Extending previous session
butchery, Indian equity benchmarks once again ended the session with a cut of
around half a percent, breaching their crucial 10,200 (Nifty) and 33,100
(Sensex) levels. Markets started the session on pessimistic note with traders
reacting negatively to the macro economic data. Sentiments remained dampened
after the industrial production growth hit a three-month low of 2.2% in October
this year, mainly due to subdued performance of manufacturing and mining
sectors coupled with a contraction in output of consumer durables. The IIP grew
4.14% in September this year. Industrial output rose by a meager 2.5% in
April-October this fiscal as compared to 5.5% in the same period of 2016-17. Moreover,
consumer inflation rose to 4.88% in November from 3.58% in October and 3.63% in
the year earlier, exceeded the RBI's forecast of 4.2-4.6% for the second half
of the year. The higher-than-expected retail inflation effectively rules out
any rate cuts in the near future by the Reserve Bank of India even as
industrial growth remains muted. However, markets took U-turn and entered into
green terrain with traders taking support with a private survey report, stating
that India is the third most optimistic nation in hiring intentions as 22% of
employers are expected to add more staff in the next three months. It further
said that workforce gains were expected across all seven industry sectors
monitored and in all four regions. Another private report enlightened that the
gap between China and India's prosperity has narrowed by four ranks since 2016
and to a quarter of what it was in 2012. The upward trend in India's prosperity
is significant in view of the fact that India registered lower gross domestic
product (GDP) growth following demonetization and implementation of the GST
reform in 2017. But sharp selloff in final hour of trade dragged markets back
into negative terrain, as traders opted to book profit at higher levels ahead
of Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data to be released tomorrow. Sentiments also
weighed down on report that Asian Development Bank (ADB) scaled down its
current fiscal year GDP growth forecast for India to 6.7% from prior estimate
of 7%.Finally, the BSE Sensex declined 174.95 points or 0.53% to 33,053.04,
while the CNX Nifty was down by 47.20 points or 0.46% to 10,192.95.
The US markets closed mostly
higher on Wednesday, with the Dow ending at a record for a fourth straight
session after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates, as had been widely
expected. While the day's gains were broad, a sharp decline in financial shares
limited the broader market's advance and pushed the S&P 500 into slightly
negative territory in the final minutes of trading. Investors also digested the
results of Alabama's Senate election, where Democrat Doug Jones won in an upset
victory, defeating controversial Republican Roy Moore. The victory will shrink
the Republican Senate majority, leaving the balance at 51-49. That has raised
concerns that it will be harder for the Republicans to push through major
overhauls, such as tax reform, and that the governing party will struggle in
the 2018 midterm elections. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve lifted a key US
interest rate, but the central bank also struck a wait-and-see stance in light
of persistently low inflation and a pending change in leadership. The central
bank as widely expected raised its benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter
percentage point to between 1.25% and 1.5% - the fourth increase in a year. The
Dow Jones Industrial Average added 80.63 points or 0.33 percent to 24,585.43,
the Nasdaq gained 13.482 points or 0.20 percent to 6,875.80, while the S&P
500 edged lower by 1.26 points or 0.05 percent to 2,662.85.
Crude oil futures declined
further on Wednesday, as traders overlooked the data showing crude stockpiles fell
for the second straight week; there was concern of a larger-than-expected build
in gasoline supplies. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported draw
of 5.1 million barrels of crude for the week ended Dec. 8. Gasoline inventories
rose by 5.7 million barrels, while supplies of distillate fell by about 1.4
million barrels. Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery ended lower by
$0.54 or 1percent at $56.60 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent
crude for February delivery was down by 1.5 percent to $62.42 a barrel on the
ICE.
Recouping most of the early
losses, Indian rupee ended tad lower against the dollar on Wednesday for the
second straight day, on the back of demand of the US currency from importers
and banks. A negative set of macroeconomic data weighted down on the rupee
sentiments. India's industrial growth in October hit a 3-month low of 2.2%,
while retail inflation in November climbed to a 15-month high of 4.88%.
Besides, weak domestic stock markets, rise in global crude oil prices and a
resurgent dollar against other currencies ahead of the Fed policy announcement
later in the day kept the rupee on the edge. On the global front, the dollar
slipped against the yen on Wednesday after the Democratic candidate won a
bitter fight for a US Senate seat in deeply conservative Alabama, injecting
fresh uncertainty about the outlook for the greenback in the coming months. Finally,
the rupee ended at 64.44, 4 paise weaker from its previous close of 64.40 on
Tuesday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday's data
were net buyers in equity segment, while they were net sellers in debt segment.
In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6890.61 crore against gross
selling of Rs 6089.98 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 1618.35 crore with gross sales of Rs 2656.68 crore.
The US markets ended higher in
the last session, and the upward move
on the day lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record highs, as Fed
raised its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point to a target range of
1.25 percent to 1.5 percent, it still doesn't see inflation accelerating. The
Asian markets have made a mixed start as the dollar maintained losses after the
Federal Reserve raised its outlook for U.S. growth and held its forecast for
the number of interest-rate increases next year amid benign inflation. The
Indian markets reacting to the weak macro data ended in red in the last session,
with major benchmarks slipping from the day's high and deposing around half a
percent for the day. Today, the start is likely to remain cautious and traders
will be reacting to the US Federal Reserve's decision to raise interest rates
by 25 basis points, though it was on expected lines and majorly priced in. On
the domestic front traders will be concerned with the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) data showing that India's current account deficit (CAD) widened to 1.2
percent of GDP or $ 7.2 billion in July-September, from 0.6 percent of GDP or $
3.4 billion reported in the same period a year ago. Meanwhile, the trade
deficit widened to $ 32.8 billion in the previous quarter from $ 25.6 billion a
year ago. There will be buzz in the India Inc as with the end of RBI's deadline
to resolve the 28 large stressed accounts that the regulator had identified on
its second list, banks are set to refer as many as 23 of them for insolvency
proceedings. The paper stocks will keep buzzing on reports that paper and paperboard
imports touched an all-time of 10.5 lakh tonnes in the first half of this
fiscal, up 60 per cent from 6.5 lakh tonnes logged in the same period last
year. Traders will be eyeing the WPI inflation data too, to be announced later
in the day.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10192.95
|
10143.02
|
10269.72
|
BSE Sensex
|
33053.04
|
32893.15
|
33308.59
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close
(Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
SBI
|
175.41
|
313.30
|
309.98
|
317.78
|
ICICI Bank
|
148.06
|
302.95
|
299.30
|
307.50
|
Vedanta
|
138.24
|
283.55
|
278.82
|
290.87
|
ONGC
|
114.88
|
183.90
|
182.33
|
186.23
|
ITC
|
86.53
|
259.00
|
256.93
|
261.73
|
UltraTech Cement has started construction on 3.5 MT greenfield cement plant at an investment of around Rs 1,850 crore in the Pali district of Rajasthan.
ONGC has sought access to a data room to help fix the price at which it can acquire the government's 51.11 per cent stake in HPCL.
Reliance Industries' telecom arm - Reliance Jio Infocomm has added 7.34 million subscribers in October to take its base to 145.96 million.
Asian Paints has acquired 100% stake in Reno Chemicals Pharmaceuticals and Cosmetics.