Markets conclude March F&O series with 6% gains

Indian stock markets snapped the March futures and options series on a strong note with massive gains of over six percent. Moreover, the expiry session turned out to be a tremendous day of trade for Indian equity markets, as both the frontline indices recorded fresh all time closing high with Sensex surpassing its crucial 22,200 level, while Nifty ending just shy of 6,650 mark with traders rolling over their positions in the futures & options (F&O) segment from the near-month March 2014 series to April 2014 series.

After a cautious start, domestic bourses started moving northward and traded firmly throughout the session, though some volatility was witnessed near the end of the trade where markets lost some ground. Overall sentiments remained up-beat on rating agency Moody’s report, which said that the sharp fall in India's current account deficit (CAD), will limit its vulnerability to global financial market volatility, though persistently high inflation remains a major risk. India’s CAD dropped sharply to $4.2 billion or 0.9% of GDP during October-December 2013 from $31.9 billion or 6.5% of GDP in the same quarter last year. Sentiments also got a boost by data showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) made substantial purchases of Indian stocks on March 26, 2014.

On the global front, the US markets ended lower by over half a percent amid renewed worries from Ukraine after Obama warned the international community against adopting a complacent attitude toward Russia. European markets too traded mostly in the red in early deals after a profit warning at fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) knocked its shares down almost 4 percent. Though, most of the Asian equity indices ended in the green.

Back home, buying in metals and mining sector stocks too supported the sentiments after a panel set up by Supreme Court recommended lifting a ban on iron ore mining in Goa, albeit limiting output to 20 million tonnes, about 40 per cent of what the state produced in the year ended March 31, 2012. The court will consider the panel’s suggestions in few days. Also, the government has finally set up a coal regulatory authority through an executive order to bring transparency in the sector, which will advice the government on the principles and methodologies to determine the price. Shares of state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) too edged higher after the Election Commission said that OMCs could revise petrol prices without seeking the panel’s approval. State-owned oil firms are due to announce revised petrol and diesel prices on March 31. Additionally, the aviation stocks too remained on buyers’ radar after the RBI extended the deadline for raising working capital via external commercial borrowings by domestic airlines to March 2015 from December 2013.

The NSE’s 50-share broadly followed index Nifty rose by over forty points to end just shy of the psychological 6,650 support level, while Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensitive Index -- Sensex surged by around one hundred and twenty points to finish above the psychological 22,200 mark. Broader markets too traded with traction and ended the session with a gain of over half a percent. The market breadth remained in favor of advances, as there were 1,673 shares on the gaining side against 1,127 shares on the losing side while 161 shares remain unchanged.

Finally, the BSE Sensex surged by 119.07 points or 0.54% to settle at 22,214.37, while the CNX Nifty gained 40.35 points or 0.61% to settle at 6,641.75.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 22307.74 and 22094.29, respectively. The BSE Mid cap index was up by 0.61%, while the Small cap index gained 0.99%.

The top gainers on the Sensex were SBI up by 4.04%, Bharti Airtel up by 4.00%, Hero MotoCorp up by 3.11%, Gail India up by 1.75% and NTPC up by 1.74%, while Dr Reddys Lab down by 1.86%, SSLT down by 1.26%, Tata Motors down by 1.10%, Sun Pharma down by 1.00% and Infosys down 0.50% were the top losers in the index.

On the BSE Sectoral front, PSU up by 1.48%, Consumer Durables up by 1.46%, Oil & Gas up by 1.28%, Realty up by 1.06% and Power up by 0.92% were the top gainers, while Healthcare down by 0.81%, IT down by 0.10% and Metal down by 0.03% were the only losers in the space.Meanwhile, India’s indirect tax collections grew by 5.6 percent to Rs 4,41,826 crore during the April-February period of current fiscal as against Rs 4,18,286 recorded in the same period of previous fiscal. Indirect tax collection, which includes excise, customs and service tax, is the main source of revenue for the government. Total collection of indirect taxes in February 2014 rose by 5 percent to Rs 43,794 crore, against Rs 41,714 crore in the same month last fiscalDuring the April-February’ FY14, service tax collections grew by 18.2 percent to Rs 1,34,171 crore, while Customs duty contributed Rs 1,49,211 crore during the period. However, excise collections dropped 3.8 percent during the period to Rs 1,49,711 crore, against Rs 1,55,570 crore in the same period in the last fiscal year owing to the slow manufacturing activities in the country.

The Government has set revised indirect tax collection target at Rs 5.19 lakh crore for FY14, lower than Rs 5.65 lakh crore set earlier. Meanwhile, the government is unlikely to achieve even the revised set target as it require around Rs 78,000 crore indirect tax collection during March to reach at Rs 5.19 lakh crore. Prevailing economic slowdown is the major reason for low indirect tax collection. Tax collection is the major source of revenue for the country and the government has been taking measures to enhance tax collections revenue as India's fiscal deficit in the first ten months of the 2013/14 financial year crossed the set target at Rs 5.33 lakh crore during April-January, or 101.6 percent of the full year target, compared with 89.4 percent at the same period a year ago.

The CNX Nifty touched a high and low of 6,673.95 and 6,599.50 respectively.

The top gainers of the Nifty were IDFC up by 5.78%, State Bank of India up by 4.27%, PNB up by 3.75%, UltraTech Cement up by 3.50% and Bharti Airtel up by 3.50%. On the other hand, Ranbaxy Laboratories down by 2.49%, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories down by 1.66%, SSLT down by 1.51%, Sun Pharmaceuticals Industries down by 1.38% and Grasim Industries down 1.34% were the top losers.

Most of the European markets were trading in red, France's CAC 40 was down by 0.04%, and United Kingdom's FTSE 100 was down by 0.42%, while Germany's DAX was up by 0.06%.

The Asian markets concluded Thursday’s trade mostly in green while Shanghai dropped as financial shares declined over poor earnings reports while property developers retreated after days of gains. South Korean Consumer Confidence remained unchanged at 108, from 108 in the preceding month. Monthly land sales in Shanghai dipped below the 10-billion-yuan ($1.6 billion) threshold for the first time in a year amid a double-digit drop in supply volume. A total of 12 land parcels, excluding those designated for public use, had been auctioned in the city so far this month. They fetched a combined 9.84 billion yuan, a month-on-month decline of 12.8 percent and a year-on-year rise of 4 percent by value. Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and Singapore have been the region’s biggest buyers of real estate outside Asia and are set to remain key sources in the next few years.