Last trading day of the week
closed on lackluster note, with the Sensex and the Nifty ending lower by around
150 and 50 points, respectively. The start of the session was on a cautious
note, impacted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das'
statement that the coronavirus outbreak will have a limited impact on India but
the global GDP and trade will definitely get affected due to the large size of
the Chinese economy. In afternoon deals, key benchmarks managed to keep their
heads in green terrain for some duration, despite weak cues from the global
markets. But, in the last leg of the trade, losses got intensified over the
street, amid Fitch Ratings' report stating that with deceleration in growth and
tight liquidity conditions, the country's financial institution sector may
continue to face challenging operating environment. Traders overlooked a report
that the CCEA approved a new central sector scheme Formation and Promotion of
Farmer Produce Organizations to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs in five years
period from 2019-20 to 2023-24 with budgetary support of Rs 4,496 crore as part
of its efforts to cut production cost and boost income of farming community.
Finally, the BSE Sensex slipped 152.88 points or 0.37% to 41,170.12, while the
CNX Nifty was down by 45.05 points or 0.37% to 12,080.85.
The US markets ended lower on
Friday as traders continued to keep a close eye on the latest coronavirus
report, with Chinese officials reporting 1,109 new confirmed cases of the
coronavirus, up sharply from 349 cases the previous day. The number of
confirmed cases in Japan increased by 23 to 728. The full economic impact of
the disease is unclear but early indications suggest that it is already denting
China's car sales. Chinese passenger car sales data for the first two weeks of
February showed a year-over-year decline of 92%. A number of companies have
warned about the impact of the coronavirus, with Coca-Cola (KO) forecasting the
outbreak will trim 1 to 2 cents per share off its first quarter earnings. On
the economic data front, existing home sales in the US pulled back in January
after jumping in December, according to a report released by the National
Association of Realtors (NAR), with existing home sales continuing a
fluctuating pattern of monthly increases and declines. NAR said existing home
sales slumped by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million in January after
surging up by 3.9 percent to a revised rate of 5.53 million in December. Street
had expected existing home sales to tumble by 1.8 percent. Despite the monthly
decrease, the report noted existing home sales in January were up by 9.6
percent compared to the same month a year ago.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
Friday pressured by a reported rift in the crude-production alliance between
Saudi Arabia and Russia, as concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in China and
beyond take a toll on expectations for energy demand. Saudi Arabia is weighing
a break from a production alliance with Russia amid a disagreement between the
oil heavyweights over the effect of China's COVID-19 outbreak on global crude
demand. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHI) said there were 76,767
confirmed cases of COVID-19, with the death toll at 2,247. The WHI said there
were 1,019 new cases world-wide, with 100 in South Korea, which has seen a
large uptick in recent days. Crude oil futures for March dropped 50 cents or
0.9 percent to settle at $53.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
April Brent crude declined 81 cents or 1.4 percent to settle at $58.50 a barrel
on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian
rupee depreciated for second straight session against the US dollar on
Thursday, following a spike in crude oil prices amid buying in the American
currency by banks and importers. Investor sentiments remained fragile with the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the
coronavirus outbreak will have a limited impact on India but the global GDP and
trade will definitely get affected due to the large size of the Chinese
economy. He added that only a couple of sectors in India are likely to see some
disruptions but alternatives are being explored to overcome those issues.
Investors also remained on sidelines and awaited more clarity on US President
Donald Trump's statement ahead of his visit to India that the two countries
were working on a major trade deal. Lackluster trade in local equity markets
along with dollar's strength against major global currencies overseas also
affected the rupee. On the global front, Sterling slipped for the fourth
straight day against the dollar on Thursday as the US currency's broad-based
strength and jitters over the start of Britain's trade talks with the EU offset
data showing a strong rebound in UK retail sales. The last traded price of
rupee was 71.64, 10 paise weaker from its previous close of 71.54 on Tuesday.
The
FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in equity segment, while they were
net sellers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs
11721.21 crore against gross selling of Rs 10428.04 crore, while in the debt
segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1613.07 crore with gross sales of Rs
4860.06 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6.99
crore against gross selling of Rs 2.50 crore.
The US markets ended in red on
Friday as the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic from China to neighboring
countries amplified worries about the impact on supply chains and global
economic growth. Asian markets are trading lower in early deals on Monday.
Stocks in South Korea plunged after the country raised its coronavirus alert to
the highest level following a recent spike in cases throughout the country. The
Indian markets before going for a long weekend posted losses of over one third
of a percent amid rising crude oil prices. Markets remained closed on Friday on
account of a public holiday. Today, the start of the crucial F&O series
expiry week is likely to be negative tracking sell-off in the global markets
amid coronavirus outbreak. Market participants will also be looking forward to
the Gross Domestic data for the third quarter of current fiscal year (FY20) to
be out later in the week. Traders will be concerned as think tank National
Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) pegged the India's economic growth
for the current fiscal at 4.9%, a tad down from 5% estimated by the National
Statistical Office (NSO). There will be some cautiousness with Chief Economic
Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian's statement that India has some distance to
go in fully shifting from pro-crony to pro-business policies. Though, some
support may come later in the day with the IMF's October World Economic Outlook
report showing that India became world's fifth largest economy in 2019 in terms
of nominal GDP, leapfrogging France and the UK. Some support may also come with
the RBI's data showing that the country's foreign exchange reserves swelled by
$3.091 billion to a lifetime high of $476.092 billion in the week to February
14, mainly due to a rise in foreign currency assets. Traders may take note of
the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the
RBI is reviewing the retail inflation targeting framework behind monetary
policy decision as well as its effectiveness and also plans to hold
stakeholders consultations including with the government in June. Meanwhile, US
President Donald Trump and top brass of his administration will kick-start an
eagerly awaited tour of India on February 24, a visit expected to significantly
ramp up bilateral defence and strategic ties but unlikely to produce tangible
outcome in resolving thorny issues like trade tariffs. There will be some buzz
in the power stocks with ICRA's report that the Central Government's efforts to
award coal linkages under its Shakti policy to independent power projects
having long-term PPAs on an auction basis will have a positive impact on
coal-based power plants. Sugar stocks will be in focus with Care Ratings'
report that sugar exports from India are expected to remain firm in the next
few months given the upward trend witnessed by international sugar prices in
recent months. There will be some reaction in pharma stocks as rating agency
ICRA said that it has revised its outlook on the Indian pharmaceutical industry
to negative from stable due to ongoing lockouts in parts of China following the
outbreak of coronavirus.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
12,080.85
|
12,050.87
|
12,131.42
|
BSE Sensex
|
41,170.12
|
41,069.64
|
41,335.26
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Yes Bank
|
1,194.37
|
35.45
|
34.57
|
36.42
|
Tata Motors
|
543.28
|
158.50
|
155.57
|
161.87
|
SBI
|
401.50
|
327.65
|
321.20
|
331.65
|
ONGC
|
283.78
|
102.80
|
101.63
|
104.03
|
NTPC
|
196.64
|
111.35
|
110.73
|
112.18
|
Tata Motors' wholly owned subsidiary -- JLR has flown in auto parts in suitcases as the effects of coronavirus take a toll on the luxury carmaker's supply chains in coronavirus-hit China.
ICICI Bank has unveiled the fourth edition of ICICI Appathon, a virtual challenge for startups to create next generation products and solutions.
L&T's construction arm has opened its state-of-the-art, new-look and digitally transformed corporate museum at Manapakkam in Chennai.
UltraTech Cement has approved the allotment of Unsecured Redeemable NCDs aggregating to Rs 250 crore on private placement basis on February 20, 2020.