Sensex up over 200 points, Nifty nears 9,200; Axis Bank top gainer

Wipro & Infy in red after US accused them of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas

 
On Friday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 978.34 crore, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1132.39 crore, provisional data available with BSE showed.

Buzzing Stocks

Axis Bank, L&T, HDFC Bank, and GAIL gained the most on BSE Sensex while Lupin, Cipla Wipro, and Bharti Airtel were the top laggards on the index.

Reliance Industries gained over 1% as Street awaits company's March-quarter results post market hours on Monday. RILs' fourth-quarter earnings are expected to be steady to strong as higher petchem profitability may drive sequential operational improvement.

US accuses IT firms of cheating

Wipro, TCS and Infosys were trading in red after US accused them of unfairly cornering the lion's share of H-1B visas by putting extra tickets in the lottery system, which the Donald Trump administration wants to replace with a more merit-based immigration policy.

At a White House briefing last week, an official in the Trump administration said a small number of giant outsourcing firms flood the system with applications which naturally ups their chances of success in the lottery draw.

 
NSE to delist 29 companies
 
Leading bourse NSE has decided to delist as many as 19 firms including Deccan Chronicle Holdings Ltd and Koutons Retail India Ltd from its platform from next month.
 
This is in addition to 70 companies that were delisted by NSE in August and March.
 
The National Stock Exchange said it has now "decided to delist (withdraw the admission to dealings in) equity shares of the following companies with effect from May 12, 2017 as per Chapter V of Sebi (Delisting of Equity Shares) Regulations, 2009".
 
Speeding up GST Bill
 
PM Narendra Modi asked states to work with the Centre as “Team India” to introduce the goods and services tax (GST) in time. He also sought their views on changing the financial year to January-December (from April to March), as well as simultaneous general and Assembly polls.
 
Chairing the NITI Aayog’s Governing Council meeting, which also comprises chief ministers, he sought their views on the three-year agenda prepared by the body. This lays emphasis on reforms in governance and taxes, with higher spending on health and education. Its 15-year vision document envisages tripling the country’s real (adjusted for inflation) gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita income by 2031-32.  
 
If GDP grows at this rate, everyone should ideally have access to at least a two-wheeler and an air conditioner in 15 years, the document says.
 
Relief over French elections
 
Centrist Emmanuel Macron took a big step toward the French presidency on Sunday by winning the first round of voting and qualifying for the May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen.
 
Centrist Emmanuel Macron will face off against far-right Marine Le Pen in the second round of France's presidential election, projections showed today, making him clear favourite to emerge as the country's youngest leader in modern history.
 
Global Markets
 
The euro vaulted to five-month peaks in choppy Asian trading on Monday after the market's favored candidate won through the first round of the French election, reducing the risk of a Brexit-like shock and sparking a mass unwinding of safe-haven trades.
 
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan tacked on 0.3%, while Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.4% as the yen retreated.
 
Asian peers Hang Seng and Nikkei were trading higher by 0.24% and 1.37%, respectively, in morning trade, while Shanghai was down by 1.14%.
 
Overnight, US stocks ended lower on Friday ahead of the first round of the closely contested French presidential election. For the week, the Dow rose 0.5%, the S&P gained 0.8% and the Nasdaq advanced 1.8% in what was the first weekly gain for the top indexes over the last three weeks.