March F&O expiry session
turned out to be a dismal day of trade for Indian equity benchmark with
frontline gauges ending below their crucial 33,000 (Sensex) and 10,150 (Nifty)
levels, as traders remained cautious ahead of a long holiday weekend, with
domestic equity markets likely to remain closed on Thursday and Friday, on
account of Mahavir Jayanti and Good Friday, respectively. Markets started the
session on pessimistic note as sentiments remained downbeat with report that
Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections slid for the second straight month to
Rs 851.74 billion in February as only 69% of the assessees filed returns.
Around 5.951 million GSTR 3B returns were filed for the month of February till
March 25. This is 69 per cent of total taxpayers who are required to file
monthly returns. Sentiments also remained dampened with a private report
stating that weak macroeconomic indicators like current account deficit and inflation
have exposed India to adverse global macro developments such as US monetary
policy trajectory and trade war risks. Factors like expiry of futures and
options contracts for the month of March and profit booking on the last trading
day for the current financial year 2017-18 before the long term capital gains
tax (LTCG) kicks in from April 2, 2018,
also weighed on the sentiments. Meanwhile, government's Chief Economic
Advisor Arvind Subramanian has said that he wanted a simpler GST structure. He
also said that once the GST Council is confident that the revenue through
indirect tax is stabilising, it will do more simplification future. Traders
failed to get any sense of relief with the commerce ministry's statement that
India and China have agreed to draw-up a medium and long term roadmap with
action points and timelines in order to increase bilateral trade in a balanced
and sustainable manner. It also pointed out that two neighbouring nations in
Asia are the largest emerging economies of the world with 35% of the world's
population and about 20% of the world's GDP, but bilateral trade between the
two nations is less than 1% of global trade. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined
205.71 points or 0.62% to 32,968.68, while the CNX Nifty was down by 70.45
points or 0.69% to 10,113.70.
The US markets closed higher on
Thursday, with major indexes climbing 1% in a broad rally that had nearly every
sector participate in the gains and post strong weekly advances. The Atlanta
Federal Reserve's GDPNow forecast model showed that the US economy is on track
to expand at a 2.4 percent annualized rate in the first quarter following the
latest data on advanced trade data and personal spending. The latest estimate
on gross domestic product was faster than the 1.8 percent growth pace
calculated on March 23. US President Donald Trump said he may hold up a trade
agreement reached this week with South Korea until after a deal is reached with
North Korea on denuclearization. On the economy front, the rate of layoffs in
the US fell again in late March and dropped to the lowest level since 1973.
Initial US jobless claims declined by 12,000 to 215,000 in the seven days ended
March 24. The more stable monthly average of claims dipped by 500 and stood at
224,500. The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits, known
as continuing claims, rose by 35,000 to 1.87 million. Separately, incomes for
US workers increased strongly again in February, but consumers pocketed some of
the money instead of spending it. Inflation also crept higher. Consumer
spending advanced 0.2% last month, just half as fast as the 0.4% rise in
incomes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 254.69 points or 1.07 percent
to 24,103.11, the Nasdaq gained 114.219 points or 1.64 percent to 7,063.44,
while the S&P 500 was up by 35.87 points or 1.38 percent to 2,640.87.
Snapping three-day losing streak,
Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday after a data showed that the number
of US oil rigs declined surprisingly. According to data from energy services
firm Baker Hughes, the number of oil rigs operating in the US fell by six to
798 in the week to March 29,easing from three-year highs. It was the first time
in three weeks that the US energy companies cut oil rigs count. However,
Geopolitical concerns and indications from the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries that members are considering action that could trigger
higher prices limited moves for oil, as the holiday-shortened week of trading
draws to a close for Passover and Easter over the weekend. Benchmark crude oil
futures for May delivery surged 56 cents or 0.9 percent at $64.94 a barrel on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude rose 74 cents or 1.1 percent
to settle at $70.27 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Piling
on yesterday's loss, Indian rupee weakened further against the American
currency on Wednesday, following bouts of month-end dollar demand from banks
and importers. Traders remained cautious with a private report stating that
weak macroeconomic indicators like current account deficit and inflation have
exposed India to adverse global macro developments such as US monetary policy
trajectory and trade war risks. Investors even ignored the commerce ministry's
statement that India and China have agreed to draw-up a medium and long term
roadmap with action points and timelines in order to increase bilateral trade
in a balanced and sustainable manner. Besides, extremely bullish dollar
sentiment overseas coupled with sluggish equity markets also adversely impacted
local unit. On the global front, dollar pushed higher against a basket of the
other major currencies on Wednesday as trade tensions remained elevated
following reports that China will soon announce a list of retaliatory tariffs
on US imports. Finally, the rupee ended
at 65.18, 22 paise weaker from its previous close of 64.96 on Tuesday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday's data
were net buyers in equity and debt segments both, in equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 6242.79 crore against gross selling of Rs 5148.87 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 2326.84 crore with gross
sales of Rs 1677.54 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was
of Rs 8.21 crore against gross selling of Rs 10.01 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday on report from the Labor Department showing initial jobless claims
fell to their lowest level in over 45 years in the week ended March 24th. Asian
stocks are trading mostly in green in early deals, even as China imposed new
tariffs on U.S. goods after previously floating the proposal last month. Indian
shares succumbed to selling pressure once again on Wednesday after financial
and technology shares came under heavy selling pressure elsewhere in the U.S,
Europe and Asia on privacy concerns and on worries about tighter industry
regulations. Today, the markets are likely to open slightly in red, as traders
return to their desks after a four-day long holiday weekend. Investors will
look ahead to the RBI policy meeting on April 4-5, although the central bank is
unlikely to raise rates despite increased risks to inflation posed by rising
oil prices and a hike in minimum support price (MSP) announced in the Budget
2018. Traders will remain concern with the country reporting a fiscal deficit
of Rs 7.2 trillion ($110.42 billion) for April-February or 120.3% of the
budgeted target for the current fiscal year that ends this month. Net tax
receipts in the first 11 months of 2017/18 fiscal year were Rs 1.03 trillion.
Adding to the pessimism, the CBI has decided to examine ICICI bank CEO Chanda
Kochhar over the Rs 3,250 crore loan sanctioned to the Videocon Group in 2012,
notwithstanding a clean chit given by the bank board. Meanwhile, the e-way (electronic
way) bill system under Goods and Services Tax (GST) for inter-state movement of
goods has come into force from April 1, with over 1.7 lakh electronic invoices
expected to have generated on the first day of the rollout aimed at curbing tax
evasion by traders and transporters.
Support
and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous
close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
10,113.70
|
10,087.62
|
10,149.07
|
BSE
Sensex
|
32,917.66
|
32,981.82
|
32,975.80
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous
close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance
(Rs)
|
(in
Lacs)
|
SBI
|
366.74
|
249.90
|
247.00
|
254.50
|
ICICI
Bank
|
271.73
|
278.35
|
275.87
|
282.07
|
Tata
steel
|
186.55
|
571.05
|
563.23
|
580.93
|
IOC
|
177.42
|
176.60
|
172.72
|
179.52
|
Ambuja
Cement
|
172.68
|
232.95
|
228.50
|
237.15
|
Wipro has unveiled its Texas Technology Center in Plano, Texas.
L&T's construction arm -- L&T Construction -- has won orders worth Rs 1521 crore across various business segments.
Indiabulls Housing Finance has raised Rs 1500 crore through NCDs.
Lupin has launched its Clobetasol Propionate Spray 0.05% having received an approval from the USFDA earlier.