Daily Newsletter
NSE Intra-day chart (23 October 2020)
Top Gainers
Company NameClose% Change
Top Losers
Company NameClose% Change
World Indices
IndicesLast Trade% Change
Indices
IndicesLast Trade% Change
FII Activity(Rs. Cr)
DateMarketGross PurchaseGross SalesNet Change
Equity
Debt
Equity
Debt
Equity
Debt
DII Investments(Rs. Cr)
DateBuy ValueSale ValueNet Value
 
Market Commentary 26 October 2020
Markets to get a cautious start amid mixed Asian cues

 

In a volatile trade, Indian equity benchmarks traded in green terrain throughout the session and ended with marginal gains on Friday, driven by gains in Auto, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Durables and Power stocks amid positive cues from global markets. Traders found some solace with NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar's statement that the Indian economy might end up with a lower contraction in the current fiscal than projected by various organisations and also stressed that the next stimulus should focus on short-gestation infrastructure projects. Some optimism also came with Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar expressed confidence that money and resources will be in place for a viable and effective vaccination system to fight COVID-19, even as he said it is quite premature to talk about the cost for getting the vaccination. He also expressed hope that the corporate world will also rise up to the occasion and make the vaccination part of their CSR activity. However, gains remain capped as some cautiousness came with a private report stated that with no signs of reprieve from the pandemic in near future and economy yet to show major indications of a revival, India's consumer confidence has declined by 0.3 percentage points in October 2020. Some concern also came as UN expert said that between 150 million and 175 million more people will fall into extreme poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Market participants also took a note of Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant's statement that if India has to grow, then it will have to look at global markets and become a key exporting nation. He also said no country has become rich without penetrating the US market and India must get into it in a big way. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 127.01 points or 0.31% to 40,685.50, while the CNX Nifty was up by 33.90 points or 0.28% to 11,930.35.

 

The US markets ended choppy trading session mostly higher on Friday amid a lack of concrete news out of Washington regarding a new coronavirus stimulus bill. Traders have generally remained optimistic that a bill will eventually be passed, although they may be growing tired of waiting. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has recently suggested negotiations with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin are making progress, but it seems unlikely a bill will be passed before the elections early next month. During the final presidential debate Thursday night, President Donald Trump accused Pelosi of stalling a new relief package until after the elections for political purposes. Trump also claimed that he could get reluctant Senate Republicans to support a broader stimulus bill if an agreement is finally reached. A lack of major US economic data may also have kept traders on the sidelines following the release of upbeat jobless claims and existing home sales data on Thursday. Meanwhile, a steep drop by shares of Intel (INTC) weighed on the Dow, with the semiconductor giant plunging by 10.6 percent. Intel fell sharply after reporting third quarter earnings that beat street estimates but on weaker than expected revenues for its Data Center Group. Credit card giant American Express (AXP) also showed notable move to the downside after reporting third quarter earnings that missed expectations.

 

Crude oil futures settled in red on Friday, on worries about energy demand due to the surge in coronavirus cases in several countries and fresh lockdown measures. According to reports, the spread of coronavirus cases in France is getting out of control. Italy is seeing a surge in new cases, and several states across the U.S. have been reporting increases in infections. Worries about excess supply in the market due to a surge in oil exports from Libya and data showing another increase in US oil-rig count also impacted oil prices. According to reports, crude output from Libya has exceeded 500,000 barrels per day and it is expected to increase further by the end of this month. A report from Baker Hughes said US oil-rig count rose for a fifth straight week, surging up by 6 to a total of 211 this week. Meanwhile, active US rig count went up by 5 to 287 in the week ending October 23. Crude oil futures for December fell $0.79 or 1.9 percent to settle at $39.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. December Brent crude slipped $0.75 or 1.8 percent to settle at $41.71 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

 

Rupee ended weaker against dollar on Friday on account of dollar demand from importers and banks. Traders were worried with private report that with no signs of reprieve from the pandemic in near future and economy yet to show major indications of a revival, India's consumer confidence has declined by 0.3 percentage points in October 2020. However downfall remain capped as Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar expressed confidence that money and resources will be in place for a viable and effective vaccination system to fight COVID-19, even as he said it is quite premature to talk about the cost for getting the vaccination. He also expressed hope that the corporate world will also rise up to the occasion and make the vaccination part of their CSR activity. On the global front, pound edged up in London trading on Friday, set for a weekly gain against the dollar and euro, as Britain and the European Union entered intense negotiations to reach a last-minute Brexit trade deal. Finally, the rupee ended at 73.61, 7 paise weaker from its previous close of 73.54 on Thursday.

 

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyer in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8253.19 crore against gross selling of Rs 7027.73 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 927.65 crore with gross sales of Rs 416.08 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5.84 crore against gross selling of Rs 13.25 crore.

 

The US markets closed mostly in green on Friday after a lackluster session on negotiations between Republicans and Democrats on a stimulus deal. Asian markets are trading mixed on Monday as new coronavirus cases surge in the US as well in countries across Europe. Indian markets ended higher Friday led by gains in auto, IT and metal stocks amid positive global cues. Today, the start of the crucial F&O series expiry week is likely to be a bit cautious tailing the mixed cues from Asian peers and rising coronavirus cases in the US as well in European countries. Traders will be concerned with the minutes of the monetary policy committee's latest meeting showing that the second wave of COVID-19 remains a threat to the Indian economy, and the central bank believes monetary policy needs to remain accommodative despite inflationary pressures. Though, some support may come later in the day as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) encourages investment in sovereign bonds as part of liquidity measures. The RBI is making longer-tenor sovereign bonds attractive again.  Traders may take note of report that industry body PHDCCI expects India's GDP to contract by 7.9 percent in the current financial year and grow by 7.7 percent in 2021-22, assessing that the worst is over and the economy is on the verge of a slow recovery. Besides, there are expectations that in the next stimulus announcement, job creation is likely to be the focus of the government as against the earlier plans to bring in job guarantee in the cities. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Finance has issued operational guidelines for implementation of the interest waiver scheme ahead of the hearing in the matter in the apex court on November 2. There will be some buzz in the coal sector stocks with report that India's coal import rose 11.6 per cent to 19.04 million tonnes in September on account of a recovery in consumption by thermal power plants and other industries as also helped by competitive prices in international markets. Agriculture sector stocks will be focus as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government is taking initiatives to strengthen the agriculture sector in the country so that farmers do not have to face any trouble. There will be some reaction in health sector stocks as government think tank Niti Aayog is looking at many reform ideas in the health sector, including aligning traditional and modern approaches for a larger good. There will be some important earnings announcements too to keep the markets buzzing.

 

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

 

Index

Previous close

Support

Resistance

NSE Nifty

11,930.35

11,901.21

11,967.01

BSE Sensex

40,685.50

40,580.56

40,800.78

 

Nifty Top volumes

 

Stock

 

Volume

Previous close (Rs)

 

Support  (Rs)

 

Resistance (Rs)

 

(in Lacs)

Tata Motors

687.13

137.00

134.44

139.24

NTPC

462.60

86.25

84.96

87.06

State Bank of India

327.08

202.80

201.04

205.09

Tata Steel

285.89

423.45

415.10

428.90

ICICI Bank

221.51

416.95

412.30

421.05

 

  • Tech Mahindra's wholly owned subsidiary -- Tech Mahindra (Americas), Inc. has agreed to acquire 6.03% equity shares in VitalTech Holdings, Inc. 
  • GAIL (India) has handed over 18 four-wheel CNG Dry Waste Collection Vehicles worth Rs 1 crore to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. 
  • TCS has introduced a composite quality engineering service for blockchain applications called TCS Blockchain QE Services.
  • Coal India's fuel allocation under the exclusive e-auction scheme for the non-power sector rose almost six-fold to 13.44 MT in H1FY21.
News Analysis