Live Markets Commentary

Sify Editors@ 11:30 @ AM
Week Ahead: Key earnings reports, inflation data to set the trend

After scoring hefty gains in the truncated week, the Indian market is likely to stay in a somewhat tight band in the coming week, that will have just four sessions due to a holiday on Tuesday (April 19) for Mahaveer Jayanti.

The market will begin the week with traders reacting to the quarterly earnings results and earnings forecast from IT bellwether Infosys. The IT major will announce the results on Friday (15 April 2016).

Tata Consultancy Services will declare its fourth quarter results on Monday (April 18). Wipro, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank will also be announcing their results next week.

On the economic front, the data on wholesale price inflation for March 2016 will be out on Monday, 18 April 2016. In February, wholesale price inflation came in at -0.91%, as compared to a reading of -0.9% in the preceding month.

The rupee's movements against the U.S. dollar, the trend in crude oil prices and inflow from foreign portfolio investors will set the trend for the market.

Investors will also be tracking news from across the globe. The European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting is scheduled to take place on Thursday (April 21).

Sify Editors@ 10:30 @ AM
Weekly Wrap: Sensex, Nifty jump nearly 4% on macroeconomic data, monsoon forecast

The Indian stock market saw some hectic buying last week, a short one, lasting just three sessions, due to holidays on Thursday and Friday (April 14 & 15), for Dr Ambedkar Jayanti and Shri Ram Navami, respectively.

Some upbeat macroeconomic data, expectations of another rate cut from the central bank in the foreseeable future and strong global markets on the back of stronger than expected trade data from China triggered the rally on the Indian bourses.

The BSE benchmark hit the psychological 25,000 market and went well past 25,500 too as stocks kept moving higher and higher during the course of the week. The index eventually settled at 25,626.75, gaining as much as 952.91 points or 3.86%. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange closed up 295.25 points or 3.9% at 7850.45. Mirroring strong buying in midcap and smallcap segments, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices rose 3.03% and 2.61%, respectively.

The market started the week on a rousing note, with stocks shrugging off a mid session setback and vaulting higher on Monday. The mood was cautious early on, but a firm trend in Europe and expectations that major IT firms will come out with fairly impressive quarterly results lifted stocks in the final hour. The Sensex ended up 348.32 points and the Nifty50 closed 116.20 points up.

Despite staying sluggish for most part of the session, the stock market ended with fairly strong gains on Tuesday as select blue chips held firm on sustained buying interest. A report from the Indian Meteorological Department that said the southwest monsoon will be 106% of normal this year and that the El Nino conditions will likely diminish by June and July lifted sentiment. The Sensex gained 123.43 points, while the Nifty50 closed with a gain of 37.55 points.

On Wednesday, stocks ended on an upbeat note, driving the key indices Sensex and the Nifty50 to their best close in over three months, as the bulls held sway riding on buoyant macroeconomic data and on encouraging monsoon forecast from the Indian Meteorological Department.

A slightly stronger rupee and a firm trend in Asian and European markets amid easing fears about U.S. interest rate hikes and fairly decent economic data out of China further bolstered sentiment. The Sensex ended up 481.16 points, not far from the day's high of 25,671.50, while the Nifty50 closed up 141.50 points.

Among Sensex stocks, only Coal India closed on the negative side. Automobile stocks had a great week. Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hero Motocorp, Tata Motors and Maruti Suzuki gained 8% - 10%.

BHEL gained nearly 9%. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, GAIL India, Hindustan Unilever, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, HDFC and ONGC gained 3% - 6.5%. Asian Paints, ITC and Reliance Industries also rose sharply.

Among the stocks in the banking space, heavyweights State Bank of India (4.8%), HDFC Bank (2.2%), ICICI Bank (up nearly 9%) and Axis Bank (4.5%) closed with strong gains.

In the IT space, Tata Consultancy Services gained nearly 4% and Wipro closed nearly 7% up, while Infosys ended with a marginal gain with investors treading cautiously at the counter, looking ahead to the company's results.

Pharmaceutical stocks saw some buying after staying weak for several sessions. Cipla, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and Dr Reddy's Laboratories posted notable gains, while Lupin edged up marginally.

Bharti Airtel ended stronger by 5.3%. The telecom major had said in the previous week that it would pay Rs 3500 crore to acquire rights to use 4G spectrum of Aircel in eight telecom circles.

Tata Steel (up 3.3%) said on Monday (April 11) that its British subsidiary Tata Steel UK has signed an agreement to sell its long products Europe business for a nominal consideration.

Larsen & Toubro announced on Tuesday (April 12) that its subsidiary Larsen & Toubro Infotech has filed its draft red herring prospectus with the market regulator SEBI on 12 April 2016 in order to undertake an initial public offer of its equity shares of face value of Re 1 each. The offer comprises of an offer for sale of up to 1.75 crore equity shares by Larsen & Toubro.

According to the data released by the government after trading hours on Tuesday, retail inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index eased to a six-month low of 4.83% in March, declining from 5.26% in the preceding month. Another report showed the country's industrial production to have risen by 2% in February, bouncing back after falling for three successive months.

Meanwhile, the IMF has retained India's GDP forecast for this fiscal year and the next, even as it trimmed projections for global growth, citing the slowdown in China, low crude oil prices and overall sluggish trend in advanced economies.