Extending gaining streak for
third straight day, Indian equity benchmarks ended the Monday's trade with a
gain of around half a percent, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP looked
set to win key polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. Markets made dismal start
with Sensex and Nifty tumbling below their crucial 32,600 and 10,100 levels in
early deals, as early trends had suggested that the BJP and the Congress are
locked in a tight race to win Gujarat. However, domestic markets staged
splendid recovery and entered into green terrain after the ruling party -- BJP
-- made a comeback against Congress in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat election
results. Sentiments also remained up-beat with data from the commerce
department, which showed that India's exports rose at a faster clip in
November, reversing the contraction in the previous month. Exports grew 30.6%
in November from a year ago, while imports rose 19.6%. Traders also took some
encouragement with statement of an UN expert that India can achieve an 8%
growth rate for the next two decades by promoting investment and improving the
living conditions of its people. Sentiments also remained optimistic with
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel's statement that with growth
picking up in the second quarter of the current financial year, the economic
slowdown may have bottomed out. He said “our recent growth numbers may have
disappointed some in the first quarter of this fiscal year, but the second quarter
has recorded an uptick and the slowdown may well be bottoming out”. Traders
also took some support with report that foreign investors are flocking to the
Indian capital markets in a big way with a net inflow of over $30 billion (more
than Rs 2 lakh crore) of so-called hot money in 2017, with equities alone
getting over $8 billion -- an amount bigger than the cumulative investment of
the previous two years. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 138.71 points or 0.41%
to 33,601.68, while the CNX Nifty was up by 55.50 points or 0.54% to 10,388.75.
The US markets closed higher on
Monday, with major indexes ending at records, on growing confidence that
congressional Republicans will succeed in passing tax-cut legislation as early
as this week. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he has no doubt that the
GOP's tax bill will make it to the desk of President Donald Trump this week.
Optimism that the Republicans will have the votes they need for passage built
last week after two holdouts, Sens. Bob Corker of Tennessee and Marco Rubio of
Florida, pledged their support for the tax overhaul. On the economy front, the
National Association of Home Builders' monthly sentiment index surged five
points to 74 in December, its highest reading since 1999. In November, the
sub-index of current conditions rose four points to 81, while the gauge of
future sales rose three points to 79. The sub-index that tracks buyer traffic
jumped eight points to 58, its highest since 1998. Builders seem to be in a
sweet spot. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 140.46 points or 0.57
percent to 24,792.20, the Nasdaq gained 58.177 points or 0.84 percent to
6,994.76, and the S&P 500 edged higher by 14.35 points or 0.54 percent to
2,690.16.
Crude oil futures turned lower on
Monday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and as rising US output offset support
from the Forties pipeline shutdown. It was reported that the hairline crack
which caused the pipeline outage "has not propagated". The pipeline outage,
however, is expected to continue to support Brent prices as "there is no
reliable information" concerning the length of time the pipeline will be out of
operation. Meanwhile, Nigeria's Pengassan oil union launched a strike on
Monday. The strike comes after talks with the government over unfair labor
practices ended in deadlock. Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery
ended lower by $0.14 or 0.15 percent at $57.16 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery was down by $0.08 to
$63.15 a barrel on the ICE.
Indian
rupee pared most of its early losses but still ended weaker against the
American currency on Monday, due to fresh dollar demand from banks and
importers. Investors failed to get some support with statement of an UN expert
that India can achieve an 8% growth rate for the next two decades by promoting
investment and improving the living conditions of its people. However, domestic
unit recovered from early losses, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP
looked set to win key polls in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat. On the global
front, dollar dipped against a basket of major currencies on Monday, on caution
ahead of a vote in US Congress on tax reform, after the bill moved another step
closer to ratification over the weekend. Finally, the rupee ended at 64.23, 19
paise weaker from its previous close of 64.04 on Friday.
The
FIIs as per Monday'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
9274.29 crore against gross selling of Rs 10144.34 crore, while in the debt
segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1334.50 crore with gross sales of Rs
930.38 crore.
The US markets extended their
gains to the new week and ended higher in the last session, with the major
averages reaching new record closing highs on optimism about the outlook for
Republican tax reform, which would cut corporate and individual tax rates. The
Asian markets have mostly made a positive start on hopes that that US
legislators are on the brink of passing sweeping tax cuts. The Japanese shares
were little changed, though yen gave back gains. The Indian markets despite witnessing a huge volatility, managed to
extend gains in the last session after the Prime Minister Modi-led Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in both Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh
Assembly elections. Today, the start is likely to be in green and the traders
will continue getting strength with the assembly election results announced
yesterday. However, all eyes will be on global development, as the US House
votes on the tax bill later in the day that would cut corporate individual tax
rates. Also, there will be some cautiousness in the markets with the government
seeking Parliament's approval to spend a net additional Rs 333.8 billion ($
5.21 billion) in new spending in the fiscal year to March 2018. The additional
spending will be on top of an approved spending of $ 334.9 billion in the
annual Budget. Meanwhile, rating agency India Ratings in its latest report has
warned that the farm debt waivers announced by the five large states together
will widen the combined fiscal deficit of the states by Rs 1,07,700 crore or
0.65 percent of GDP this financial year. There will be some action in the
tourism and hotel stocks, as the Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons has said
that there was no adverse impact of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rollout on
foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in the country. The pharma stocks too will be
in focus, as the National drug pricing regulator NPPA has said it had notified
prices of 65 essential formulations, including those used for the treatment of
diabetes, infections, pain and high blood pressure.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10388.75
|
10161.18
|
10529.93
|
BSE Sensex
|
33601.68
|
32864.24
|
34070.51
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close
(Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
SBI
|
321.20
|
318.90
|
305.03
|
328.13
|
Vedanta
|
163.92
|
308.40
|
292.18
|
318.93
|
ICICI Bank
|
163.00
|
308.90
|
293.17
|
318.47
|
Hindalco
|
138.34
|
249.65
|
238.67
|
257.47
|
Yes Bank
|
136.90
|
311.15
|
304.97
|
317.67
|
HDFC Bank has issued 3 lakh instant credit cards within a year of its launch.
BPCL has decided to provide grant to two highly promising start-up ventures at Maker Village, the largest electronics incubator in Kerala managed by IITM-K.
Yes Bank has entered into collaboration with Pantomath Advisory to develop the MSME ecosystem.
Central Electricity Authority has deleted 325 MW capacity of NTPC's subsidiary -- Patratu Vidyut Utpadan Nigam -- from the database of All India Installed Capacity.