HOME > MARKETS > MARKET COMMENTARY
  MARKET COMMENTARY
EQUITY
Bourses close at fresh record high levels
Apr-16-2019

Rally continued on Dalal Street on Tuesday, with Sensex and Nifty settling at fresh record closing high levels. After a fabulous start, key indices remained under grip of bulls throughout the session, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Long Range Forecast for 2019 southwest monsoon rainfall stated that the country is likely to have 'near normal' monsoon this year with a well distributed rainfall which could be beneficial for the agriculture sector. Adding enthusiasm among traders, India’s merchandise exports rose to a five-month high of 11.02 percent in March 2019 as compared to same period of last year, on account of higher growth mainly in pharma, chemicals and engineering sectors. Market participants also took encouragement with a private report stating that the Reserve Bank of India will cut its key policy rates by another 25 basis points, after Governor Shaktikanta Das' weekend speech focusing on ways to revive growth. 

Markets remained strong during second half of the session, buoyed with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that fast economic growth and rapid urbanisation would slash the number of people in extreme poverty by 2021 and it will completely be ended in the decade after that. The Minister also said the number of people who live in poverty will drop to below 15% in the next three years and to a negligible level in the 10 years after that. The street was also positive with a report that the government’s war on Non-Performing Assets could give a boost of 60 basis points to India’s GDP in FY20. The measures taken by the Modi government including recovery of bad loans and bank recapitalisation will reduce costs for lenders. Meanwhile, the government is targeting public procurement worth Rs 50,000 crore through the commerce ministry's online marketplace--Government e-Marketplace (GeM)--during the current financial year (2019-20). In FY19, GeM touched Rs 17,325 crore mark in terms of value of transactions as compared to Rs 5,885 crore in the previous financial year and Rs 422 crore in 2016-17.

On the global front, European markets were trading in green, despite Finland's national economic output growth slowed in February, after improving in the previous two months. The preliminary data from Statistics Finland showed that gross domestic product grew a working day adjusted 1.7 percent year-on-year after a 2.13 percent increase in January, which was revised from 1.5 percent. Asian markets ended in green, as trade talks between the US and China appeared to be nearing their conclusion and a report showed new home prices in China grew slightly faster in March, signaling an economic rebound. China will publish first quarter GDP growth figures tomorrow, along with monthly industrial output and retail sales numbers.

Back home, stocks related to the sugar companies remained in limelight, amid reports that small and medium sugar mills will see a marked improvement in profitability because of the hike in the minimum support price (MSP) for sugar and other government measures. The central government raised the MSP from Rs 29 per kg to Rs 31 in February 2019 and sanctioned soft loans of Rs 10,540 crore to help mills repay their cane debt. Further, textile industry stocks also remained in focus, after Confederation of Indian Textile Industry (CITI) said that India's cotton crop production may fall 7.87 per cent to 343 lakh bales (of 170 kg each) in the 2018-19 season, mainly due to drought in many cotton-growing regions.

Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 369.80 points or 0.95% to 39,275.64, while the CNX Nifty was up by 96.80 points or 0.83% to 11,787.15.

The BSE Sensex touched a high and a low of 39,364.34 and 39,038.81, respectively and there were 27 stocks advancing against 04 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index grew 0.12%, while Small cap index was up by 0.37%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.62%, Consumer Durables up by 1.16%, Telecom up by 1.03%, Capital Goods up by 0.98% and Oil & Gas up by 0.88%, while Realty down by 0.86% was the lone losing index on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Indusind Bank up by 3.96%, ICICI Bank up by 3.58%, ONGC up by 2.49%, Larsen & Toubro up by 1.82% and Maruti Suzuki up by 1.74%. On the flip side, Power Grid down by 0.63%, Infosys down by 0.39%, Tata Motors down by 0.22% and Tata Motors - DVR down by 0.13% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, the Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has expressed need to promote resource efficiency to achieve climate resilient urban development. He called for new urban infrastructure that will be low-carbon, green and climate resilient.

Vice President said that a massive migration from rural to urban areas has become a reality and further listed the main drivers of such migration such as education, entertainment, enhanced medical facilities and employment. He also pitched for collaborative efforts of governments at state and centre to reduce the divide by providing urban amenities in rural areas.

Naidu also called upon all the representatives of provinces and cities of various countries presented to adopt multi-dimensional and innovative approaches to ensure low emissions oriented development. He urged them to promote public transport in cities to reduce congestion and air pollution.

The CNX Nifty traded in a range of 11,810.95 and 11,731.55. There were 36 stocks advancing against 13 stocks declining, while 1 stock remained unchanged on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Indusind Bank up by 3.95%, ICICI Bank up by 3.87%, Titan up by 3.11%, ONGC up by 2.81% and Adani Ports up by 2.18%. On the flip side, Wipro down by 2.12%, Cipla down by 1.35%, GAIL India down by 0.69%, Tata Motors down by 0.56% and Infosys down by 0.48% were the top losers.

European markets were trading in green; UK’s FTSE 100 gained 14.81 points or 0.2% to 7,451.68, France’s CAC rose 0.93 points or 0.02% to 5,509.66 and Germany’s DAX was up by 77.90 points or 0.65% to 12,098.18.

Asian markets ended mostly higher on Tuesday as the US and Japan kicked off their first round of trade talks in Washington aimed at creating a bilateral trade framework. Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda reportedly said that ‘some sort of protectionism’ around global trade is the biggest threat to global economic growth. Chinese shares ended higher after data showed housing prices in 70 major Chinese cities increased an average of 10.6 percent year-on-year in March, signaling an economic rebound. Further, Japanese shares settled higher as the yen held close to 2019 lows against the dollar and NTT Docomo Inc. announced its new mobile phone charge plans.

Asian Indices

Last Trade           

Change in Points

Change in %

Shanghai Composite

3,253.60
75.81
2.39

Hang Seng

30,129.87
319.15
1.07

Jakarta Composite

6,481.54
46.39
0.72

KLSE Composite

1,629.46

-1.87

-0.11

Nikkei 225

22,221.66
52.55
0.24

Straits Times

3,332.04
6.18
0.19

KOSPI Composite

2,248.63
5.75
0.26

Taiwan Weighted

10,927.85
52.25
0.48
  RELATED NEWS >>
Most Viewed >>
April 22 , 2024
Invest lumpsum through systematic transfer pla
April 22 , 2024
Investment bankers to receive hefty bonuses as
April 22 , 2024
FPIs withdraw over Rs 5,200 crore in April so
April 23 , 2024
Why Mirae Asset MF is cautioning its ETF inves
EXPLORE
© CITRUS INTERACTIVE
Designed & Developed Accord Fintech Pvt. Ltd.