Indian equity benchmarks ended
the Thursday's trade at record closing high levels, with frontline gauges
surpassing their crucial 34,500 (Sensex) and 10,650 (Nifty) levels for the
first time ever, as investors remained optimistic ahead of key corporate earnings
later this week and the federal budget next month. Though, markets made
cautious start and traded choppy in first half of the trade, as sentiments
remained downbeat with rating agency Care Ratings' latest report that uptrend
in crude oil price is likely to have a major impact on India's fiscal position.
Sentiments also remained dampened after a private poll showed that India's
retail inflation likely rose to a 17-month high in December, and that could
push the central bank to tighten monetary policy. The December inflation data
is due to be released on Friday, January 12. Traders also took note of a report
which highlights that the Confederation of All India Traders' (CAIT) has
opposed Centre's decision to allow 100% FDI in single brand retail via automatic
route. CAIT has said that it is serious matter for small businesses and will
hamper the welfare, upgradation and modernisation of existing retail trade. Domestic
bourses gained momentum in second half of the trade and hit their all time high
levels with traders taking some support from global rating agency Moody's
latest report, which has said India and China remain the fastest growth
economies in Asia Pacific region. Besides, the cabinet's decision to allow
foreign airlines to invest up to 49% in ailing Air India, and ease foreign
direct investment (FDI) policies in some critical areas, including single-brand
retail, broking services in construction, pharmaceuticals and power exchanges,
too provided some strength to the markets. Market participants also took some
encouragement with Credit ratings agency, Crisil Ratings in its latest report
stating that India Inc's top-line (revenue) growth is likely to hit a five-year
high of 9% in Q3 (October-December) 2017-18. However, it noted that profits
will continue to contract, on the back of rising commodity prices. Finally, the
BSE Sensex gained 70.42 points or 0.20% to 34,503.49, while the CNX Nifty was
up by 19.00 points or 0.18% to 10,651.20.
The US markets closed at fresh record
high on Thursday, driven by a rally in energy and materials sectors, which
followed rising oil prices higher. The rally comes a day after the S&P 500
and Nasdaq suffered the first down day of the year on anxieties about appetite
for Treasurys from the world's second-largest economy, China. Optimism about
earnings growth and the potential windfall from lower corporate tax rates have
been fueling equity market gains. On the economy front, initial US jobless
claims climbed by 11,000 to a nearly four-month high of 261,000 in the seven
days ended January 6. That's the highest level since mid-September and well
above the 248,000 forecast. The more stable monthly average of claims increased
by 9,000 and stood at 250,750. That's the highest level since early October.
The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits, known as
continuing claims, fell by 35,000 to 1.87 million. Claims often exhibit big ups
and downs after the end of the holiday season. Workers hired for temporary jobs
are let go and state employment offices take longer to process applications.
New York showed a particularly big increase in claims in the first week of
2018. They more than doubled to nearly 50,000 in raw or unadjusted terms. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average added 205.6 points or 0.81 percent to 25,574.73,
the Nasdaq gained 58.205 points or 0.81 percent to 7,211.78, and the S&P
500 edged higher by 19.33 points or 0.70 percent to 2,767.56.
Crude oil futures moved further
high on Thursday amid speculation that OPEC will curb production in 2018 and
re-balance the global oil markets. United Arab Emirates Energy Minister Suhail
Al Mazrouei said that everyone is committed and everyone is benefiting from
this output cut agreement, and I have no doubt that we will continue a year of
compliance in 2018. Also supporting oil prices was Wednesday's bullish
inventories data showing an unexpected drop in US production and larger than
expected draw in US crude oil supplies. Benchmark crude oil futures for February
delivery ended higher by $0.23 or 0.4 percent at $63.80 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery was up by 0.12 percent
to $69.30 a barrel on the ICE.
Indian
rupee pared most of its early losses but still ended marginally weaker against
the American currency on Thursday, due to fresh dollar demand from banks and
importers. Sentiments remained down-beat with rating agency Care Ratings'
latest report that uptrend in crude oil price is likely to have a major impact
on India's fiscal position. It further noted that higher prices of crude oil
will increase the trade deficit and put pressure on the rupee. Investors
remained cautious ahead of key economic data i.e. November IIP and December CPI
data, scheduled to be released tomorrow. Moreover, the domestic currency was
also weighed down by dollar's strengthen against some other currencies
overseas. On the global front, dollar edged higher against yen on Thursday,
after comments by China's foreign exchange regulator eased concerns that China
may reduce its buying of US government bonds. Finally, the rupee ended at 63.66,
6 paise weaker from its previous close of 63.60 on Wednesday.
The
FIIs as per Thursday's data were net sellers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 3825.49 crore against gross selling
of Rs 4217.15 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
3474.46 crore with gross sales of Rs 3661.19 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 3.51 crore against gross selling of Rs 2.71
crore.
The US markets made a smart
bounce back in the last session and the major averages climbed to new record
closing highs, on easing concerns about treasuries after China dismissed a
report that officials have recommended slowing or halting purchases of US debt.
The Asian markets have made a mixed start even though volatility in the
Treasuries market subsided and the euro extended its advance. Attention turns
to the earnings season and the Japanese shares declined. The Indian markets
despite coming off their highs managed a positive closing in the last session,
with traders eyeing earnings season to give further direction. Today, the start
is likely to be in green on mostly positive global cues and market will be
getting some support from the in line with estimates earnings of number one IT
company of the country TCS, which posted 1.3 percent sequential growth in
quarterly profit and said it sees improving business environment. Traders will
also be getting some support with statement of NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv
Kumar, who dismissing concerns of fiscal slippage has said the next Union
Budget will not be a populist one. He said that there shouldn`t be a fear of
fiscal risk because of slippage, because if at all, a fiscal slippage happens,
it would only be for the right reasons. There will be some buzz in the steel
stocks, as the Union Steel Minister Birender Singh has said that exports should
account for 6-7 per cent of India's total steel production in the next few
years, up from the 1.5 per cent at present. The IT sector will keep buzzing, as
after the inline performance of TCS another IT bellwether Infosys will be
announcing its numbers today. Infosys is Infosys is expected to report slightly
lower profit for the quarter compared to Rs 3,726 crore in previous quarter,
however the revenue of the company are likely to improve marginally. There will
be some other important results too, to keep the markets buzzing.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10651.20
|
10620.83
|
10673.08
|
BSE Sensex
|
34503.49
|
34416.44
|
34574.71
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
SBI
|
122.99
|
302.20
|
300.47
|
303.47
|
ITC
|
112.87
|
269.80
|
268.27
|
271.17
|
Infosys
|
83.88
|
1075.80
|
1059.57
|
1087.72
|
ICICI Bank
|
83.67
|
309.50
|
307.87
|
311.82
|
Yes Bank
|
82.66
|
343.15
|
337.55
|
346.50
|
Maruti Suzuki India has increased prices ranging from Rs 1,700 to Rs 17,000 across models, owing to increase in commodity and other administrative & distribution costs.
Bharti Airtel has entered into partnership with RGK Mobile for direct billing services for digital content delivery to its subscribers
Yes Bank has launched the second cohort of its fintech start-up accelerator, Yes Fintech.
IndusInd Bank has reported 24.73% rise in its net profit at Rs 936.25 crore for Q3FY18 as compared to Rs 750.64 crore for Q3FY17.