Thursday's
trading session was clearly of consolidation as the Indian frontline equity
indices appeared a bit fatigued and remained in tight band throughout the day.
However, the benchmarks managed to extend the winning momentum for the third
consecutive day of trade as local sentiments continued to show signs of
improvement. Sentiments remained up-beat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's
statement that the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), coupled
with a digitised economy ushered in by demonetization, will make India's
economy look much cleaner and bigger. Finance Minister reiterated that the
Centre is still aiming to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from
April 1 if all pending issues are sorted out. Besides, appreciation in rupee
value against the dollar also fuelled the domestic market sentiments. Some
support also came with Reserve Bank of India's
(RBI's) suggestion of uniform rate of withholding tax for overseas borrowings,
irrespective of type and currency. If the government agrees, this could lower
the cost of overseas borrowing for Indian companies. Simplifying the levy will
improve the ability of Indian companies to raise money. Meanwhile, Footwear
stocks rallied on the repot that government may announce package for leather
sector in forthcoming Budget. The government is expected to announce an
incentive package for labour intensive leather sector in the forthcoming Budget
with a view to give a boost to the segment and generate jobs. On the other
hand, Pharma stocks came under pressure after US
president-elect Donald Trump attacked the pharmaceutical industry for high drug
prices and for manufacturing overseas, saying he will create new procedures for
bidding on drugs, reports AFP. On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly
in red on Thursday, with Japanese shares coming under heavy selling pressure,
after President-elect Donald Trump failed to provide clarity on future fiscal
policies in a highly-awaited press briefing. Back home, finally, the BSE Sensex
surged 106.75 points or 0.39% to 27247.16, while the CNX Nifty rose 26.55
points or 0.32% to 8,407.20.
The
US markets closed lower on Thursday, with the Nasdaq snapping a seven-day
winning streak as investors paused before the start of earnings season and a
lack of policy detail in President-elect Donald Trump's first formal news
conference a day ago. Equity markets have been trading mostly sideways as
investors begin to question the run-up in stock prices following the election
on Trump's promises of fiscal stimulus. On the economy front, the federal
government ran a budget deficit of $28 billion in December, double the
shortfall from the same month a year ago as both receipts and spending fell. Total
receipts were down 9% for the month, with individual income tax collection flat
and gross corporate tax collection lower. A decline in Federal Reserve earnings
remitted to the Treasury also contributed to the smaller amount of receipts. Moreover,
the number of Americans who applied for unemployment benefits in the first week
of 2017 rose by 10,000 to 247,000, but they remain near the lowest level in
decades. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 63.28 points or 0.32 percent to 19,891.00,
Nasdaq dropped 16.16 points or 0.29 percent to 5,547.49, while S&P 500 was
down 4.88 points or 0.21 percent to 2,270.44.
Crude
oil futures strengthened further on Thursday amid hopes that there will be
demand improvement from China
and also on reports showing OPEC production fell sharply in December. The oil
prices got a lift with reports saying that Saudi
Arabia cut output by more than agreed. Saudi
Energy Minister Energy Minister Khalid Al-Falih said that the kingdom's output
is now below 10 million barrels a day. Saudi
Arabia had agreed to cut output by 486,000
barrels a day to 10.058 million. Kuwait
also has reportedly reduced production by more than it agreed. Benchmark crude
oil futures for February delivery was up by $0.76 or 1.5 percent to $53.01 on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London,
Brent crude for March delivery added $0.85 or 1.54 percent to end at $55.95 on
the ICE.
Indian rupee appreciated against US dollar on Thursday
ahead of key economic data i.e. November IIP and December CPI data, scheduled
to be released later in the session. Gains of local equities and dollar selling
by exporters and banks mainly aided the currency's appreciation. Traders took
some support with Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) suggestion of uniform rate of withholding tax
for overseas borrowings, irrespective of type and currency. If the government
agrees, this could lower the cost of overseas borrowing for Indian companies.
Simplifying the levy will improve the ability of Indian companies to raise
money. On the global front, dollar slipped against yen after President-elect
Donald Trump's news conference failed to offer details on his plans to boost
fiscal spending and cut taxes. Finally, the rupee ended at 68.08, 25 paise
stronger from its previous close of 68.33 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net sellers in equity
and debt segments both. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 3936.03
crore against gross selling of Rs 4621.48 crore, while in the debt segment, the
gross purchase was of Rs 1543.63 crore with gross sales of Rs 1543.67 crore.
The US
markets closed modestly in red but were well off the days' low. The decline was
mainly due to profit taking, with traders cashing in on some of the strength
seen in the last couple of days and also due to continued uncertainty about
Trump's policies following his highly-anticipated press conference. The Asian
markets have once again made a mixed start; though the Japanese market has
bounced back with yen weakening against dollar. The Indian markets strengthened
further in last session on expectations surrounding Q3 earnings and the
upcoming Union Budget that helped investors shrug off mixed global cues. Today,
the start is likely to be in green and traders will be reacting positively to
some positive macro data. The Index of Industrial Production rose to a 13-month
high of 5.7% in November, belying expectations of an adverse impact from
demonetization and against a contraction of 1.8% in October, mainly due to base
effect. Also, the Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased to
3.41% in December versus 3.63% seen in November 2016, mainly due to softening
of food prices. There will be some cautiousness too, especially in the IT sector
as all eyes will be on Infosys numbers slated to be announced during the day.
The IT bellwether is expected to scale down its full-year dollar revenue growth
for the third time this year. Its third quarter earnings are expected to be
subdued due to seasonal weakness and RBS's contract cancellation. There will be
some buzz in infra sector stocks, as the Industry body FICCI has said in the
forthcoming Budget, the Centre should prioritise measures that will boost
spending on infrastructure creation to shore up local demand. The Tata group
stocks will keep buzzing, as Tata Sons has named Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the
CEO and MD of TCS, as their new chairman.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
8407.20
|
8387.27
|
8422.17
|
BSE Sensex
|
27247.16
|
27182.92
|
27295.16 |
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
IDEA
|
151.43
|
72.15
|
70.83
|
73.98
|
Power Grid
|
151.08
|
198.00
|
192.08
|
201.83
|
Hindalco
|
142.25
|
177.00
|
173.40
|
179.60
|
SBI
|
112.82
|
251.25
|
249.72
|
253.62
|
ICICI Bank
|
106.46
|
268.35
|
266.03
|
270.08 |
- NTPC
has received an investment approval for Dulanga Coal Mining Project having
rated production capacity of 7 MTPA at an appraised estimated cost of Rs
1,053.41 crore.
- ICICI
Bank has successfully executed the country's first digitised invoice
discounting transaction on the ‘Receivables Exchange of India'.
- HDFC
Bank has helped five temples in Kanyakumari district in southern Tamil Nadu to
introduce digital wallets and point of sale to enable their devotees pay
donations.
- State
Bank of India
has signed memorandum of understanding with the Gujarat
government for extending bank credit especially in priority sector.
- Adani
Ports and Special Economic Zone has
raised $500 million by selling bonds to overseas investors as the company aims
to refinance its existing debt at a lower cost.