Indian markets flourish in green

Thu, 18 Jun Closing

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Indian stock markets witnessed a strong session today. The indices began the day on a positive note. Strong buying activity throughout the session caused indices to scale higher in subsequent hours. The momentum was sustained in the final hour of trade as well and the indices closed well above the dotted line. While the BSE-Sensex closed higher by around 283 points, the NSE-Nifty closed higher by around 83 points. The S&P BSE Midcap and the S&P BSE Smallcap also did well to notch gains of 0.9% and 1.2% respectively. Gains were largely seen in oil and gas and consumer durables sector.

With regards to international cues, Asian markets finished broadly lower today with shares in China leading the region. The Shanghai Composite is down 3.67%, while Japan's Nikkei 225 is off 1.13% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng is lower by 0.18%. European shares fell in early trade as hopes of a deal between Greece and its creditors receded. The rupee was trading strong by 29 paise at 63.83 against the US$.

Stocks in the banking sector ended the trading day on a firm note. Barring Union Bank, majority of the banking stocks traded well above the dotted line. According to a leading financial daily, Yes Bank announced a cut in its base lending rate by 25 basis points to 10.50% from 10.75%. The revised rates will be effective from June 22, 2015. Reportedly, the reduction is a consequence of the recent term deposit rate cuts of up to 25 basis points carried out by the Bank across various tenors, which were made effective from June 17, 2015. Yes Bank followed bigger lenders like HDFC Bank and State Bank of India which have effectively put two rounds of rate cuts since April. The scrip of Yes Bank ended the trading day higher (up 1%) on the BSE.

Telecom stocks were in demand today with ITI Ltd and Tata Teleservices being the leading gainers. According to a leading financial daily, Bharti Airtel has terminated its agreement with Helios Towers Africa (HTA) for sale of tower assets in Tanzania and Tchad signed last year. In July last year, the company had announced that it would divest 3,100 telecom tower assets to Helios Towers Africa for sale in four countries including Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Tchad and Tanzania. Meanwhile, the deal for Democratic Republic of Congo and Republic of Congo remain. Reportedly, the deal was called off due to a disagreement of valuations between the two parties. It is to be noted that Bharti Airtel has an outstanding debt of Rs 600 bn.