Indices attain record closing high

Local stocks logged modest gains on first trading day of the week led by buying demand in HDFC twins and Larsen & Toubro (L&T). The Sensex and the Nifty, both, settled at record high. The Nifty ended above 11,900 mark.

Indices rose for second day in a row as investors cheered Prime Minister Narendra Modi's landslide victory in the general election results last week. A strong mandate for the NDA could mean that economic reforms would be decisively implemented.

The barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, rose 248.57 points or 0.63% to 39,683.29, a record closing high. The index hit high of 39,821.94 and low of 39,353.16 in intraday trade.

The Nifty 50 index rose 80.65 points or 0.68% to 11,924.75, a record closing high. The index hit high of 11,957.15 and low of 11,812.40 in intraday trade.

Broader market depicted strength. Among secondary barometers, the BSE Mid-Cap index rose 1.13%. The BSE Small-Cap index rose 1.77%. Both these indices outperformed the Sensex.

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1793 shares rose and 785 shares fell. A total of 188 shares were unchanged.

Among the sectoral indices on BSE, the S&P BSE Capital Goods index (up 3.06%), the S&P BSE Power index (up 2.89%) and the S&P BSE Industrials index (up 2.44%) outperformed the Sensex. The S&P BSE Energy index (down 0.82%), the S&P BSE Healthcare index (down 0.26%) and the S&P BSE Information Technology index (down 0.07%) underperformed the Sensex.

Tata Steel (up 5.78%), Yes Bank (up 3.79%), Axis Bank (up 2.37%), State Bank of India (up 1.93%) and M&M (up 1.86%) edged higher from the Sensex pack.

IndusInd Bank (down 2.37%), Reliance Industries (down 1.95%), Asian Paints (down 1.43%), Bharti Airtel (down 0.93%) and Bajaj Finance (down 0.54%) edged lower from the Sensex pack.

Leading private sector bank HDFC Bank rose 1.38% at Rs 2,405. Housing finance major HDFC rose 1.84% at Rs 2,166.60.

Engineering and construction major L&T gained 3.17% at Rs 1,592.60.

State-run NTPC advanced 3.21% after net profit rose 48.7% to Rs 4350.32 crore on 8.1% fall in net sales to Rs 21222.39 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The result was announced on Saturday, 25 May 2019.

NTPC's board of directors recommended final dividend of Rs 2.50 per equity share for the financial year ended 31 March 2019 (FY 2019). The final dividend is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs 3.58 per equity share for FY 2019 paid in February 2019.

State-run GAIL (India) rose 2.13%. Net profit rose 9.92% to Rs 1122.23 crore on 21.60% increase in net sales to Rs 18763.87 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The result was announced during trading hours today, 27 May 2019.

The board of GAIL (India) recommended issuing one fully paid up shares for every one fully paid up share held, subject to the shareholders' approval (1:1).

Grasim Industries rose 2.91%. The company's consolidated net profit rose 58.95% to Rs 1144.57 crore on 20.19% rise in total income to Rs 21386.32 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The announcement was made after market hours on Friday, 24 May 2019.

The board of directors of Grasim Industries has considered and approved the Scheme of Amalgamation of Grasim Premium Fabric (formerly known as Soktas India), a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

In its outlook, Grasim Industries said that the VSF business will continue to focus on expanding the market in India by partnering with the textile value chain, achieving better customer connect through its brand LIVA, extensions into new categories and enriching the product mix through a larger share of specialty fibre. The chemical business is under an expansion mode for both chlor-alkali and specialty chemicals.

Indraprastha Gas advanced 5.21% after net profit rose 29.1% to Rs 225.50 crore on 28.5% rise in total income to Rs 1593.95 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 24 May 2019.

Indraprastha Gas said that CNG sales volume increased by 15% and PNG sales volumes increased by 20% in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. On an overall basis sales volume rose 17% during this quarter over corresponding quarter of previous year. Product wise, CNG sales rose 26% to Rs 1263 crore and PNG sales rose 33% to Rs 431 crore.

State-run Bharat Heavy Electricals (Bhel) rose 5.36%. Net profit rose 49.3% to Rs 682.70 crore. Net sales was almost flat at Rs 9,836.50 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The result was announced during trading hours today, 27 May 2019.

Page Industries lost 10.43% after net profit fell 20.4% to Rs 74.98 crore on 0.1% rise in total income to Rs 616.56 crore in Q4 March 2019 over Q4 March 2018. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 24 May 2019.

Sunder Ashok Genomal, Managing Director, Page Industries said that the company witnessed steady sales growth in both volume and value despite challenging macro and micro market conditions. The company's Q4 March 2019 net profit declined due to one-time gain from sales schemes reversals and GST transaction credits and the higher sales schemes incurred in Q4 March 2018.

Manpasand Beverages was locked in 20% lower circuit at Rs 88. The Commissioner of Central GST and Customs carried out search and seizure proceedings at various premises of the company on 23 May 2019, and further inquiry was conducted on 24 May 2019 at GST Bhavan office of Vadodara.

Abhishek Singh, whole time director, Paresh Thakkar, chief financial officer of the company and Harshvardhan Singh are under judicial custody of Authority on 24 May 2019. The company is contesting these allegations in accordance with the due process of law. Considering the present status of the case estimated impact on the company and amount involved is not identifiable till the outcome in the matter, the company said on Saturday, 25 May 2019.

On the political front, the President's Secretariat stated in a press communique that the President will administer the Oath of Office and Secrecy to the Prime Minister and other members of Union Council of Ministers on 30 May 2019 at 07:00 p.m. at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

On the economic front, RBI on Friday, 24 May 2019 placed a draft circular on the "Liquidity Risk Management Framework for Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) and Core Investment Companies (CICs)" to be adopted by all deposit taking NBFCs; non-deposit taking NBFCs with an asset size of Rs 100 crore and above; and all CICs registered with the Reserve Bank.

The draft guidelines cover application of generic Asset Liability Management (ALM) principles, granular maturity buckets in the liquidity statements and tolerance limits, liquidity risk monitoring tool and adoption of the "stock" approach to liquidity. In addition, the draft proposes to introduce Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) for all deposit taking NBFCs; and non-deposit taking NBFCs with an asset size of Rs 5000 crore and above. With a view to ensuring a smooth transition to the LCR regime, the proposal is to implement it in a calibrated manner through a glide path over a period of four years commencing from April 2020 and going upto April 2024.

Further, RBI on Friday fixed the investment limit at Rs 54,606.55 crore for foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) under the voluntary retention route (VRR), which allows to park funds in both government securities as well as corporate debt. VRR for investments by FPIs was introduced on March 1. Limits for investment in debt by FPIs were offered for allotment 'on tap' during the March 11-April 30 period. Based on the feedback received, and in consultation with the government, the RBI said it has made certain changes in the scheme to increase its operational flexibility. The minimum retention period shall be three years. During this period, FPIs shall maintain a minimum of 75% of the allocated amount in India, RBI said.

Overseas, European shares were trading higher as an EU Parliament election showed Europhile parties still performing reasonably well despite a rise in support for nationalists. Markets in the U.K. are closed on Monday due to a public holiday.

European investors will largely be focused on results of the EU parliamentary elections. Initial results suggested a strong showing for Liberal and Green parties, while euroskeptic groups in Britain and France holding the gains they saw in 2014.

Asian shares ended mixed Monday as investors watched for developments from US President Donald Trump's state visit to Japan as well as results from the European parliamentary election.

US stocks rose on Friday, but sentiment remained fragile as investors worried the US-China trade war is hurting economic growth. US durable goods orders dropped 2.1% last month amid a slowdown in exports and a buildup in inventories.

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