Indian equity bourses ended
slightly higher in highly volatile session on Wednesday. After a weak start,
indices altered between green & red terrain, as Moody's Investors Service
cut its growth forecast for India to 5.3% for 2020 from 5.4% estimated earlier,
as it expects the coronavirus outbreak to dampen domestic demand globally. In
noon deals, markets added gains and remained higher till the end of the
session, aided with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statement that it has
received Rs 48,856 crore of bids in the fourth long-term reverse repo operation
(LTROs) conducted for an amount of Rs 25,000 crore with a 3-year tenor. But, in
dying hours of trade, most of gains got trimmed, after Commerce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal said that the shutdown of factories in China due to the
coronavirus outbreak may affect Indian industries like pharmaceutical,
electronics and automobile which import components and raw materials from the
neighbouring country. Besides, the UN's trade and development agency said that
the coronavirus outbreak could cost the global economy up to $2 trillion this
year, warning that shock from the epidemic will cause a recession in some
countries and depress global annual growth to below 2.5 percent. Finally, the
BSE Sensex rose 62.45 points or 0.18% to 35,697.40, while the CNX Nifty was up
by 6.95 points or 0.07% to 10,458.40.
The US markets ended lower on
Wednesday as traders cashed in on yesterday's gains amid lingering concerns
about the economic impact of the coronavirus outbreak. Total confirmed
coronavirus cases have climbed to nearly 122,000 worldwide, according to data
compiled by Johns Hopkins University, while the total number of deaths is
closing in on 4,400. Johns Hopkins also said the number of confirmed cases in
the US has jumped to more than 1,100 from just over 100 a week ago. German
Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned that up to 70 percent of the German
population could become infected with the coronavirus. Stocks saw further downside after the World
Health Organization (WHO) officially declared the coronavirus outbreak a global
pandemic, citing the disease's rapid spread outside of China. On the economic
data, a report released by the Labor Department showed a modest increase in US
consumer prices in the month of February. The Labor Department said its
consumer price index inched up by 0.1 percent in February, matching the uptick
seen in January. Consumer prices edged higher as higher prices for food and
shelter more than offset a steep drop in energy prices. The report said food
prices climbed by 0.4 percent in February after edging up by 0.2 percent in
January, with prices for food at home showing the largest monthly increase
since May of 2014. Meanwhile, energy prices plunged by 2.0 percent in February
after falling by 0.7 percent in January, as all of the major energy component
indexes declined.
Crude oil futures ended deeply in
red on Wednesday, as US crude supplies rose a 7th straight week. Data from the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) revealed that US crude supplies rose by 7.7 million
barrels for the week ended March 6. The EIA data also showed supply declines of
5 million barrels for gasoline and 6.4 million barrels for distillates. The
American Petroleum Institute on Tuesday reported a climb of 6.4 million barrels.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia, the de-facto leader of the Organization of the
Petroleum Exporting Countries, unveiled plans to boost oil-production capacity
to a record 13 million barrels a day. Crude oil futures for April dropped $1.38
or about 4 percent to settle at $32.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. May Brent crude fell $1.43 or 3.8 percent to settle at $35.79 a
barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Reversing
its two-session fall, Indian rupee bounced back sharply against the US currency
on Wednesday, on persistent selling of the American currency by exporters.
Sentiments turned optimistic with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry
President D K Aggarwal's statement that the volatility in the rupee and stock
markets is short-lived and primarily driven by the spread of Coronavirus
disease (COVID) in many countries. He also said that the markets are expected
to stabilise, as the fundamentals of the Indian economy are strong enough to
withstand the external shocks on the back of robust economic reforms undertaken
by the government during the last many years. Dollar losing sheen against some
other currencies overseas also supported the forex sentiment. On the global
front, U.S. dollar resumed its descent against the Japanese yen on Wednesday as
fears over the spreading coronavirus pushed investors into safe havens, while
the British pound recovered after Bank of England unexpectedly cut interest
rates. The last traded price of rupee was 73.62, 55 paise stronger from its
previous close of 74.17 on Monday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday's data
were net sellers in equity segment, while they were net buyers in debt segment.
In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6045.05 crore against gross
selling of Rs 13057.32 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 2131.88 crore with gross sales of Rs 1212.92 crore. Besides, in the
hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 32.13 crore against gross selling of
Rs 34.05 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Wednesday after the World Health Organization declared the new coronavirus a
pandemic. Asian markets are trading deeply in red on Thursday following
overnight fall on Wall Street. Indian markets ended marginally in green on
Wednesday in choppy trading session as risk sentiment remained subdued amid
rising coronavirus cases in the country. Today, the start of session is likely
to be gap-down amid sell-off in the global markets as virus fears intensify. As
per a private report, two cases of novel Coronavirus, or Covid-19, were
confirmed in Mumbai on March 11, marking the first cases for the metropolitan
city. Besides, investors will be eyeing macro-economic data of January's
industrial and manufacturing production data and retail inflation for February
slated to be released later in the day. Though, some respite may come later in
the day with Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian's statement that
the virus epidemic will not have much impact on the next fiscal's economic
growth. Some support may also come with a private report that falling crude oil
prices will help reduce current account deficit by 25 basis points to 0.7% of
the GDP in FY2021. Besides, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) data showed that
the central bank continued to be a net purchaser of the US dollar after it
bought $10.27 billion in January on a net basis from the spot market.
Meanwhile, the GST Council is likely to rationalise tax rates on five sectors,
including mobile phones, footwear and textiles, and defer implementation of the
new return filing system and e-invoicing in its meeting on March 14. There will
be some buzz in the banking stocks as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will
hold meeting with chief executives of amalgamating banks on Thursday to review
preparedness for the merger beginning April 1. Auto stocks will be in focus as
industry body Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) warned that
disruption in raw material supply due to coronavirus outbreak could critically
affect production across all segments. There will be some reaction in jewellery
stocks with the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council's (GJEPC) report
that India's gems and jewellery exports declined by 20.26% to Rs 20,763.28
crore in February, hit by the global outbreak of Covid-19, credit crunch and
customs issues.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10,458.40
|
10,346.57
|
10,557.67
|
BSE Sensex
|
35,697.40
|
35,299.04
|
36,058.63
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Yes Bank
|
4,136.77
|
28.80
|
24.90
|
31.15
|
Tata Motors
|
1,111.49
|
98.90
|
95.63
|
104.33
|
State Bank of India
|
908.47
|
245.10
|
239.30
|
254.70
|
Oil & Natural Gas
Corporation
|
635.70
|
71.70
|
69.37
|
75.72
|
GAIL (India)
|
494.64
|
90.50
|
87.82
|
95.37
|
M&M has launched its locally assembled Scorpio pick-up vehicle in Kenya through a partnership with Simba Corporation.
Infosys has joined the Qualcomm Smart Cities Accelerator Program to offer end-to-end solutions for smart stadiums, smart venues and smart event management.
JSW Steel has reported crude steel production of 13.20 lakh tonnes for February 2020, registering rise of 5% over 12.57 lakh tonnes in February 2019.
Bajaj Auto has launched Dominar 250, a variant of the Dominar Sports Tourer model, priced at Rs 1.6 lakh.