Bulls tightened their grip on
Dalal Street and key gauges traded jubilantly throughout the session with
Sensex and Nifty surpassing their crucial 34,300 and 10,600 levels, hitting
fresh record highs, respectively. After making a gap-up start, Indian equity
benchmarks traded with traction to end at fresh closing high levels, as traders
took some encouragement with report that credit growth after a long gap grew in
double digits to 10.65% at Rs 80,96,727 crore in the fortnight ended December
22, 2017 due to the base effect. Sentiments also remained up-beat from Economic
Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM), Bibek Debroy's statement that
India's advance GDP growth estimate of 6.5% for this fiscal shows reform
measures taken by the government is yielding results and growth will accelerate
to over 7% in 2018-19. Besides, report that overseas investors poured in a
staggering Rs 1.5 lakh crore in the Indian debt markets in 2017 on the back of
higher bond yields and stable currency, after pulling out massive funds in the
preceding year, too aided sentiments. Traders completely ignored Central
Statistics Office's (CSO) first advance estimates of GDP growth for current
financial year which highlighted that the Indian economy is expected to grow at
a slower 6.5% in 2017-18 compared to the 7.1% in 2016-17. According to CSO, the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at constant (2011-12) prices for 2017-18 is likely
to attain a level of Rs 129.85 lakh crore. Meanwhile, the agriculture ministry
said that the country's agriculture sector is expected to grow higher than
projected 2.1% growth by the CSO for the current fiscal, following better rabi
crop prospects. The ministry added that the agriculture sector can, therefore,
be expected to register a much higher GVA for the year 2017-18, when final
estimate figures are released. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 198.94 points or
0.58% to 34,352.79, while the CNX Nifty was up by 64.75 points or 0.61% to
10,623.60.
The US markets closed mostly
higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq at records as gains in energy
and industrials helped the benchmarks finish in positive territory in the first
five sessions of 2018 on optimism over a stronger economy and looming fiscal
stimulus. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said that the Fed should keep raising
interest rates but at a slower pace than last year. On the economy front,
outstanding consumer credit rose by $27.95 billion in November from the prior
month, the largest increase in 16 years. This measure of non-real estate debt
climbed at a 8.83% seasonally adjusted annual rate, the fastest pace in more
than two years. Total outstanding credit had increased a revised $20.53 billion
in October. Revolving credit outstanding, mostly credit cards, increased at a
13.3% annual pace in November. Non-revolving credit outstanding, mainly student
and auto loans, rose at a 7.2% annual pace. Household debt totaled $12.955
trillion in the third quarter, up 0.9% from the spring. That was the most on
record, though the figure wasn't adjusted for inflation. The Nasdaq gained
20.828 points or 0.29 percent to 7,157.39, the S&P 500 edged higher by 4.56
points or 0.17 percent to 2,747.71, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost
12.87 points or 0.05 percent to 25,283.00.
Crude oil futures bounced back on
Monday to make a positive start of the new week near its three year high, as
investors continued to weigh data showing falling US rig counts despite rising
US production while ongoing expectations for strong OPEC cuts added to
sentiment. Political upheaval in Iran also pushed prices higher. Meanwhile, US
production is expected to soon rise above 10 million barrels per day after the
EIA reported last week that oil production rose to 28,000 barrels a day to nearly
9.8 million barrels a day. Benchmark crude oil futures for February delivery
ended higher by $0.36 or 0.5 percent at $61.80 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery was up by 0.25 percent to
$67.79 a barrel on the ICE.
Indian
rupee ended weaker against dollar on Monday, on account of sustained demand for
dollar from banks and importers. Sentiments remained dampened with the CSO's
first advance estimates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth for current
financial year which highlighted that the Indian economy is expected to grow at
a slower 6.5% in 2017-18 compared to the 7.1% in 2016-17. According to CSO, the
GDP at constant (2011-12) prices for 2017-18 is likely to attain a level of Rs
129.85 lakh crore. Besides, the dollar rose to a position of strength overseas
too weighed on the rupee sentiment. Though, spectacular rally in domestic
equities limited further depreciation of Indian currency. On the global front,
dollar inched higher against a basket of major peers on Monday as data showing
slower US jobs growth did little to dent expectations for further Federal
Reserve interest rate increases this year. Finally, the rupee ended at 63.50,
13 weaker from its previous close of 63.37 on Friday.
The
FIIs as per Monday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5854.69 crore against gross selling
of Rs 4962.35 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
1027.77 crore with gross sales of Rs 864.86 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 2.68 crore against gross selling of Rs 3.76
crore.
The US markets made mostly a positive
closing in the last session, though trade remained choppy and lackluster, as
traders expressed some uncertainty about the near-term outlook for the markets
following the recent run to record highs. The Asian markets have made a green
start and the Japanese market was up by about a percent as traders returned
from a holiday following new all-time highs for U.S. shares. Though, they pared
some of their gains after the yen's advance in wake of the announcement by the
BOJ, which made a small tweak to its buying of longer-dated debt. The Indian
markets surged to fresh record highs in last session, helped by positive global
cues and earnings optimism. Today, the start is likely to be in green and the
benchmarks will extend their gains on positive regional cues. Traders will also
be getting some support with reports that the Commerce and Industry Ministry is
mulling incentives for States that play a proactive role in promoting exports
as it will help boost economic growth. However, there will be some cautiousness
too with the rating agency Crisil attributing the continuing slowdown to the
impacts of the demonetisation, GST implementation and weakness in agriculture,
though it has maintained its FY19 growth estimate at 7.6 per cent on the low
base. It also said that private consumption will grow 6.3 per cent in FY18,
over a high base of an 8.7 per cent growth in FY17, and will remain the biggest
contributor to GDP at 55.7 per cent. Cigarette stocks will be under pressure,
as in a setback to the cigarette and tobacco industry, the Supreme Court stayed
a Karnataka High Court order quashing 85% pictorial warnings on packs
containing such products. On the other hand there will be some buzz in the FMCG
stocks with a private report stating that in the next 12 months, consumer goods
companies would see a revival, both in volume and margin terms, with an
anticipated revival in the rural sector.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10623.60
|
10597.70
|
10640.35
|
BSE Sensex
|
34352.79
|
34250.86
|
34420.20
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
ITC
|
144.33
|
265.60
|
263.63
|
267.18
|
SBI
|
135.57
|
305.80
|
304.03
|
308.53
|
Yes Bank
|
127.48
|
333.60
|
329.50
|
339.50
|
Bharti Airtel
|
110.75
|
516.35
|
508.98
|
528.93
|
Sun Pharma
|
104.75
|
591.60
|
583.63
|
602.08
|
Maruti Suzuki India is planning to expand the sales network for its LCV 'Super Carry' as it aims to be a significant player in the segment. Super.
IndusInd Bank has entered into tie-up with Paytm Payments Bank for fixed deposit facility.
Coal India has kept its annual production target at 630 MT for the upcoming financial year.
Bharti Airtel has entered into agreement with device manufacturer -- itel -- to launch budget friendly 4G smartphones.