Post Session: Quick Review

Expiry session of May series futures and options (F&O) contract turned out to be positive one the markets with benchmark equity indices witnessing relief rally in last leg of trade. Ahead of January-March quarter GDP figures and amidst mixed global cues, benchmark 30 share index, Sensex, added close to half a percent, to shut shop above the psychological 20,200 mark, while Nifty,  gaining  over 35 points, concluded above the crucial 6100 level. For the series, Nifty gained over 3% and CNX Midcap was up by over 1.5%, however, CNX Small cap index went suffered loss of close to a percent for the series. On the macro-front, Indian economic growth for January-March quarter has probably nudged to 4.8% year-on-year, better than the 4.5 percent growth in the previous three months, which was the lowest in fifteen quarters.

Back to D-street, slew of positive earnings from corporate such as M&M, Tata Motors and IOC also added to the vigor by the end of the trade. While, M&M spurted over 4% on reporting a 1.7% rise in net profit for the three months ended March helped by higher sales, Tata Motors rallied over 4% after its quarterly earnings beat estimates, helped by better-than-expected margins at unit Jaguar Land Rover. JLR's profit margin rose to 16.9% in the three months ended March 31 from 14.6 percent in the same period the year before, helped by a favourable exchange rate and record quarterly sales.

Additionally, recovery of European markets added to the upside of the local equity indices at D-street. European shares recovered from early losses to turn positive on Thursday, as bargain-hunters were moving in to buy equities on expectations that any tapering of the Fed's stimulus programme may be some way off. Nevertheless, Japanese equities tumbled in as the dollar slipped to fresh lows against the yen on Thursday, as investors remained worried over the uncertainties of US Federal Reserve's winding back its massive stimulus programme.

Closer home, though volatility played least part on the last trading session of May derivatives contract, with benchmarks equity indices mostly languishing in the red zone up till the final hour of trade. However, the action of bourses in the dying hours of trade helped bourses in resuming their winning streak after a session of consolidation. Sectorally, Auto, Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Power were the pockets of strength, while much of the pressure was exerted from stocks belonging to Realty, Metal and Oil & Gas counters. Metal stocks declined for the second consecutive session of trade after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth forecast for China citing a weak world economy and exports. While, banking stocks too edge lower after RBI study brought into light irregularities in the entire banking system by finding out KYC and AML violations in thematic study of 30 banks. The market breadth on the BSE ended negative; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1062: 1327, while 133 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

From the expiry perspective, market wide rollover was higher than the three month average. Sectorally, FMCG, Capital goods and Financials space witnessed high rollover of positions, while Automobile, Pharma and Power stocks observed relatively low rolls into the June series.

The BSE Sensex gained 42.17 points or 0.21% to settle at 20,189.81.The index touched a high and a low of 20,254.03 and 20,066.14 respectively. Among the 30-share Sensex pack, 15 stocks gained, while rest of 15 declined. (Provisional)

The BSE Mid cap indices ended up by 0.10% and Small cap indices ended down by 0.35%. (Provisional) On the BSE Sectoral front, Auto up by 2.21%, FMCG up by 1.97%, Power up by 0.86% and PSU up by 0.14%, were the only gainers, while Realty down by 2.56%, Metal down by 1.03%, Oil & Gas down by 0.95%, Bankex down by 0.68% and Capital Goods down by 0.48%, were the top losers in the space. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 4.61%, Tata Motors up by 4.31%, ITC up by 3.51%, HDFC up by 1.80% and NTPC up by 1.62%, while, Cipla down by 4.62%, Tata Steel down by 2.90%,  Hindalco Industries down by 3.18%, ICICI Bank down by 2.71% and Hero MotoCorp down by 1.96% were the top losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, the government will provide subsidy to LPG consumers in 18 districts across the country from June 1, 2013. The consumers in the select districts will get the subsidy amount transferred into their bank accounts linked with Aadhaar number. Earlier, the scheme was to be rolled out in 20 districts initially but the launch in Mysore in Karnataka and Mandi in Himachal Pradesh has been put off by a month due to assembly and Parliamentary by polls.

From June 1, consumers in 18 districts will get Rs 435 in their bank accounts every time, when they book a LPG refill. The government intends to extend the scheme to rest of the country but want to see the results of the roll-out in these districts.  Meanwhile, the move will help the government to cut its subsidy outgo by around Rs 8000-10,000 crore annually by eliminating diversions.

Oil Minister M Veerappa Moily said, although around 90 per cent of the LPG consuming population in these districts has Aadhaar number, the government will give a three-month grace period to them to procure the UID number and seed it with their bank accounts where cash subsidy has to be transferred. From September 1, only consumers having Aadhaar and banks accounts linked to them will get cash subsidy and the rest will have to buy LPG at market price, he added. There are around 14 crore LPG consumers in India and once the DBT for LPG is implemented, the government subsidy will reach the intended beneficiary only.    

India VIX, a gauge for markets short term expectation of volatility lost 10.19% at 16.04 from its previous close of 17.86 on Wednesday. (Provisional)

The CNX Nifty gained 10.25 points or 0.17% to settle at 6,114.55. The index touched high and low of 6,133.75 and 6,072.15 respectively. 21 stocks advanced against 28 declining, while one stock remains unchanged on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were M&M up by 4.93%, Tata Motors up by 3.69%, ITC up by 3.60%, Asian Paints up by 2.55% and Kotak Mahindra Bank was up by 2.41%. On the other hand, CIPLA down by 4.72%, Tata Steel down by 3.80%, JP Associate down by 3.47%, Hindalco Industries down by 3.36% and ICICI Bank down by 3.04% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading in green; France’s CAC 40 was up by 0.38%, Germany’s DAX was up by 0.19% and the United Kingdom’s FTSE 100 edged higher by 0.09%.