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EQUITY
Post Session: Quick Review
Apr-26-2024

The local equity markets snapped five-day winning streak on last trading day of the week amid profit booking. Besides, traders sold their riskier assets. Indices witnessed heavy selling pressure in last leg of trade. Sector wise, banking stocks were on the priority list of the sellers. Bajaj twins -- Bajaj Finance and Bajaj Finserv were the prime losers among heavy-weights. However, as for broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended the session with gains.

After making positive start, indices soon entered into red territory amid foreign fund outflows. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold Rs 2,823.33 crore shares on April 25, provisional data from the NSE showed. Traders overlooked report by Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) stated that India's engineering goods including steel and machinery exports rose 10.7% year-on-year in March to $11.28 billion, growing in double digits for the second straight month, despite ongoing supply issues caused by disruption to shipping through the Red Sea. In afternoon session, markets continued to trade lower, as sentiments remained downbeat after World Bank said that interest rates could remain higher than expected in 2024 and 2025 as global commodity prices level off. Traders were cautious amid reports that India's central bank plans to soon change guidelines to permit banks to temporarily freeze accounts suspected of being used to commit cyber-crimes, as it battles a rising wave of online crime. In late afternoon session, indices touched their day’s low levels. Traders were worried as rating agency Crisil said prices of vegetables, a key component of food inflation, may be elevated for the next few months due to ‘above-normal’ temperatures till June as predicted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The rates are likely to decline after the onset of monsoon in June. 

On the global front, European markets were trading higher after U.S. tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet posted strong quarterly earnings and an ECB survey showed Euro zone consumers lowered their expectation for inflation over the next 12 months in March. Asian markets ended mostly in green even after Singapore's industrial production declined at the fastest pace in seven months in March. The data from the Economic Development Board revealed that industrial production declined 9.2 percent year-on-year in March, reversing 4.4 percent growth in February. Back home, additional Secretary in the Department of Commerce Anant Swarup has said that the commerce ministry has initiated an exercise to identify required infrastructure needs, potential sectors, and clusters which would help the country achieve the $1 trillion merchandise exports target by 2030.

The BSE Sensex ended at 73,730.16, down by 609.28 points or 0.82% after trading in a range of 73,616.65 and 74,515.91. There were 6 stocks advancing against 23 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in green; the BSE Mid cap index gained 0.83%, while Small cap index was up by 0.27%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Consumer Durables up by 1.52%, Realty up by 0.53%, Healthcare up by 0.45%, PSU up by 0.40% and Oil & Gas was up by 0.29%, while Bankex down by 0.70%, TECK down by 0.26%, Auto down by 0.25%, Capital Goods down by 0.21% and Telecom was down by 0.15% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Tech Mahindra up by 7.34%, Wipro up by 0.81%, ITC up by 0.56%, Ultratech Cement up by 0.53% and Titan Company up by 0.42%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 7.73%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.55%, Indusind Bank down by 3.35%, Nestle down by 2.64% and Kotak Mahindra Bank down by 2.11% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, amid uncertain global conditions, the finance ministry in its Monthly Economic Review for March has said that resilient growth, price stability and steady external sector outlook continue to support India's promising economic performance. The Monthly Economic Review report said overall, India continues to be the fastest-growing major economy, with positive assessments of the growth outlook for the current financial year for India by international organisations and the RBI.

The report said the global economic growth landscape is seeing a gradual resurgence, marked by fading fears of recession and rebounding growth in major economies. Geopolitical tensions remain a concern, but notwithstanding recent developments, risk perceptions have softened, offering a potential upside for growth. Talking about global economic growth recovery, the report said it is underway in major economies, although disparities persist. It said ‘While the leading indicators signal increased economic activity and geopolitical tensions have eased slightly, recent conflicts continue to pose risks. Despite the global challenges, India stands out with its strong economic performance, highlighting broad-based growth across sectors and asserting its pivotal role in supporting the global growth trajectory’.

It said global slowdown led to a moderation in India's merchandise exports and imports, and added that the slowing of trade has resulted in the merchandise trade deficit narrowing in FY2023-24, as exports have shown a smaller contraction than imports. However, the non-petroleum and non-gems & jewellery merchandise exports have shown resilience with a sustained uptick in the last few months, growing at 3 per cent in FY24. Services exports expanded at the fastest pace in FY24, supported by rising software exports and business services exports. 

Owing to these developments, it said India's current account deficit improved in the first nine months of 2023-24 compared to the corresponding period of the previous year. India's capital inflows saw a significant turnaround in 2023-24, and its foreign exchange reserves reached an all-time high in March 2024, sufficient to cover 11 months of projected imports and more than 100 per cent of total external debt.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22,419.95, down by 150.40 points or 0.67% after trading in a range of 22,385.55 and 22,620.40. There were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Tech Mahindra up by 7.43%, Divi's Lab up by 4.49%, LTIMindtree up by 3.31%, Bajaj Auto up by 2.74% and BPCL up by 1.00%. On the flip side, Bajaj Finance down by 7.73%, Bajaj Finserv down by 3.52%, Indusind Bank down by 3.32%, Nestle down by 3.12% and Mahindra & Mahindra down by 2.48% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading higher; UK’s FTSE 100 increased 38.75 points or 0.48% to 8,117.61, France’s CAC rose 23.09 points or 0.29% to 8,039.74 and Germany’s DAX was up by 132.84 points or 0.74% to 18,050.12. 

Asian markets ended mostly in green on Friday after the Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged near zero and the bank's latest projections showed the underlying inflation staying around 2 percent that further damped expectations for aggressive tightening in future. The BoJ policy board, headed by Governor Kazuo Ueda, unanimously decided to hold the overnight interest rate at around 0 to 0.1 percent. The board also voted to conduct its bond purchase programme in line with the decision made at the March meeting. Besides, traders were getting encouragement as Microsoft and Google's parent company Alphabet both beat Wall Street's Q1 expectations, offsetting Meta Platforms' disappointing forward guidance.

Asian Indices

Last Trade            

Change in Points

Change in %      

Shanghai Composite

3,088.64

35.74

1.16

Hang Seng

17,651.15

366.61

2.08

Jakarta Composite

7,036.08

- 119.21

- 1.69

KLSE Composite

1,575.16

5.91

0.38

Nikkei 225

37,934.76

306.28

0.81

Straits Times

3,280.10

-7.65

-0.23

KOSPI Composite

2,656.33

27.71

1.04

Taiwan Weighted

20,120.51

263.09

1.31
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