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Markets trim losses in late afternoon deals
Apr-18-2019

Indian equity markets trimmed their losses in late afternoon session to come off their intraday low points. Recovery on bourses was led by the Securities and Exchange Board of India’s (SEBI) data report stating that the share of foreign portfolio investments (FPI) in domestic capital markets through participatory notes (P-notes) jumped to Rs 78,110 crore at the end of March from Rs 73,428 crore at the end of February. Of the total, P-notes holdings in equities at March-end were at Rs 56,288 crore, while in debts and derivatives were at Rs 20,999 crore and Rs 119 crore respectively. However, key indices failed to take any sense of relief, amid a private report stating that the first quarter of 2019 recorded 110 merger and acquisition deals worth $ 12.5 billion (about Rs 86,500 crore), a 33 per cent fall in value terms as against the year-ago period, due to factors such as global economic conditions and uncertainty around Brexit.

On the global front, European markets were trading in red, despite Eurozone trade surplus increased in February to its highest level in nearly a year. The figures from Eurostat showed that the seasonally adjusted trade surplus rose to EUR 19.5 billion from EUR 17.4 billion in January. The surplus was the biggest since March 2018, when it was EUR 20.4 billion. Asian markets were also trading in red, tracking weak cues from Wall Street. Investors also looked for more clarity on the US-China trade negotiations.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 39215.14, down by 60.50 points or 0.15% after trading in a range of 39141.49 and 39487.45. There were 12 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in red; the BSE Mid cap index was down by 0.72%, while Small cap index was down by 0.81%.

The few gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Energy up by 1.94%, Oil & Gas up by 0.77% and Auto up by 0.14%, while Realty down by 2.13%, Metal down by 1.32%, Power down by 1.26%, Telecom down by 1.20% and Utilities down by 1.14% were the top losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tata Motors - DVR up by 3.01%, Tata Motors up by 2.84%, Reliance Industries up by 2.60%, Asian Paints up by 0.58% and Hero MotoCorp up by 0.31%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.32%, Yes Bank down by 3.25%, Indusind Bank down by 1.97%, Tata Steel down by 1.58% and SBI down by 1.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Economic Advisory Council, Rathin Roy has expressed the need to relook over the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) inflation target after the elections, given that the current mandate expires at the end of March 2021.

Rathin Roy also stressed that the government needs to decide what sort of macroeconomic framework is needed going forward and noted that those discussions and decisions will take time and a new administration should therefore start immediately to get the process going.

Further, the economic adviser said that authorities will need to decide whether the inflation target band of 2 percent to 6 percent is too wide. He also pointed that the current targeting regime -a rather uniquely broad range of 400 basis points within which the RBI has sanction to operate- should become a little more disciplined. Besides, he suggested that the decision should also be made on what interest rate is required to keep inflation in the middle of the band.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 11774.10, down by 13.05 points or 0.11% after trading in a range of 11738.50 and 11856.15. There were 20 stocks advancing against 30 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Reliance Industries up by 3.02%, Tata Motors up by 2.65%, Wipro up by 1.66%, JSW Steel up by 1.30% and BPCL up by 1.15%. On the flip side, Vedanta down by 3.27%, Yes Bank down by 3.08%, Hindalco down by 2.93%, Indiabulls Housing Finance down by 2.60% and Zee Entertainment down by 2.36% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mostly in red; Nikkei 225 fell 187.85 points or 0.84% to 22,090.12, Hang Seng decreased 176.71 points or 0.59% to 29,947.97, Taiwan Weighted dropped 35.24 points or 0.32% to 10,962.02, KOSPI fell 32.12 points or 1.43% to 2,213.77, Shanghai Composite declined 13.59 points or 0.42% to 3,249.53 and Straits Times trembled 7.83 points or 0.23% to 3,340.81. On the flip side, Jakarta Composite was up by 25.68 points or 0.40% to 6,507.22.

European markets were trading mostly in red; UK’s FTSE 100 fell 25.07 points or 0.34% to 7,446.25 and France’s CAC lost 15.72 points or 0.28% to 5,547.37, while Germany’s DAX was up by 3.89 points or 0.03% to 12,156.96.

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