Indian equity benchmarks ended
flat on Wednesday after seven days rally. The markets made a cautious start but
managed to keep their heads above water for the most part of the session, amid
reports that the government has given a major relief to startups by enhancing
definition of startups. It has decided to relax angel tax norms for startups,
including increasing the investment limit to Rs 25 crore for availing income
tax concessions by startups. Traders were positive, as the Vice President of
India, M. Venkaiah Naidu expressed the hope that in all our countries, we
would be able to translate economic growth into inclusive, sustainable
development and referred to Indian government's resolve to transform
governance and ultimately the lives of the people. Adding relief on the street,
India's Ambassador to the US Harsh Vardhan Shringla said that India's growth in
last five years has been transformational and the country is all set to emerge
as a $5 trillion economy in the next five years. But, key equity indices remain
volatile during session and finally ended flat, impacted by a report that there
is a 70% chance of El Nino climate cycle forming towards the second half of
this year, a forecast that does not augur well for the monsoon season in India.
Weak cues from global markets also weighed on the domestic sentiments.
Investors got cautious as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das
expressed need to stick to the fiscal roadmap by adopting a commonly agreed
expenditure code-based spending plan to address the socioeconomic challenges.
He also advocated giving permanent status to the finance commission. Further,
the market participants took a note of the report showing that Indian mutual
funds and insurance firms, which scooped up shares while foreign institutional
investors (FIIs) stayed away, turned net sellers of Rs 10,247.9 crore in March,
even as FIIs returned to Indian markets. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 23.28
points or 0.06% to 38,386.75, while the CNX Nifty was down by 11.35 points or
0.10% to 11,521.05.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday as a batch of largely upbeat US data offset economic concerns raised
by the Federal Reserve no longer forecasting interest rate hikes this year. The
Labor Department released a report showing a bigger than expected drop in
initial jobless claims in the week ended March 16th. The report said initial
jobless claims dropped to 221,000, a decrease of 9,000 from the previous week's
revised level of 230,000. Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the less
volatile four-week moving average crept up to 225,000, an increase of 1,000
from the previous week's revised average of 224,000. Meanwhile, after reporting
an unexpected contraction in regional manufacturing activity in the previous
month, the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia released a report on Thursday
showing its index of manufacturing activity rebounded by much more than
anticipated in March. The Philly Fed said its index for current manufacturing
activity in the region jumped to a positive 13.7 in March from a negative 4.1
in February, with a positive reading indicating growth. Additionally, the
Conference Board also released a report showing a slightly bigger than expected
increase by its reading on leading US economic indicators. The Conference Board
said its leading economic index edged up by 0.2 percent after revised data showed
no change in January. Besides, support also came in on the back of a rally in
the technology sector. Apple (AAPL) posted a standout gain, jumping by 3.7
percent after Needham upgraded its rating on the company's stock to Strong Buy
from Buy, citing value upside in Apple's ecosystem. Dow Jones Industrial
Average surged 216.84 points or 0.84 percent to 25962.51, S&P 500 gained
30.65 points or 1.09 percent to 2854.88 and Nasdaq was up 109.99 points or 1.42
percent to 7838.96.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
Thursday, with the US benchmark settling below the key $60 mark, as global
crude prices suffered their first loss in four sessions. Prices for both
benchmarks had climbed by more than 1% on Wednesday after US government data
showed an unexpectedly large fall in domestic crude inventories. The Energy
Information Administration said US crude inventories fell by an unexpected 9.6
million barrels last week, while supplies of gasoline dropped 4.6 million
barrels and distillates declined by 4.1 million barrels. The US Energy
Information Administration reported that domestic supplies of natural gas fell
by 47 billion cubic feet for the week ended March 15. Benchmark crude oil
futures for May dropped 25 cents or 0.4 percent to settle at $59.98 a barrel on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude lost 64 cents or 0.9 percent
to settle at $67.86 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Resuming its winning streak,
Indian rupee ended higher on Wednesday against the greenback after a day of
halt on the back of massive liquidity push in form of strong foreign fund
inflows in March. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) put in Rs 2,132.36
crore on a net basis on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Reserve Bank of India's (RBI)
governor Shakthikanta Das has stated the recent decision to inject rupee
liquidity through long-term foreign exchange swap has received quite well
response from market. In an unprecedented move, the Central Bank on March 13
announced a US dollar/rupee buy/sell swap auction worth $5 billion on March 26
to inject rupee liquidity for longer duration. This is first time that such a
tool has been deployed by the RBI, which has been normally using OMOs to inject
liquidity into the system. But the targeted liquidity will reach the system
only next fiscal year when the government starts spending. However, gains
remain capped as investors braced for caution ahead of the outcome of the
Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting later in the day. Finally, the
rupee ended at 68.83, 13 paise stronger from its previous close of 68.96 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 6586.33 crore against gross selling of Rs 4396.76 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 3635.54 crore with gross
sales of Rs 983.80 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was
of Rs 0.53 crore against gross selling of Rs 0.30 crore.
The US markets ended sharply
higher on Thursday as a batch of largely upbeat US data offset economic
concerns raised by the Federal Reserve no longer forecasting interest rate
hikes this year. Asian markets are trading mixed on Friday as investors
grappled with the consequences of a recent change in interest rate outlook at
the US Federal Reserve. Indian equity markets ended Wednesday's lackluster
trade almost flat, as weak global cues prompted traders to book some profits
following a seven-session winning streak. Today, the markets are likely to make
a cautious start amid mixed cues from Asian peers. Investors will be cautious
following the US Federal Reserve's dim outlook for the global economy. On the
domestic front, there will be some concern with a private report that the liquidity
crisis in the non-banking finance companies (NBFC) space triggered by the
default of infrastructure ending major IL&FS last September is continuing
to have an impact on mutual fund (MF) deployments in the sector. The overall
exposure of debt MFs to NBFCs stood at Rs 2.2 lakh crore in February, a drop of
Rs 45,386 crore since July 2018 when the liquidity stress first emerged. Some
cautiousness may also come in with Icra's report that as many as 52 road
projects worth Rs 37,019 crore were sold between 2015 and 2018, due to
liquidity crisis faced by their promoters or the special purpose vehicles
executing them. However, traders may take some encouragement with report that
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has made a case for setting up GST Council-like
federal institutions to promote healthcare, rural development and agriculture
sectors by optimally utilising resources of the centre and states. He said
agriculture, rural development and healthcare is one area where the central
government spends a lot of money on supporting farmers, creating infrastructure
and building health centres for poor population. Meanwhile, Information
Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said the IT sector has created 8.73
lakh new jobs in the past five years. There will be some reaction in sugar
sector stocks with report that the food ministry has asked states to ensure
that sugar mills are not selling the sweetener at below the minimum selling
price (MSP), which has been increased recently to Rs 31 a kilogram from Rs 29.
It said all mills have to sell sugar at Rs 31 a kg plus GST and transportation
charges and action may be taken against mills selling sugar below floor price.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
11,521.05
|
11,497.40
|
11,550.40
|
BSE Sensex
|
38,386.75
|
38,305.37
|
38,478.97
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
IOC
|
360.67
|
159.00
|
155.55
|
162.60
|
ONGC
|
286.76
|
151.85
|
149.28
|
155.73
|
NTPC
|
280.99
|
129.25
|
126.23
|
134.13
|
Yes Bank
|
268.17
|
252.15
|
248.03
|
254.63
|
Coal India
|
202.69
|
237.00
|
233.80
|
242.40
|
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