Indian equities ended the last
trading day of the week in green terrain. After a positive start, indices
remained in gaining mood during first half of session, aided with Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's statement that fundamentals of the Indian economy are
strong and it has the capacity to bounce back. The street remained optimistic,
after the Commerce and Industry Ministry examined revamping of the Special
Economic Zone (SEZ) policy to meet the global challenges being faced by Indian
exporters. It has also discussed ways for implementation of the remaining
recommendations of Baba Kalyani report on SEZ to facilitate ease of doing
business in the present global market scenario. In the second half of the
trading session, gains got trimmed over Dalal Street, as American economist
Nouriel Roubini said that the Indian government has chosen to focus on ideological
considerations rather than economic slowdown. He also warned that there can be
a loss of popularity if the economy goes down. However, bourses managed to
settle higher, tracking firm global markets. Market participants were seen
taking a note of Chairman of high-level panel on doubling farmers income, Ashok
Dalwai's statement that the farm policies need to be reoriented to first ensure
income security to farmers and later make them businessmen. Finally, the BSE
Sensex gained 147.37 points or 0.36% to 41,599.72, while the CNX Nifty was up
by 40.90 points or 0.33% to 12,256.80.
The US markets ended in red on
Friday, after closing the previous two sessions higher, with the Labor
Department releasing a report that showed the pace of job growth slowed by more
than expected in the month of December. The report said non-farm payroll
employment climbed by 145,000 jobs in December after spiking by a revised
256,000 in November. Street had expected employment to increase by about
164,000 jobs compared to the jump of 266,000 jobs originally reported for the
previous month. The Labor Department said notable job gains occurred in the
retail trade and healthcare sectors, while mining lost jobs. Besides, some
cautiousness prevailed in the markets on report that an announcement by the
Trump administration of fresh economic sanctions on Iran, following an attack
on US military facilities in Iraq that was in retaliation for the killing of a
top Iranian general by US forces last week. The sanctions target eight senior
Iranian regime officials as well as the nation's steel, aluminum, copper and
iron industries. However, losses remained capped on report that a Chinese
delegation is expected to arrive in Washington on Monday to complete a
phase-one trade agreement with the US, which has arguably been the most
influential driver of stock moves for more than a year. President Donald Trump
said he wants a partial trade deal signed by January 15 or shortly thereafter.
Crude oil futures settled lower
on Friday amid easing tensions in the Middle East. In a significant
development, the US House of Representatives approved a resolution that would
force President Trump to seek consent from Congress before taking new military
action against Iran. Besides, a somewhat disappointing monthly non-farm payroll
data from the US Labor Department contributed a bit to oil prices' decline.
Crude oil futures for February dropped 52 cents or 0.9 percent to settle at
$59.04 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. March Brent declined 39
cents or 0.6 percent to settle at $64.98 a barrel on London's Intercontinental
Exchange.
Indian
rupee continued its upward momentum for the fourth day on Friday on persistent
selling of the American currency by exporters. Sentiments got up-beat with
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement that fundamentals of the Indian
economy are strong and it has the capacity to bounce back. Adding to the
optimism, the Commerce and Industry Ministry examined revamping of the Special
Economic Zone (SEZ) policy to meet the global challenges being faced by Indian
exporters. It has also discussed ways for implementation of the remaining
recommendations of Baba Kalyani report on SEZ to facilitate ease of doing
business in the present global market scenario. However, there was some
cautiousness too ahead of Index of Industrial Production (IIP) data for
November due out later in the day. On the global front, U.S. dollar rose on
Friday, as dissipating geopolitical tension prompted investors to buy riskier
currencies. Finally, the rupee ended at 70.94, 27 paise stronger from its
previous close of 71.21 on Thursday.
The
FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5291.23 crore against gross selling
of Rs 5134.72 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
2048.46 crore with gross sales of Rs 1951.80 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was nil against gross selling of Rs 50.68 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Friday after hiring data fell short of estimates and wage growth was the
weakest in more than a year. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on
Monday ahead of the expected signing on a Sino-US trade deal, though talks on a
phase two package are likely to drag on for month. Indian markets ended higher
for second straight session on Friday mirroring optimism in world equities, as
easing tensions between the US-Iran relieved investors. Today, the start of new
week is likely to be positive tracking Asian peers coupled with growth in
India's industrial production data. A rebound in manufacturing activity pulled
up November's overall industrial output, helping it to grow 1.8% after
declining for three consecutive months. Output had declined by 3.8% in October
after a 4.3% contraction in September, the steepest fall in eight years.
Investors will be looking ahead to the retail inflation or consumer price index
(CPI) data to be out later in the day. Though, there may be some concern with
report that adopting a cautious approach amid the US-Iran tensions, foreign
portfolio investors have pulled out a net sum of Rs 2,415 crore from the Indian
capital markets in January so far. As per latest depositories data, FPIs
invested a net amount of Rs 777 crore in equities and pulled out Rs 3,192.7
crore from the debt segment between January 1-10. Traders may take note of
report that the government is likely to opt for auctioning of more cash
management bills (CMBs) to meet the debt obligations of government bonds in the
next fiscal standing at Rs 3.02 lakh crore to avoid putting pressure on higher
borrowings from the market. There will be some cautiousness as the Reserve Bank
of India tweaks norms for imposing penalties on payment system operators for
not complying with regulatory requirements, with a view to ensure safety and
security to various stakeholders, including customers. There will be some buzz
in the auto stocks as Automobile industry body SIAM (Society of Indian
Automobile Manufacturers) predicted the prices of BSVI vehicles to rise up to
10%. Insurance stocks will be in focus with report that Finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman may announce second-round capital infusion for public sector
general insurance companies in the upcoming Budget to improve their financial
health. There will be some reaction in power stocks with report that State-run
electricity distribution companies' (discoms) dues to power producers stood at
Rs 80,930 crore at the end of November 2019, up 45% from a year earlier. Also,
there will be some earnings announcements too to keep the markets buzzing.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
12,256.80
|
12,209.60
|
12,307.60
|
BSE Sensex
|
41,599.72
|
41,439.98
|
41,767.29
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Yes Bank
|
3,030.72
|
44.75
|
42.92
|
47.47
|
Tata Motors
|
602.52
|
196.35
|
191.23
|
200.23
|
SBI
|
423.78
|
332.25
|
327.58
|
337.43
|
Bharti Airtel
|
370.30
|
457.00
|
452.15
|
463.90
|
Vedanta
|
209.96
|
159.95
|
157.27
|
162.97
|
HDFC Bank has launched a value-added service for religious bodies, societies, clubs and cities.
Tata Motors is planning to start roll-out of over 100 BS-VI compliant models, including passenger vehicles in January 2019.
HDFC has completed the acquisition of majority stake in Apollo Munich Health Insurance for Rs 1,495.81 crore.
GAIL (India) has opened its 4th round of applications for Solicitation of Investment Proposals from Start-Ups operating in the area of renewable and alternate energy sources.