Post Session: Quick Review

Indian benchmarks regained lost ground in late afternoon session and closed the last trading day of week with the gains of over half a percent. Markets spent first half of the session in red, while second half of the session in green territory. Traders were seen piling up positions in Banking and Metal sectors’ stocks, while selling was witnessed in Realty and IT sectors’ stocks. The broader indices, the BSE Mid cap index and Small cap index ended in red.

Indices made gap down opening and extended their losses tracking sell-off in Asian counterparts as tensions flared up in the Middle East with Israel likely striking Iran at three locations. Iran says the explosion heard in Isfahan was a result of the activation of Iran's air defence system. Foreign fund outflows also dented sentiments. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 4,260.33 crore on April 18, provisional data from the NSE showed. Traders remained cautious with report stating that India's trade deficit with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has surged, more than doubling since the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2010. According to figures released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India's exports to ASEAN member countries stood at $25,627.89 million in the year 2010-11, while imports from these nations amounted to $30,607.96 million. However, in afternoon session, markets wiped out all their losses and turned positive, as investors took support after India's Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth to World Bank has said that despite a challenging global scenario, India's economy has shown robust growth over the past year backed by sustained consumption and investment demand. Further, markets added more points as investors continued to hunt for fundamentally strong stocks.

On the global front, European markets were trading lower as Middle East tensions flared up and investors scaled back their expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates this year. All Asian markets ended lower after Israel launched strikes against Iran, in what appeared to be limited retaliatory action for last week's drone and missile barrage by Tehran. Back home, India's G-20 sherpa Amitabh Kant has said that the global future will not be driven by big technology firms but by the digital public infrastructure (DPI) platforms developed locally.

The BSE Sensex ended at 73,088.33, up by 599.34 points or 0.83% after trading in a range of 71,816.46 and 73,210.17. There were 22 stocks advancing against 8 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The broader indices ended in red; the BSE Mid cap index declined 0.39%, while Small cap index was down by 0.04%. (Provisional)

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Bankex up by 1.02%, Metal up by 0.85%, Consumer Durables up by 0.78%, Basic Materials up by 0.54% and FMCG was up by 0.45%, while Realty down by 0.67%, IT down by 0.56%, Healthcare down by 0.44%, Power down by 0.36% and Utilities was down by 0.25% were the top losing indices on BSE. (Provisional)

The top gainers on the Sensex were Bajaj Finance up by 3.16%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.72%, HDFC Bank up by 2.60%, JSW Steel up by 2.39% and Maruti Suzuki up by 2.20%. On the flip side, Nestle down by 1.33%, HCL Tech down by 1.20%, Larsen & Toubro down by 1.10%, TCS down by 0.97% and Tata Motors down by 0.66% were the top losers. (Provisional)

Meanwhile, talking about the India-UK free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations, the UK government said there has been good market access offered on both sides but not enough to secure a FTA. Indian negotiators are in London this week to continue discussions with their British counterparts. The recent restructuring of the BBC to create a new Indian-owned entity in order to comply with the country's foreign direct investment (FDI) rules was flagged by Liberal Democrat peer Lord Jeremy Purvis, who questioned the level of market access being offered to India in the field of media, data and telecoms as part of the FTA negotiations.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron said ‘My understanding of where we are with the trade deal is that good market access has been offered on both sides, but not quite enough yet to secure a deal. It is important with such trade deals, as you only really get one proper shot at it, to make sure that it is a good enough deal that will be welcomed by industry leaders here in the UK as offering real market access’. It came as a team from India arrived in London to continue talks this week under the fourteenth round of FTA negotiations, which are aimed at significantly enhancing the GBP 38.1 billion bilateral partnership across different sectors.

Specifically referencing the point on media access, Lord Cameron said he would have to look into the details but his personal view was that 'we should open up media access on both sides to make sure we have a good plurality of media'. Earlier this month, the BBC confirmed the launch of Collective Newsroom as an independent entity which will create programmes and content for the BBC as its first client. Lord Purvis questioned this necessity for Britain's public broadcaster to operate in India unlike in any other country, alluding to 'harassment and intimidation' by authorities. He said ‘My understanding is that India passed a law insisting that digital media companies had to be Indian-owned, and the BBC has had to restructure on that basis’, and noted that this was 'not the British way'. He said ‘Nonetheless, that is the reason why the BBC has restructured, together with some disagreements with India’.

The CNX Nifty ended at 22147.00, up by 151.15 points or 0.69% after trading in a range of 21777.65 and 22179.55. There were 29 stocks advancing against 21 stocks declining on the index. (Provisional)

The top gainers on Nifty were Bajaj Finance up by 3.28%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.86%, Maruti Suzuki up by 2.47%, HDFC Bank up by 2.45% and JSW Steel up by 2.37%. On the flip side, Bajaj Auto down by 2.40%, HCL Tech down by 1.32%, Nestle down by 1.01%, Divi's Lab down by 1.00% and TCS down by 0.93% were the top losers. (Provisional)

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 33.82 points or 0.43% to 7,843.23, France’s CAC fell 14.98 points or 0.19% to 8,008.28 and Germany’s DAX was down by 89.59 points or 0.5% to 17,747.81.

Asian markets ended mostly in red on Friday after Israel launched strikes against Iran, in what appeared to be limited retaliatory action for last week's drone and missile barrage by Tehran. A private report said the explosions heard in Isfahan were a result of the activation of Iran's air defense systems. Japanese market slumped as heightened geopolitical tensions and growing uncertainty over the outlook for U.S. interest rates spooked investors. Meanwhile, fresh hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials spurred risk aversion and sent investors flocking to buy safe-haven assets.