Thursday's session saw Indian
benchmark indices complete a hat-trick of disappointing performances and
reaching the finishing line only after collapsing by around half a percent to
their fresh 52 weeks low. Sentiments remained down-beat as International
Monetary Fund warned that the world economy is highly vulnerable and called for
new mechanisms to protect the most vulnerable countries. The global crisis
raised concern that world growth had slowed and could be derailed by market
turbulence, the oil price crash and geopolitical conflicts. On the domestic
front, sentiments got undermined after the railway budget failed to announce
big ticket capital expenditure projects, so as to meet the government's fiscal
deficit targets. Also, Railway Minister
proposed increasing the capital outlay for the Railways, the world's
fourth-largest rail network, by 21 per cent to Rs. 1.21 lakh crore. Depreciation in Indian rupee also weighed on
investor sentiment. The rupee weakened by 18 paise to trade at 68.74 against
the US dollar at the time of equity markets closing as compared to 68.56 in
previous session. Market participants remained cautious with a private survey
stating that optimism about the overall state of the economy came down in 2015,
with households listing unemployment, corruption and rising inflation as major
areas of concern. However, losses remained capped on the report that business
sentiment among Indian companies rose for the second consecutive month in
February, as companies increased production on the back of rising orders. The
increase in sentiment was solely led by manufacturing firms where confidence
was at a seven-month high. On the global front, Asian equity markets made a
mixed closing on Thursday, while European stocks climbed in early deals. Back
home, benchmark got off to a soft start as the indices showed signs of
consolidation in early trade, as investors remained cautious ahead of the
Railway Budget. Finally, the BSE Sensex plunged by 112.93 points or 0.49% to
22976.00, while the CNX Nifty dropped 48.10 points or 0.69% to 6,970.60.
The US markets closed higher on
Thursday, as a rebound in oil prices boosted the main benchmarks, which had
been struggling to hold on to small gains throughout the session. Oil prices
erased steep losses to end sharply higher, after news reported that Venezuela's
oil minister announced his country would meet with fellow oil producers next
month in an effort to stabilize prices. On the economy front, the number of
Americans who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose by 10,000 to
272,000, but remained nearly a post-recession low. Yet the average of new
claims over the past four weeks fell by 1,250 to 272,000 to mark the lowest
level since early December. Meanwhile, US orders for long-lasting or durable
goods jumped 4.9% in January to mark the biggest gain in 10 months, but
underlying business investment remained soft. The spike in orders in January
follows a revised 4.6% drop in December, so it's far from clear if the upswing
in early 2016 is more than just a temporary blip. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average added 212.30 points or 1.29 percent to 16,697.29 the Nasdaq was up
39.60 points or 0.87 percent to 4,582.21 while, the S&P 500 gained 21.90
points or 1.13 percent to 1,951.70.
Crude oil futures bounced back and
made strong gains on Thursday, amid renewed efforts by Russia to complete a
pact with three OPEC members, including Saudi Arabia. Russia energy minister
Alexander Novak said that prices will remain persistently low unless the four
nations involved in last week's meetings in Qatar can finalize the so-called
Doha Agreement over the next several days. There were reports that Venezuela,
Russia, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are expected to meet in the coming days. Benchmark
crude oil futures for April delivery gained $0.97 or 3.02 percent to $33.12 a
barrel after trading in a range of $31.09 and $33.47 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. In London, Brent crude for April delivery closed at $35.30, up $0.90
or 2.59 percent on the ICE.
Snapping its two-day gaining
streak Indian rupee depreciated against dollar on Thursday due to month end
demand for American currency from banks and importers. Besides, losses in local
equity market also hit the rupee sentiment. Further, investors remained worried
over the government's fiscal consolidation plan. Sentiments remained down beat
with the announcement of 21 per cent
hike in capital spending for the Railway Budget from a year ago and on talk
about a meeting between the finance ministry and analysts and media this
week-end. On the global front, dollar was flat, as investors were looking to
Federal Reserve speakers later in the day for fresh direction on the U.S. rates
outlook. Finally, the rupee ended at 68.72, 16 paise weaker from its previous
close of 68.56 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net sellers in equity and in debt segments both. In equity segment, the
gross buying was of Rs 2972.83 crore against gross selling of Rs 3493.44 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 271.39 crore with gross
sales of Rs 1575.62 crore.
The US markets rallied in last
session, supported by substantial rebound by the price of crude oil. Also,
there was a report from Commerce Department showing a much bigger than expected
rebound in durable goods orders in the month of January that lifted the mood of
investors. The Asian markets have made an all green start with major averages
on track for their second straight weekly gain, amid meeting of the Group of 20
finance chiefs discusses coordination of stimulus efforts. The Indian markets
slumped to their 52 week low in the last session, disappointed by lack of any
big-bang reform from the railway budget. Today, the start is likely to see some
recovery tailing the positive global cues, however all eyes will be on another
important event of the release of Economic Survey report in the parliament.
Chief Economic Advisor, Arvind Subramanian, will present his second Economic
Survey. It's the economic report card for the financial year that's just about
to conclude and projections for the ensuing fiscal year. The report will shed
light on the investment climate, stalled projects, debt overhang and other
factors that have been acting as deterrents to growth. The railways stocks will
again be in focus after showing a disappointing performance on the budget day.
Meanwhile, Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu has reiterated that
aspirations, needs and concerns of common man were kept in mind while framing
this years' Budget. He added that the Budget aims at modernising, improving
safety, speed, and revenue resources of the railways. The banking stocks too
will be in action, with a Parliamentary panel expressing its unhappiness with
handling of bad loans by RBI and banks, saying that high NPAs raise serious
questions about credibility of the mechanism to deal with the issue. Also, the
RBI has revised SDR norms, asking banks to have higher provisions of 15%.
Support
and Resistance: NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
CNX Nifty
|
6970.60
|
6943.27
|
7016.07
|
BSE Sensex
|
22976.00
|
22901.75
|
23096.61
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close
(Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
ICICI Bank
|
348.55
|
183.00
|
180.03
|
187.48
|
NTPC
|
337.52
|
118.50
|
117.22
|
119.47
|
SBI
|
227.13
|
151.80
|
149.17
|
156.27
|
Coal India
|
146.89
|
299.40
|
293.77
|
306.47
|
Bank of Baroda
|
144.21
|
130.10
|
127.62
|
134.22
|
L&T's subsidiary L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering has inked pact with McDermott International focused on subsea projects in deepwater segment emerging on the east coast of India.
TCS has entered into strategic partnership with Element Financial Corporation to help the company significantly evolve its fleet management technology platform and user experience.
Lupin is planning to set up a new plant in Japan and invest Rs 100 crore in a manufacturing facility in India to cater to the Japanese market.
NTPC has raised Rs 655 crore via private placement of secured Non-Convertible Debentures at a coupon of 8.33% per annum with a 5 year door-to-door maturity on February 24, 2016.
Tata Power has received approval from Regional Empowered Committee of the Union Environment Ministry for setting up of a 52.50 MW wind power project in Koppal district, Karnataka.