Indian benchmark indices ended
the range bound day of trade on a flat note with positive bias as investors
preferred to stay on the sidelines ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's)
policy meeting next week. Sentiments got some support with the American
industry bodies lauding the Budget, saying Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has
done an 'admirable job' in creating a vision that will propel the domestic
economy while remaining cognizant about foreign investors eying the Indian
market. However, investors remained cautious with the report that India's
services languished, with new business orders falling for the third straight
month, amid muted inflationary pressure that could offer RBI much room to
remain accommodative in its next policy meet next week. The Nikkei India
Services Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which tracks services sector
companies on a monthly basis, came in at 48.7 in January, from 46.8 in December
2016. A reading above 50 indicates expansion while any score below the mark
denotes contraction. Meanwhile, shares of public sector undertaking (PSU) banks
extended their rally for the third straight trading sessions post Budget.
Around six PSU banks, including Bank of Baroda, Bank of India, IDBI Bank,
Indian Bank, Union Bank of India and Vijaya Bank have hit their respective
52-week highs on the in other wise range-bound market. On the other hand, auto
stocks declined after the report that the automobile sales in January were a
mixed bag in all segments, including passenger cars, two-wheelers and
commercial vehicles, as rural markets have still not picked up. In scrip
specific development, Sun TV Network hogged the limelight by gaining as much as
26% after a special CBI court on Thursday dropped all charges against former
telecom minister Dayanidhi Maran and Sun TV promoter Kalanithi Maran in the
Aircel-Maxis case. Also, shares of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) made a strong
debut on Friday, with the scrip listing at Rs 1,085, a 35% premium over the
issue price of Rs 806 on the NSE. The stock eventually settled the trade 33%
higher at Rs 1,070 against its issue price. Finally, the BSE Sensex gained
13.91 points or 0.05% to 28240.52, while the CNX Nifty was up by 6.70 points or
0.08% to 8,740.95.
The US markets closed higher on
Friday, with the Dow industrials reclaiming a close above 20,000 and the Nasdaq
reached a record. Steps by President Donald Trump to roll back bank regulations
and a stronger-than-expected January jobs report contributed to the upbeat
sentiment. San Francisco Fed President John Williams said that the Federal
Reserve can prepare to raise interest rates this year without knowing details
of any new US fiscal policies because inflation is firming and the labor market
looks good. Williams added that there is a lot of uncertainty around fiscal
policy over the next two years. On the economy front, the US created 227,000
new jobs in January to mark the largest gain in four months, revealing an
economy that still has plenty of vigor nearly eight years into a recovery that
shows little sign of ending. Retailers, construction firms, financial companies
and restaurants led the way in hiring in January. The increase in new jobs last
month points to an economy that remains on a steady keel as the Trump
administration gets underway. Growth has averaged about 2% a year since 2010,
fueled by a surge in hiring that has reduced the unemployment rate near a
nine-year low. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 186.55 points or 0.94
percent to 20,071.46, Nasdaq was up 30.57 points or 0.54 percent to 5,666.77,
while S&P 500 gained 16.57 points or 0.73 percent to 2,297.42.
Crude oil futures continued their
upmove on Friday amid mounting tensions between the U.S. and Iran. Also there
was some concern regarding tug of war between OPEC and non-OPEC nations
regarding the global supply glut. Meanwhile, in retaliation for a recent
ballistic missile test, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed a new wave of
sanctions against Iran. Also, there was concern with oil services firm Baker
Hughes reporting that the US rig count jumped for the 13th week in 14. Drillers
added 17 rigs to 583, the most since October 2015. The number of gas-only rigs
held steady at 145. This brings the total number of active oil and gas rigs to
729, an increase of 17. Benchmark crude
oil futures for March delivery declined by $0.29 or 0.54 percent to $53.83 on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for March delivery
ended higher by 0.44 percent at $56.81 on the ICE.
Extending
gains for the eighth straight session, Indian rupee ended marginally stronger
against dollar on Friday, due to selling of greenback by banks and importers.
Local currency got some support with the American industry bodies lauding the
Budget, saying Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has done an 'admirable job' in
creating a vision that will propel the domestic economy while remaining
cognizant about foreign investors eying the Indian market. The domestic
currency looked strong from the very beginning but losses in the equity market
capped some rupee gains. On the global front, dollar gained against yen on
Friday after the Bank of Japan offered to buy Japanese government bonds in a
surprise operation aimed at bringing down JGB yields, as investors awaited US
jobs data later in the day. Finally, the rupee ended at 67.31, 6 paise stronger
from its previous close of 67.37 on Thursday.
The
FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5913.15 crore against gross selling
of Rs 5193.20 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
1271.68 crore with gross sales of Rs 1171.65 crore.
The US markets ended higher in
the last session, supported by upbeat jobs data and the Dow climbed back above
20,000 and the Nasdaq reached a new record closing high. The Asian markets have
made an all green start led by banks after the Trump administration planned to
roll back financial regulations. The Indian markets after a choppy trade and
remaining most of the day in red managed a flat but positive close in last
session. Today, the start of the another crucial week likely to be in green
amid positive global cues, however, the marketmen will be eyeing the Reserve
Bank of India's (RBI) policy meeting on February 8, with hopes of a 25 bps rate
cut. Traders are likely to get some support with Economic Affairs Secretary
Shaktikanta Das' statement expressing confidence that the economy will grow
upwards of 7 per cent next fiscal. He reiterated that there will be transient
impact of demonetisation on the economy, but it will not spill over to the next
fiscal. The Economic Affairs Secretary taking a dig at global rating agencies
for failing to upgrade India's sovereign rating despite significant improvement
in macroeconomic parameters, has said the agencies are several steps behind
from reality and are missing out on something which only they can best explain.
There will be some buzz in the financial stocks, on the reports that the
government is likely to introduce a Bill for resolution of insolvent financial
firms during the current session of Parliament in order to address the
bankruptcy issue in the financial sector. The steel stocks too will be in
action, as the Steel Minister Chaudhary Birendra Singh has said that the
industry must gear up to face global competition as protectionist measures like
minimum import price (MIP) and anti-dumping cannot continue indefinitely. There
will be lots of result reactions based on earnings performance.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
8740.95
|
8716.38
|
8756.88
|
BSE Sensex
|
28240.52
|
28151.61
|
28305.01
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
IDEA
|
264.79
|
109.45
|
107.58
|
112.63
|
ICICI Bank
|
182.28
|
281.55
|
278.58
|
284.73
|
Bank of Baroda
|
165.34
|
186.45
|
179.28
|
190.43
|
SBI
|
153.59
|
277.55
|
273.52
|
280.07
|
Hindalco
|
113.11
|
191.75
|
188.20
|
195.35
|
Tata Power Company has acquired the Unattended Ground Sensors, the defence business division of NELCO.
Axis Bank has received an approval for allotment of 3 years Senior Floating Rate Notes aggregating to $10 million, under the Bank's MTN Programme through its Dubai International Financial Centre branch.
Tata Motors is all set to introduce a new brand called TAMO, which will incubate new technologies and make cars to meet expectations of consumers, as the Indian carmaker is aiming to future-proof its business.
Airtel Payments Bank, a subsidiary of Bharti Airtel, has opened over one lakh savings accounts in Uttar Pradesh within the first two weeks of its launch in the state.
Lupin has received final approval for its Triamcinolone Acetonide Cream USP, 0.025%, 0.1% and 0.5% from the United States Food and Drug Administration.