2023.

The Ministry highlighted that GST collections have shown strong consistent performance in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24) and the fiscal ended March 31, 2024 marks a milestone with total gross GST collection of Rs 20.18 lakh crore, a 11.7 per cent increase compared to the previous year. The average monthly gross collection for FY24 stood at Rs 1.68 lakh crore, exceeding Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the preceding fiscal.

It further said GST revenue net of refunds as of March 2024 is Rs 18.01 lakh crore, which is a growth of 13.4 per cent over the same period a year ago. During FY24, Central (GST) collection was Rs 3.76 lakh crore, State GST was Rs 4.71 lakh crore; Integrated GST was 10.27 lakh crore, including Rs 4.83 lakh crore collected on imported goods. Cess collection was Rs 1.44 lakh crore, including Rs 11,915 crore collected on imported goods.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 22,497.60 and 22,388.15. There were 28 stocks advancing against 22 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Tata Consumer Products up by 4.05%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.82%, BPCL up by 2.58%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.53% and Adani Ports & SEZ up by 1.96%. On the flip side, Hero MotoCorp down by 2.43%, Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 1.90%, HCL Technologies down by 1.59%, ICICI Bank down by 1.50% and SBI Life Insurance down by 1.39% were the top losers.

European markets were trading mostly in green; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 25.13 points or 0.32% to 7,977.75 and France’s CAC rose 0.87 points or 0.01% to 8,206.68, while Germany’s DAX lost 20.69 points or 0.11% to 18,471.80.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday as many regional markets resumed trading after the Easter holiday break, even as strong US manufacturing data along with signs of rising component prices in the ISM report raised concerns over the timing of interest rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve. Hong Kong shares led gains, with shares of Xiaomi jumping as much as 16% after the consumer electronics company reported solid orders after its foray into the world’s biggest electric vehicles (EV) market. Moreover, Japanese shares gained marginally amid concerns over potential government intervention in the currency market to curb the Yen’s weakening trend. Japanese Finance Minister Shunichi Suzuki said that authorities were ready to take appropriate action against excessive currency market volatility, without ruling out any options.