Markets pare gains to turn flat; broader markets outperform

The Benchmark indices pared morning losses to turn flat on the first day of April Series amid muted global cues. Back home, investors stayed cautious awaiting new GST draft rules which will be finalised by the Council later today.

The Nifty index saw a record closing of 9,173 on the last dat of March Series.
 
At 02:04 am, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading at 29,641, down 6 points, while the broader Nifty50 was ruling at 9,175 up 2 points.
 
In the broader market, BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap gained 0.8%, respectively.

"Push above 9,200 in Nifty is expected, may not immediately call for directional upsides, and could lead for another period of consolidation. A fall back from this region is favoured, but without major falls. In all, choppiness is the favoured view, but extended period of consolidation augurs well for the next leg up, aiming 9,350-9,500," said Geojit Financial Services in a technical note.

On Friday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 67.97 crore, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) also bought shares worth a net Rs 1,701.79 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Sectors and Stocks

Tata Steel, RIL, Axis Bank and ONGC were the top gainers while HDFC, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Wipro were the biggest laggards.

Jindal Steel and Power gained 3.74 after the company said its board has approved issuance of 4.8 crore convertible warrants to Opelina and Investment Ltd, a promoter group entity, on preferential basis. 

Market- wide rollovers at 74%
 
Market-wide rollovers to April series stood at 74% which is lower compared to the average rollovers of 78% seen in the last three series. Nifty, on the other hand, ended the last session of March expiry with moderate gains but the index closed at a new expiry high, gaining 2.6% in the March series. Nifty futures rollover stood at 68% which is also lower than the average rollovers of 72% seen in last three series.
 
GST Council to finalise rules today
 
With goods and services tax (GST) roll-out looking imminent from July 1 after the Lok Sabha’s approval, the Centre and states will on Friday sit together to finalise rules and regulations of the new indirect tax regime.
 
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday cleared four supplementary GST legislations — Central GST (CGST), Integrated GST (IGST), Union Territory GST (UTGST) and the Compensation law.
 
The GST Council has already approved five sets of rules relating to registration, payments, refund, invoice and returns. There are four more rules on composition, valuation, input tax credit and transitions, which will be discussed in Friday’s meeting of the Council.
 
Global Markets
 
Asian shares were mixed and the dollar extended its overnight gains on Friday on signs of strong US economic growth, while the euro inched up after sliding overnight on data suggesting slowing growth in Europe.
 
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan retreated 0.15%, as investors balanced positions on the last day of the month and quarter. The benchmark is up almost 13% for the quarter.
 
China's CSI 300 index added 0.25%, putting it on track for a 4.1% quarterly rise.
 
Japan's Nikkei .N225 jumped 0.6% after Japanese core consumer prices rose 0.2% in February. While that is the fastest annual pace in nearly two years, it is still a far cry from the central bank's 2% target.
 
The Japanese benchmark is set to end the first quarter up 0.3%.
 
In overnight trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.33% while the S&P500 index gained and Nasdaq Composite index was up 0.28%.