Markets end flat as investors remain wary ahead of poll results

Benchmark indices settled the day flat and posted small weekly gains as investors stayed cautious ahead of assembly election results. Exit polls declared yesterday showed BJP ahead of other rival parties in all the five states.

 

Victory for BJP in Uttar Pradesh will boost PM Narendra Modi’s chances of winning the 2019 general election. It would also give the party more number of legislators in the Rajya Sabha where it doesn't have a majority, improving the government's chances of passing key reform bills.

 

The 30-share Sensex ended 17 points higher at 28,946, while the 50-share Nifty settled the day at 8,934, up 7 points.

 

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap was down 0.2%, while BSE Smallcap fell 0.1%.

"The market started off with a positive note supported by the exit polls which portrayed the ruling central government will strengthen its grip in Rajya Sabha. But during the day, euphoria has gradually settled as the market is patiently waiting for the final judgment tomorrow," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services in a note.

 

Sector and Stocks

 

Bharti Airtel, TCS, L&T and HeroMoto Corp were the top gainers on BSE Sensex, while ICICI Bank, NTPC, PowerGrid and Bajaj Auto were the draggers.

 

IT stocks rose after losing for two sessions, with TCS, Wipro and Infosys climbing 0.5-1%.

 

Edelweiss Financial Services moved higher by 4.5% to Rs 140, bouncing back 10% from its early morning low of Rs 127, after a more than 8% of total equity capital of the company exchanged hands via multiple block deals on BSE. The stock settled 0.6% higher for the day.

 

Shares of Jindal Steel and Power settled 6% higher after Citigroup raised its target price to Rs 200 from Rs 140 earlier, citing operational capacity has potential to generate higher EBITDA.

 

Investors were also aggressively applying to the initial public offering (IPO) of Avenue Supermarts, the operator of supermarket retail chain D-Mart. According to data available on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the issue has been oversubscribed 52 times as of 2:00 pm on Friday—the closing day of the issue. It received bids worth for 232.63 crore shares against the total issue size of 4.43 crore shares. It received bids worth for 48.31 crore shares against the total issue size of 4.43 crore shares.

 

Global Markets

 

Global Stocks rose, the dollar was on track for its fifth week of gains and crude oil rebounded from recent lows on Friday ahead of closely watched US payrolls data which is expected to give the Federal Reserve the green light to raise interest rates next week.

 

Nonfarm payrolls probably increased by 190,000 jobs last month while employers boosted wages for workers, according to a Reuters survey of economists.

 

A tighter labor market, stock market boom and rising inflation amid a strengthening global economy have left some economists expecting that the Fed could increase interest rates much faster than is currently anticipated by financial markets.

 

Futures on Wall Street were up 0.4%.

 

Investors globally pumped money into stocks for the tenth straight week, according to the latest data from Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and fund tracker EPFR.

 

The MSCI All-Country World index is less than a percent below all-time highs.

 

Eurozone banking shares hit their highest level since last January on Friday; extending gains after the European Central Bank struck a more optimistic tone on the economy. An index of euro zone banks was up 1.9%, the highest in more than a year while the broader pan-European banks index was up more than a percent.

 

(With inputs from agencies)