It turned to be yet another tumultuous day of trade for the
Indian stock markets which got thrashed for the fourth straight session to end
with a cut of over two percent. Markets saw relentless selling pressure across
the counters after further depreciation of the Chinese yuan rekindled fears of
a growth slowdown in the world's second largest economy while slump in crude
oil prices also dampened sentiment. The global benchmark Brent fell over 3 per
cent to $33 per barrel, a level not seen since April 2004 and below the
previous 11-year low. Finally the NSE's 50-share broadly followed index Nifty,
suffered a nasty one hundred and seven point laceration to settle below the
crucial 7,600 support level while Bombay Stock Exchange's Sensitive Index
Sensex got obliterated by over five hundred points and closed just above the
psychological 24,850 mark. Moreover, the broader markets too failed to show any
kind of fervor and settled with large cuts of about three percent. Sentiments
remained down-beat with the World Bank lowered its global economic growth
forecast for 2016 to 2.9% against its June forecast of 3.3% growth because of
sluggish performance from major emerging market economies. On the domestic
front, sentiments got undermined with the report that Indian companies raised
the lowest amount via both onshore and offshore debt markets in six years last
year owing to subdued domestic investment climate and volatile global markets.
Earlier on Dalal
Street, the
benchmark got off to a somber opening, extending the downtrend for the fourth
straight session as pessimistic sentiments prevailed across Asian markets.
Thereafter, the frontline indices lost the plot and kept tumbling down the hill
without any stoppage. The steep fall turned even acute after the weak opening
of European markets in the noon trades.
The indices barely managed to show signs of stabilizing in the session as the
downward drift halted only with the session's close after suffering gargantuan
losses. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined by 554.50 points or 2.18% to 24851.83,
while the CNX Nifty lost 172.70 points or 2.23% to 7,568.30.
The US
markets tumbled again on Thursday with the major averages coming down to their
worst closing levels in three months. The fall was induced by another sell-off
in the Chinese market, which plunged by more than 7 percent in brief trading
after the People's Bank of China set the yuan's daily reference rate at the
lowest level since April of 2011. Traders even overlooked the Labor Department
report showing a pullback in initial jobless claims in the week ended January
2nd.The report said initial jobless claims fell to 277,000, a decrease of
10,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 287,000. Now all eyes are on closely watched monthly
employment report to be released on Friday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
plunged by 392.41 points or 2.3 percent to 16,514.10, the Nasdaq slumped by
146.34 points or 3 percent to 4,689.43 and the S&P 500 tumbled 47.17 points
or 2.4 percent to 1,943.09.
Crude
oil futures falling for the fourth day in a row plunged to near the 2004 lows
on dismal news from China,
a variety of geopolitical tensions and brimming oil supplies. The sell-off in China
exacerbated fears of weakening demand among the world's second-largest consumer
of oil, even though the US Energy Information Agency reported an unexpected
decline in US inventories. The report showed that the US
crude oil inventory fell by 5.1 MMbbls to 482.3 MMbbls for the week ending January 1, 2016, as compared with the
previous week. Benchmark crude oil futures for February delivery shed $0.70 or 2.02
percent to close at $ $33.27 a barrel after trading in a range of $ $34.26 and
$ $32.10 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London,
Brent oil futures for February delivery declined by $0.48 or 1.46% to $ $33.75 a
barrel on the ICE.
Indian rupee extending weakness for the second day declined
on Thursday, after the Chinese central bank, PBoC, devalued yuan by 0.51 per
cent and set it midpoint to its weakest level since March 2011, sending Asian
currencies tumbling. Besides, sustained foreign fund outflows amid increased
demand for the US currency from importers and sharp decline in the local
equity markets, also weighed on the rupee sentiments. On the global front, yen
rose to its highest against the dollar in more than four months as investors
looked for a haven after China guided the yuan aggressively lower. Finally, the rupee
ended at 66.93, 10 paise weaker from its previous close of 66.83 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net sellers in equity and
in debt segments both. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4454.10 crore
against gross selling of Rs 4567.79 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross
purchase was of Rs 287.57 crore with gross sales of Rs 1100.69 crore.
The US
markets ended sharply lower in last session on growing Chinese fear and oil
prices dropping to 12-year lows. Investors also braced for Friday's US
government jobs report and remained on sideways. Some of the Asian markets have
extended losses at their weakest level since September as the crude oil
lingered around a 12-year low, though many are showing signs of recovery, as
the Chinese markets bounced back in early trade. The Indian markets embroiled
in global rout slumped in last session with major averages closing at their
three weeks low, Sensex even slipped below the 25000 crucial mark, markets
after a gap-down opening kept plummeting lower throughout the day with most of
the bluechip companies witnessing pounding. Today, the start is likely to be
cautious but recovery can be expected along with other global peers. On
domestic front the government has said that it agreed to accept demands set by
the Congress party to back a landmark tax reform, raising hopes a political
standoff that blocked the measure throughout last year might be resolved. Also,
as the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during his fourth Pre-Budget Consultative
Meeting with the representatives of IT (Hardware & Software) Sector said
that Indian economy has emerged as one of the fastest growing economies in the
world with its GDP growth accelerated at 7.3 percent in 2014-15 compared to 6.9
per cent growth in 2013-14 and 5.1 per cent in 2012-13, indicating that the
economy is firmly on the path of economic revival. Meanwhile, in a pre-Budget
meeting with the commerce and industry ministry, India Inc has said that the
government should further ease Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) norms,
especially in sectors such as multi-brand retail, education and e-commerce, where
its stance has been ambivalent till now. Some buzz can be seen in the PSU
stocks, as the finance ministry has asked Central Public Sector Enterprises
(CPSEs) to shell out 30% dividend to the government, and that CPSEs with large
cash reserves and sustainable profit may issue bonus shares.
Support
and Resistance: NSE Nifty and BSE Sensex
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
CNX Nifty
|
7568.30
|
7524.95
|
7643.30
|
BSE Sensex
|
24851.83
|
24708.24
|
25112.89 |
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close
(Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
Vedanta
|
183.13
|
81.15
|
78.52
|
85.37
|
ICICI Bank
|
165.82
|
246.75
|
244.00
|
248.60
|
SBI
|
143.42
|
209.55
|
207.67
|
212.77
|
Axis Bank
|
137.87
|
409.25
|
402.45
|
420.60
|
Tata Motors
|
117.82
|
343.55
|
335.10
|
355.00 |
- Tata Power has signed a pact with International Union for
Conservation of Nature to delineate & enhance conservation of ecological
footprints in the locations of the various companies' projects.
- Bharat Heavy Electricals has commissioned two 220/20kV
substations in Afghanistan. The project has been executed by BHEL on EPC basis.
- Maruti Suzuki's DZire, India's best-selling sedan, now comes equipped with the
celebrated Auto Gear Shift technology.
- Bajaj Auto, one of the leading two wheeler makers in India, is planning to enter 12 new export markets by end of
March 2016.
- Tata Motors in association with Petronas Lubricants
International have unveiled Tata Motors Genuine Oil for its passenger vehicles
range in India.