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17
March 2017
I had mentioned in last
week’s closing report that Nifty, Sensex continued to be range-bound. The major
indices of the Indian stock markets rallied during the week and closed with a
gain of over 2% during the week. The trends of the major indices in the course
of the week’s trading are given in the table below: The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
Weekly Indices (The Total
Investment & Insurance Solutions)
Indian
equity markets surged on Tuesday (the market was closed on Monday on account of
Holi), tracking positive state election results for ruling party at the Centre.
Bearish USD/INR futures prices also supported the firm sentiments of the
markets. Almost all sector stocks traded with firm sentiments tracking over all
buying activities in Indian equity markets. On the NSE, there were 944
advances, 523 declines and 75 unchanged. On the BSE, there were 1,703 advances,
1,124 declines and 218 unchanged.
India's
annual rate of inflation based on wholesale prices rose to 6.55% in February
2017 from 5.25% in the previous month, official data showed on Tuesday.
According to the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data released by the Commerce and
Industry Ministry, the annual inflation rate was (-)0.85% in February
2016. A rise in inflation could divert some fixed income investments into the
stock markets and show higher trading volumes over a period of time.
US
stocks wavered and ended mixed, as Wall Street mainly awaited a possible
interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday. Traders generally
anticipated the Federal Open Market Committee to raise interest rates at the
conclusion of its two-day monetary policy meeting later this week. Market
expectations for a March rate hike were around 95.2%, according to the CME
Group's FedWatch tool. A rise in interest rates could divert some funds of
foreign institutional investors from India to developed countries.
Selling
pressure in IT (information technology) and Teck (technology, media and
entertainment) stocks, coupled with disappointing macro-economic data pulled
the Indian equity markets lower on Wednesday. Besides, investors were cautious
ahead of the US Federal Open Market Committee's meet later in the evening on
whether or not to raise interest rates. However, the rupee was strong. On the
NSE, there were 790 advances, 661 declines and 63 unchanged. On the BSE, there
were 1,426 advances, 1,384 declines and 187 unchanged.
Asia's
oldest bourse BSE on Tuesday launched futures on S&P BSE Sensex 50 index
which will help investors to achieve portfolio diversification. "The
market participants would be able to take a long-term view on the underlying.
Introduction of additional indices will also lead to increased participation in
the index futures market," it said in a statement. The index is designed
to measure the performance of the top 50 largest and liquid stocks in the
exchange's Large and Mid Cap by float-adjusted market capitalisation. Further,
index futures contracts will lead to better price discovery and will be useful
in hedging and risk management tools. According to the exchange, it will also
take market towards a multi-product environment. "The index is diversified
index as it represents each key economic sector identified by bourse's sector
model covering approximately 53.9% of total market capitalisation of the
exchange listed companies as of October 30, 2016," it added. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
Positive
global cues, a strong rupee and healthy buying in metals, capital goods and
consumer durables stocks, brought a cheer to the Indian equity markets on
Thursday. The key indices closed with gains of more half a per cent each, well
absorbing the 25 basis points (bps) rate hike by the US Federal Reserve on
Wednesday for the second time in three months. The Indian economy is
strong enough to absorb the impact of the US Federal Reserve's interest rate
hike, the government said on Thursday. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
On
Friday, the major indices were range-bound and closed with marginal losses over
Thursday’s close. As many as 29 lakh debit cards, which were connected to
Hitachi's switch, came under malware attack last year, Parliament was informed
on Friday. "As reported by commercial banks, 29 lakh cards used at ATMs
that were connected to switch of Hitachi were subjected to malware
attack," Minister of State for Finance Santosh Kumar Gangwar said in a
written reply in the Lok Sabha. However, the successful attempts of misuse of
compromised cards reported to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) by banks was only
3,291, he said. The S & P BSE Bankex closed at 24,151.13, down 0.46%. The Total Investment & Insurance Solutions
