Markets end at all time closing high despite profit booking in late trade

Indian equity benchmarks, despite profit booking in last leg of trade, managed to end the session at their fresh all time closing high levels on Wednesday with Nifty surpassing its crucial 6,600 mark. Earlier, frontline gauges made a gap-up opening to hit a fresh all-time high on the back of strong inflows from foreign institutional investors and supportive cues from global peers. Appreciation in Indian rupee too supported the sentiments. The partially convertible rupee was at 60.14 at the time of equity market closing, up 34 paise against its previous close, on the back of strong inflows. Some support also came from report that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1223.28 crore on March 25, 2014, as per provisional exchange data. However, market witnessed steep fall in last leg of trade after the ruling Congress party came up with its manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections promising inclusive growth along with eight per cent growth rate in three years and various tax reforms, but markets recovered and  managed to keep their head above water at the end.

Global cues too remained jubilant with the US markets ending mostly higher on getting good report from the Conference Board, showing a significant improvement in consumer confidence in the month of March. Most of the Asian equity indices ended in the green terrain buoyed by the optimism about the outlook for the world’s biggest economy. The European markets too made a firm opening on expectation that US durable goods orders probably increased in February, adding to evidence the US economy is improving.

Back home, buying in banking related stocks aided the sentiments on report that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will keep the rates unchanged. Credit rating agencies expect the Reserve Bank of India to maintain the status quo on interest rates in its upcoming policy review. Also, the recent gains made by the rupee are a positive for lower rates as this reduces the scope for imported inflation. Stocks related to auto space too remained on buyers’ radar on report that auto makers are all set to increase prices for the third time this year, not withstanding a sluggish market and recent cut in excise duty, due to inflating operating costs and an unstable currency impacting their margins. Additionally, metal and mining stocks edged higher during the trade on growing expectations that China will take steps to stimulate its sagging economy.

On the flip side, some of the infra stocks remained in somber mood after an IMF report said that the slump in infrastructure and corporate investment has been the single largest contributor to India's recent growth slowdown. It also pointed that that heightened uncertainty regarding the future course of broader economic policies and deteriorating business confidence have played a significant role in the recent investment gloom. Moreover, shares of pharmaceutical companies too remained under pressure on report that FIIs sold a net of Rs 4,868 crore in pharmaceutical and biotechnology shares.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty surged by over ten points to end above the psychological 6,600 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex rose by over forty points to finish tad below the psychological 22,100 level. Broader markets too struggled to get any traction and ended the session mixed. The market breadth remained in favor of decliners, as there were 1,272 shares on the gaining side against 1,610 shares on the losing side while 141 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex added 40.09 points or 0.18% to settle at 22095.30, while the CNX Nifty was up by 11.65 points or 0.18% to settle at 6,601.40.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 22172.20 and 22020.58, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.38%, while the Small cap index was down by 0.07%.The top gainers on the Sensex were SSLT up by 4.23%, Hindalco Inds up by 3.77%, Tata Motors up by 2.70%, Coal India up by 2.35% and L&T up by 2.15%, while Dr Reddys Lab down by 3.13%, Sun Pharma down by 2.23%, TCS down by 2.21%, Mahindra & Mahindra down by 1.63% and Cipla down 1.07% were the top losers in the index.

On the BSE Sectoral front, Metal up by 2.70%, Capital Goods up by 1.35%, Oil & Gas up by 1.14%, PSU up by 1.10 % and Auto up by 0.95% were the top gainers, while Healthcare down 1.82%, Consumer Durables down by 1.37%, IT down by 0.90%, Teck down by 0.70% and FMCG down by 0.68 % were the top losers in the space.

Meanwhile, in order to revive the investment climate in the country, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has expressed the need for the new government formed after the general elections to focus on implementing policies rather than coming out with new ones. CII Northern Region Chairman Zubin Irani has asserted that there is no need to bring more policies or reforms as the country has already a lot of policies which need quick implementation.

Referring to declining investment level in India, Zubin Irani has stated that investment level as percentage of GDP fell to 31% from 36% earlier, though it is sufficient to achieve 7-8% economic growth if the prevailing policies are effectively implemented. He added that CII would continue to work aggressively with the government on both states & centre level for speedy implementation of infrastructure projects to get growth back. 

Sharing views over the CII's roadmap for next fiscal for northern states, CII Northern Region Chairman stated that main focus of CII would be to accelerate growth and create more employment opportunities. In order to enhance the MSMEs competitiveness, CII will launch four clusters in northern region at - Jaipur, Jalandhar, Baddi and Mandi Gobindgarh, which will guide MSMEs to focus on adoption of automation and latest technologies. The move will help to bring down their factor costs while enhancing productivity and quality. Further, Irani emphasized that financing and availability of credit are the key concern area of MSMEs and CII has worked out an agreement with Canara Bank to provide credit facilities on certain concessional rates to these enterprises.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 6,627.45 and 6,580.60 respectively.

The top gainers of the Nifty were SSLT up by 3.94%, Hindalco Industries up by 3.60%, Jindal Steel & Power up by 3.28%, IDFC up by 3.04% and Bank of Baroda up by 2.58%. On the other hand, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories down by 3.32%, Lupin down by 2.43%, Jaiprakash Associates down by 2.25%, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries down by 2.18% and TCS down 2.17% were the top losers.

The European markets were trading in green, France's CAC 40 was up by 0.93%, Germany's DAX was up by 1.27% and United Kingdom's FTSE 100 was up by 0.55%.

The Asian markets barring Shanghai Composite concluded Wednesday’s trade mostly in green following a rally on Wall Street after data showed a strong pick-up in US consumer confidence. Shanghai closed lower despite market sentiment was lifted yesterday after the government announced a slew of infrastructure investment plans that may boost the economy. The French trade credit and insurance group stated that Indonesia, Bangladesh and Ethiopia are among 10 countries set to take over as emerging economies from the powerful BRICS nations as they struggle with growing pains. Singaporean Industrial Production rose to an annual rate of 12.8%, from 4.4% in the preceding month whose figure was revised up from 3.9%. Japan’s CSPI remained unchanged at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 0.7%, from 0.7% in the preceding month whose figure was revised down from 0.8%.