In a highly volatile session,
Indian equity benchmarks reversed all of their initial losses to end flat with
a positive bias on Friday, with frontline gauges managing to stay above their
crucial 38,000 (Sensex) and 11,200 (Nifty) levels. Domestic share markets
opened in negative territory and traded choppy for most part of the day, as
muted cues from global markets and spiking COVID-19 cases in the country kept
investors on the edge. The sentiments remained in lackluster mood with a
private report stated that business optimism for the July-September quarter
slumped to a record low due to sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, the extension of
lockdown in containment zones and staggered easing of restrictions. Some
cautiousness also came as the Reserve Bank of India sounded a note of caution
saying that protracted spread of the COVID-19 pandemic poses downside risk to
the domestic economy which is expected to remain in the negative zone in the current
fiscal (FY21). However, markets managed to pared all of their losses in late
hour of trade, as some optimism remained among traders in with Union Minister
Jitendra Singh's statement that India will be an important pillar of the
post-coronavirus global economic recovery and that the road map for winning the
battle against the pandemic lies in countries restarting the economy and
strengthening cooperative federalism. Traders also took some support with a
private report that the Centre is looking to expand the scope of its
Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme to a few more sectors. The Finance
Ministry, NITI Aayog and line ministries are reportedly discussing the PLI
scheme for sectors such as chemicals, fertilisers, solar equipment including
solar cells, power equipment sector, electric vehicle (EV) components
(batteries, auto parts). Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 15.12 points or 0.04%
to 38,040.57, while the CNX Nifty was up by 13.90 points or 0.12% to 11,214.05.
The US markets ended mostly
higher on Friday after trading in the red for most part of the day's session.
Markets managed to take out some gains despite Washington's failure to produce
a last-minute coronavirus aid package before Congress takes a summer recess,
leaving America's economic recovery hanging in the balance. Traders were
reacting to reports saying spikes in virus cases in several parts across the
world. Growing uncertainty about a new coronavirus relief plan following the
failure of the policymakers to arrive at an agreement rendered the mood
cautious on Wall Street. Tensions between the US and China have escalated
following the Trump administration unveiling a ban on US transactions with
ByteDance's TikTok and Tencent-owned WeChat. Investors remain hopeful that
America's economy eventually will receive another shot in the arm in the form
of government spending, they also worry that last month's job gains, reported
by the Labor Department on Friday, might cause Congress to drag its feet. The
Labor Department's report said employment jumped by 1.8 million jobs in July
after surging up by 4.8 million jobs in the previous month. Street had expected
employment to increase by 1.6 million jobs. The bigger than expected spike in
employment came amid a sharp increase in employment in the retail sector, which
added 258,300 jobs. The unemployment rate dropped to 10.2 percent in July from
11.1 percent in June. The unemployment rate was expected to dip to 10.5
percent.
Crude oil futures settled lower
for second straight session on Friday with notable losses amid concerns about
outlook for energy demand following reports showing spikes in coronavirus cases
in several parts across the world. According to reports, there are signs of a
second wave of coronavirus infections emerging in Europe after data showed an
uptick in cases in some countries, including Spain, Belgium and
Luxembourg. Also, reports that talks
between White House officials and Democratic leaders over a new coronavirus
relief bill fell apart as the parties remained divided on key issues, including
the quantum of money to be spent. Meanwhile, a report from Baker Hughes said
the number of U.S. oil rigs fell by 4 this week to 176. Crude oil futures for
September fell 73 cents or 1.7 percent to settle at $41.22 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. October Brent crude declined 69 cents or 1.5 percent
to settle at $44.40 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ended marginally
higher against dollar on Friday due to fresh selling of the American currency
by banks and exporters. Rupee got some support with Minister of State for
Personnel Jitendra Singh's statement that the India will be an important pillar
of the post-coronavirus global economic recovery and that the road map for
winning the battle against the pandemic lies in countries restarting the
economy and strengthening cooperative federalism. However, traders remained
cautious with private report that business optimism for the July-September
quarter slumped to a record low due to sharp rise in COVID-19 cases, the
extension of lockdown in containment zones and staggered easing of
restrictions. On the global front; pound resumed its role as a risk-driven
currency on Friday, falling against the dollar as global market sentiment
turned sour after an escalation of US-China tensions. Finally, the rupee ended
at 74.93, 1 paise stronger from its previous close of 74.94 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net buyers in equity, while they were net sellers in debt segment. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5451.52 crore against gross selling
of Rs 4875.69 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
786.98 crore with gross sales of Rs 1243.92 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 14.87 crore against gross selling of Rs
12.06 crore.
The US markets closed mostly in
green on Friday as the latest employment report showed the economy added more
jobs than expected last month, though uncertainty surrounding fresh government
stimulus threatened to crimp a recovery. Asian markets are trading mixed on
Monday amid the heightened US-China tensions in recent weeks. Indian markets
ended a choppy trading session flat on Friday tracking weak Asian and European
markets coupled with Spiking coronavirus cases in the country. Today, the
markets likely to get flat-to-positive start of new week amid mixed Asian cues.
Traders will be getting encouragement as Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched
a financing facility of Rs 1 lakh crore under the Agri-Infra Fund that will
help create post-harvest infrastructure in villages and generate jobs. Some
support will also come with Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant's statement that
India's FDI regime is the most liberal in the world, and even during the
COVID-19 pandemic, the country has attracted over $22 billion worth of direct
investments. However, rising coronavirus cases may dampen the sentiments in
markets. The count of coronavirus cases in India jumped to 2,214,137, with the
country reporting 62,117 new infections. The death toll from the pandemic
reached 44,466, according to the Worldometer website. Traders may be concerned
with a survey from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showing that consumer
confidence fell to a record low last month as Indians grew more pessimistic
about their jobs, incomes and spending. Telecom stocks will be in focus as the
Supreme Court is expected to give its final verdict in the AGR case today. This
will decide whether the telecom companies will be allowed a relaxed payment
structure for clearing the dues they owe to the Union government.
Defence-related stocks may also in limelight after the government announced a
phased, year-wise embargo on the import of 101 items of defence equipment.
There will be some reaction in coal stocks with a private report that India's
coal import fell 43.2% to 11.13 MT in July this year on account of high
stockpile of the dry fuel at pitheads, plants and ports. There will be lots of
earnings reaction based on the performance of the companies.
Support
and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
11,214.05
|
11,160.10
|
11,249.95
|
BSE Sensex
|
38,040.57
|
37,848.74
|
38,171.04
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous
close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance
(Rs)
|
(in
Lacs)
|
Tata Motors
|
564.90
|
119.10
|
116.84
|
120.54
|
State Bank of India
|
448.23
|
190.65
|
189.44
|
191.99
|
ICICI Bank
|
285.12
|
357.95
|
354.19
|
360.69
|
Indian Oil Corporation
|
222.70
|
86.40
|
85.24
|
87.99
|
ITC
|
209.14
|
196.05
|
194.46
|
197.31
|
Coal India has logged a 21.5 per cent growth in coal allocation at 19.76 million tonnes under the four e-auction windows during the April-June quarter.
Mahindra and Mahindra is looking for strategic partners for its electric vehicles business in order to further scale it up.
ONGC has received approval from board of directors to raise to Rs 1,000 crore through NCDs on private placement basis.
Hero MotoCorp has handed over two first responder vehicles to Civil Hospital, Gurugram.