Post session - Quick review

Indian equity markets finally showed some fervor on the last trading session of the week and at the start of new F&O series, as investors bet large on risk assets class such as equities ahead of the next big trigger, i.e. Reserve Bank of India’s quarterly policy review on July 31, 2012. Fortified global risk appetite mainly led to a powerful start of the new F&O series, which took the markets up by over a percentage points. Bourses trading strength to strength since the start of the session, to conclude near the high point of the day, as expectation of policy reforms in the coming week, triggered investors to go for risky bets. 30 share barometer index, Sensex, shot higher over 200 points to conclude to a level just little away from the psychological 16900 mark. Similarly, the widely followed index, Nifty, added close to century of points, to end above the 5100 crucial mark. The broader indices, meanwhile for the session, went home with loss of over 3 /4 of percent for the session, and over four percent for the week. However, the markets for the week, incurred colossal loss of over two percent.

On the global front, Asian shares rallied on Friday, led by strong result from smart phone giant Samsung Electronics, after the European Central Bank rejuvenated risk appetite by committing to do whatever necessary to protect the euro zone from collapse. However, European shares turned flat on concerns over political hurdles which could hinder any fresh stimulus measures from the European Central Bank (ECB) to tackle the region’s sovereign debt crisis.

Closer home, optimism also spelled by rally of retail stocks, which all edged higher after Trade Minister Anand Sharma averred that the government was committed to opening its retail sector to foreign investment and would not reverse its stance. Hinging with optimism were stocks of Pantaloon Retail, Shoppers Stop and Trent. Sector wise Metal, Fast Moving Consumer Goods and Information technologies, enticed maximum traction, to emerge as the top gainer, on the flip side, Realty, Public Sector Undertaking and Capital Goods topped the selling list.

On the result front, India's largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank, shot higher by over two percent on reporting better than expected (36%) jump in its net profit for first quarter (April-June) at Rs 1815 crore, on Y-o-Y basis, driven by a drop in non-performing assets (NPAs) coupled with a robust growth in loan book that expanded 22% y-o-y to Rs 2.68 lakh crore. Additionally, India's biggest power utility by capacity, NTPC, jumped over half a percent, on surpassing market expectations with a 20% rise in its fiscal-first-quarter. On the flip side, state owned lender Punjab National Bank (PNB) tanked over five percent on missing Q1 estimates. The bank registered lower than expected 12.76% year-on-year growth in net profit at Rs 1,246 crore in the quarter ended March 2012 due to higher non-performing assets (NPAs).  The market breadth on the BSE ended negative; advances and declining stocks were in a ratio of 1065:1692 while 129 scrips remained unchanged. (Provisional)

The BSE Sensex gained 215.23 points or 1.29% and settled at 16,855.05. The index touched a high and a low of 16,975.03 and 16,760.72 respectively. 25 stocks were seen advancing against 5 declining ones on the index (Provisional)

The BSE Mid-cap index lost 0.83% while Small-cap index was down 0.98%. (Provisional)

On the BSE Sectoral front, Metal up 2.23%, FMCG up 1.42%, IT up 1.38%, Auto up 1.24% and TECk up 1.17% were the top gainers, while Realty down 0.56%, PSU down 0.49%, Capital Goods down 0.45% and Health Care down 0.14% were the only losers.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors up 4.59%, Tata Steel up 4.01%, Sterlite Industries up 3.68%, HDFC Bank up 3.42% and Hindalco Industries up 3.20% while, SBI down 3.73%, BHEL down 1.95%, Hero MotoCorp down 1.28%, Cipla down 0.58% and Dr. Reddy’s Lab down 0.05% were the top losers in the index. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, in a first kind of an attempt by states to put up a united front at tackling the issue of rising drug prices and shortage, five state governments have came together to form an alliance to formulate common policies for drug procurement and also to share data and best practices.

The five states namely, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala decided to make collective effort to follow uniform policies for drug procurement and sharing of best practices, so that states can help out each other during emergencies. The alliance is also expected to lower the drug prices and shortage of drugs accessible to the common man.

The five states have signed Thiruvananthapuram declaration, affirming their commitment to those objectives and sharing their resources and capacities. Drugs are being sold in the open market which is sometimes 10 or 50 times higher than the actual cost. The aim is to suppress unscrupulous practices of non-state players who try to spoil government’s attempts to provide drugs at a lower rate.

The heads of the central drug procurement agencies of five states had a conference held at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The next meeting of state medical services corporation will be held in Rajasthan in October, when more states are expected to join the alliance.

India VIX, a gauge for market’s short term expectation of volatility gained 0.42% at 16.44 from its previous close of 16.37 on Thursday. (Provisional)

The S&P CNX Nifty gained 64.70 points or 1.28% to settle at 5,107.70. The index touched high and low of 5,149.95 and 5,077.50 respectively. 37 stocks advanced against 13 declining ones on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Nifty were Tata Steel up 4.48%, Tata Motors up 4.41%, Sterlite Industries up 4.31%, HDFC Bank up 3.73% and Sesa Goa up 3.25%. On the other hand, PNB down 5.02%, SBI down 3.54%, Bank of Baroda down 2.46%, JP Associates down 2.37% and BHEL down 1.93% were the top losers. (Provisional)

The European markets were trading on a mixed note, with France's CAC 40 up 0.35%, Germany's DAX down 0.67% and Britain’s FTSE 100 down 0.18%.

Asian shares ended higher on Friday after reassurance from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi that the ECB is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro. Investors are hopeful for the quick move from central banks to tackle skyrocketing borrowing costs in countries like Spain. However, Korea was among the strongest performers as Samsung Electronics reported decent profit. In Japan, Nissan Motor gained 2.8%, despite reporting a smaller-than-expected first quarter operating profit, as investors bought scrips amid expectations that the company's earnings are expected to bottom in the first half. Meanwhile in Hong Kong, AIA Group rallied after the insurer reported above-view results for the first half of the year.