Nifty Ends FY17 At Record High

Indian shares closed little changed after a last hour rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries’ stock and gains in energy producers offset losses in financials and select automakers.

The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.1 percent to 29,613 while the NSE Nifty was flat at 9,173 – bang on its all-time high closing. The market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers at 2:1.

A consortium led by KKR & Co. has approached sovereign funds about joining a potential deal to take over Indus Tower Ltd., which could value India’s largest wireless infrastructure company at more than $12 billion, people with knowledge of the matter told Bloomberg.

To read the Bloomberg exclusive, click HERE

• Reliance Industries jumps as much as 5.3 percent to Rs 1,337, highest intraday level since May 2008
• Trading volume at 14 percent of stock's 20-day average
• Stock trades at 14.1 times estimated forward earnings per share: Bloomberg data

Shares of construction and engineering firm were set to snap two quarter losing streak after it gained nearly 17 percent for three month period ending March 31, 2017.

Larsen and Toubro gained as much as 1.6 percent today, to its highest since August 1, 2016.

L&T Performance In Numbers

• +30% YTD
• Outperforms S&P BSE Capital Goods Index (+20% YTD)
• +7.5% in March versus 2.9% advance in Sensex
• Stock 3.5% below the Bloomberg consensus one-year target price
• Secures nearly Rs 18,049 crore worth of new orders in March
• V-Guard Industries (+50% YTD) best performer on the S&P BSE Capital Goods index

Technocraft Industries Builds On 3-Day Gains

• Rose as much as 10.5 percent
• The stock has gained 7.23 percent in the previous three trading session
• Volumes at 36 times its 20-day average on NSE
• The construction equipment to apparel manufacturer has a market cap of Rs 1,212.69 crore

Foreign investors gorging on Indian stocks and bonds have put the rupee on course for its best first-quarter performance since 1975.

The currency, Asia’s best performer this month, has rallied 4.8 percent since Dec. 31 as a thumping win for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party in state elections boosted bets for continuation of the government’s reforms agenda. The Federal Reserve’s dovish tone on future rate hikes, that’s contributed to a weaker dollar, also burnished the allure of assets in emerging markets.

Shares of ball bearings maker rose as much as 15.6 percent to a record high of Rs 1,621. Its board approved buyback of equity shares worth up to Rs 390 crore at the price of Rs 1,500 each, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Trading volume for stock stood at 3.5 times its 30-day average volume, according to Bloomberg data.

Jayant Agro-Organics Rises On High Volumes

• Shares jumped as much as 8.2 percent
• The stock rose in four out of the last five trading sessions and has gained 12 percent in this period.
• Volumes remain high at 8.50 times its 20-day average on NSE.
• The diversified chemical manufacturer has a market capitalization of Rs 1,154.25 crore.

• Nifty rollover stood at 67.7 percent on Thursday, lower than the three-month average of 71.4 percent, according to the NSE data.
• Market wide rollover at 80.3 percent was lower than the three-month average of 81.7 percent.
• April series begins trading Friday.

Shares of the education service provider made its stock debut 20.7 percent below its issue at Rs 398 on the BSE. The company listed at Rs 402, a 19.9 percent discount to its issue price on the National Stock Exchange.

CL Educate's Rs 239-crore initial public offering was subscribed nearly two times, with the highest demand coming from non-institutional investors. It had raised nearly Rs 72 crore by allocating shares to anchor investors.

Shares of Jindal Steel and Power gained as much as 3.4 percent after its board approved issuing of convertible warrants and shares, which could fetch company around Rs 590 crore.

Trading volume was 1.6 times the 20-day average for this time of day. The stock is 12 percent below the Bloomberg consensus one-year target price. It has gained 77.4 percent so far this year, compared to a gain of 16.8 percent on the S&P BSE Metal Index.

Shares of fertiliser companies rallied anywhere between 0.9 percent and 7 percent.

• National Fertiliser (+2.1%)
• Chambal Fertiliser (+2.8%)
• EID Parry India (+0.6%)
• Zuari Global (+2%)
• Madras Fertiliser (+6.2%)
• Aries Agro (+1.2%)
• Deepak Fertilisers (+3.7%)
• Nagarjuna Fertilisers (+4.3%)

• Additions: Indian Oil (+1.4%), Indiabulls Housing Finance (+0.7%)
• Dropped: Bharat Heavy Electricals (+0.3%), Idea Cellular (-0.4%)

• Deep Industries has 61 lakh shares change hands in two block deals
• Shilpa Medicare has 13 lakh shares change hands in a single block

Buyers and sellers were not immediately known.

Indian shares opened marginally lower as investors took a breather following a three-day gaining streak on the back of strong inflows.

The S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.2 percent to 29,578, while the NSE Nifty shed 0.2 percent as well to trade below 9,160. However, the market breadth was encouraging with more number of buyers than sellers. About 3 stocks advanced to every 1 stock that declined.

Among the sectoral indices, S&P BSE Oil & Gas and S&P BSE Metal indexes gained nearly 0.6 percent each, while financial stocks dragged.

It has been a satisfying quarter for the Indian rupee. And If we compare with other regional peers, rupee was the fourth biggest gainer against the dollar. South Korean won led the charts followed by the Taiwanese dollar and the Aussie.

Now, if we look at April to June quarter. The first clear direction to bonds and currency will be provided by the RBI in its policy on April 6. The market is expecting the central bank will keep the rates unchanged.

Rupee may open weaker against the dollar, tracking other Asian peers. Today is also the last day of financial year, which means banks will not want to part with money. So the overnight rates will also be watched.

Bond yields fell to a seven-week low as foreign inflows continue unabated. Inflows into rupee-denominated government and corporate bonds crossed $4 billion in March, that's the most since mid-2011.

• Tata Motors: Board approves merging unit TML Drivelines with the company.
• HDFC: Completes the first issue of rupee-denominated bonds to overseas investors under its medium-term note programme.
• Power Grid Corp: Board approves investment of Rs 55.88 crore.
• JMC Projects: Secures two new orders worth Rs 1,098 crore.
• Dilip Buildcon: Gets contract worth Rs 503.1 crore from the National Highways Authority of India for a project in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
• Alankit: Enters into a GST Suvidha Provider agreement with the GST Network for providing GST services to the tax payer.
• Godrej Properties: Signs a new deal to develop a residential group housing project in Pune.
• IRB Infrastructure: Board approves investment by its wholly-owned subsidiary Aryan Infrastructure Investment.

For a complete list of stocks to watch, click HERE

• International Energy Administration (IEA) sees significant amount of U.S. shale oil at $50- $60 per barrel
• India to become associate member of IEA

• Saudi Aramco keen to partner India’s mega west coast refinery
• India monsoon rain may be below normal on El Nino: AccuWeather
• India sugar prices may remain firm on tight stockpile: ICRA
• India relaxes fumigation rules for import of farm commodities
• India court reserves verdict in highway liquor sale ban case
• Global funds buy Rs 67.9 crore of local stocks; domestic funds Rs 1700 crore on Thursday: Provisional data

Shanghai-Based BRICS Bank Works Up Appetite For Masala Bonds (Read more about it HERE)

Good Morning!

The Singapore traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of Nifty’s performance in India, declined marginally to 9,181.

Asian shares gained traction as China's factory output climbed to the highest level in almost five years and Japan’s core consumer prices increased for the second month. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index is headed toward the biggest quarterly advance in five years amid signs of strengths in global economy.

Also Read: Japan Inflation Registers First Back-to-Back Rise Since 2015

Overnight, the U.S. stocks added to a sixth straight quarterly gain with the S&P 500 Index rising to its highest level since March 20. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index maintained gains as Federal Reserve officials suggested rates may need to rise faster than the market currently anticipates.

Crude traded above $50 a barrel on expectations that the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries would extend production cuts beyond June.

Investors will keep a close on the slew of economic data releases scheduled for today, including U.K. fourth-quarter GDP and CPI for the euro-zone along with the U.S. personal income and spending data.