Wednesday turned out to be a
fabulous day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks with frontline gauges ending
the session at their all time closing high levels, surpassing 35,000 (Sensex)
and 10,750 (Nifty) levels for the first time ever. After a cautious start,
markets gained traction and there appeared not even an iota of profit booking
in the session afterwards with benchmarks fervently gaining from strength to
strength to end near intraday highs, as investors continued hunt for
fundamentally strong stocks. Sentiments remained up-beat after the government
said it will reduce its additional borrowing to Rs 200 billion from the bond
markets in the financial year 2017-18, from Rs 500 billion announced last month.
This is primarily because the Reserve Bank of India will pay a
higher-than-anticipated surplus to the Centre, and the dividend target from
state-owned companies will also be met. Also, traders took some encouragement
with a private report stating that business optimism index for the
January-March quarter 2018 touched three and half year high on improving demand
conditions and expectation that government sops in the budget will revive
consumption. It further said that the upcoming Union Budget and assembly
elections during 2018 might have generated optimism about government sops that
could push revival in consumption. Markets accelerated northward journey after
rating agency CRISIL enlightened that India will benefit from stronger global
growth in the fiscal 2019 provided there are no more after effects from the
implementation of the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the economy manages
to tide over the asymmetry in monetary policy of advance economies together
with higher crude oil prices. Some support also came with report that
agricultural exports from India grew 18 per cent to $21 billion in the
April-October 2017-18 period compared to just 5 per cent in 2016-17. Meanwhile,
Commerce and Industries Minister Suresh Prabhu has said that India is expected
to become a $5 trillion economy in the next 8-9 years with the manufacturing
sector contributing 20 per cent to that. Prabhu said as commerce and industries
minister, he is working on a strategy for international trade which will
contribute $2 trillion to the economy where contribution can come from both
manufacturing and services. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 310.77 points or
0.89% to 35,081.82, while the CNX Nifty was up by 88.10 points or 0.82% to
10,788.55.
The US markets closed higher on
Wednesday, with the Dow industrials staged a late rally to end above 26,000 for
the first time ever, knocking out another round-number milestone at a
history-setting pace for blue chips, with all the main equity indexes finishing
at all-time highs. An upbeat gauge of conditions at the Federal Reserve's
business districts contributed to the buying sentiment. The Federal Reserve
said that the US economy and inflation expanded at a modest-to-moderate pace
from late November through the end of 2017, while wages continued to push
higher. The US central bank said in its periodic Beige Book report on the
economy that most districts said that wages increased at a modest pace. A few
districts observed that firms were raising wages in a broader range of
industries and positions since the previous report. Several regional Fed
districts noted increases in manufacturing, construction, and transportation
input costs. Some reported expectations of further wage increases in the coming
months, though prices pressures were still mixed. On the economy front,
industrial production rose 0.9% in December for the fourth straight monthly
increase. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 322.79 points or 1.25 percent
to 26,115.65, the Nasdaq gained 74.594 points or 1.03 percent to 7,298.28, and
the S&P 500 edged higher by 26.14 points or 0.94 percent to 2,802.56.
Crude oil futures recovered and
ended higher on Wednesday, as positive commentary concerning the OPEC-led pact
strengthened investors' expectations that the oil cartel would continue with
output cuts. Prices remained steady near recent 4-year highs ahead of US
inventories data. Benchmark crude oil futures for February delivery ended higher
by $0.24 or 0.9 percent at $63.97 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude for March delivery was up by $0.10 to $69.26 a barrel on the ICE.
Snapping
its previous session's losses, Indian rupee recovered against dollar on
Wednesday, on sustained dollar selling by exporters amid record rally in
domestic equities. Sentiments remained positive with the Government lowering
its additional borrowing plan to Rs 20,000 crore for the fiscal from the
earlier proposal of raising an extra Rs 50,000 crore from the market. The
reduced borrowing would help contain fiscal deficit within the target. Traders
also took some encouragement with Crisil's latest report stating that India
will benefit from stronger global growth in the fiscal 2019 provided there are
no more after effects from the implementation of the GST and the economy
manages to tide over the asymmetry in monetary policy of advance economies
together with higher crude oil prices. Besides, dollar's weakness against some
currencies overseas also aided the recovery momentum. On the global front, euro
fell against dollar on Wednesday as some investors ramped up bullish bets about
the currency though some concerns from policymakers this week damped broader
optimism. Finally, the rupee ended at 63.88, 15 paise stronger from its previous
close of 64.03 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 8266.56 crore against gross
selling of Rs 7520.86 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 391.18 crore with gross sales of Rs 822.00 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 2.20 crore against gross selling of Rs 5.68
crore.
The US markets surged in the last
session and the Dow closed above 26,000 for the first time ever, after the
Federal Reserve's Beige Book painted a sunny picture of the US economy. Traders
also got some support with report that US industrial production surged over the
winter. The Asian markets have made a green start, extending this year's
stellar run, amid optimism for global growth. Energy shares gained after oil
edged higher, as OPEC showed increased determination to curb production. The
Indian markets went for a strong rally in the last session after the government
cut additional borrowing requirement to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 50,000 crore
notified earlier that eased worries surrounding widening fiscal deficit. Today,
the start is likely to be in green on sanguine global cues. Traders may also
get some support with report that direct tax collections during the first
nine-and-a-half months of the current fiscal have risen by 18.7 per cent to Rs.
6.89 lakh crore. CBDT said that the collections till January 15, 2018 represent
over 70 per cent of the Rs. 9.8 lakh crore revenue target from direct taxes.
The banking stocks will be in focus amid reports that the government is
considering a proposal to permit 100 percent FDI in private banks. Meanwhile,
the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) ahead of the GST Council meeting has
called for inclusion of Petroleum and Natural Gas under GST at the earliest.
Till such time as this is done, C Forms should be continued to avoid high tax
incidence on these products. There will be some buzz in the telecom stocks on
report that industry saw a paltry 0.14 million net addition of subscribers
during December, the lowest by the industry in the 2017 calendar year. There
will be some important earnings too, to keep the markets in action.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10788.55
|
10702.53
|
10838.78
|
BSE Sensex
|
35081.82
|
34815.56
|
35233.35
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
ICICI Bank
|
433.02
|
343.25
|
336.80
|
346.95
|
SBI
|
262.76
|
307.10
|
297.00
|
312.80
|
ITC
|
163.75
|
266.05
|
261.40
|
268.85
|
Infosys
|
130.77
|
1152.10
|
1129.47
|
1168.27
|
Hindalco
|
110.37
|
262.75
|
257.72
|
266.52
|
Reliance Industries will invest Rs 5,000 crore in expanding its telecom and petro-retail businesses in West Bengal.
Tata Motors' subsidiary -- JLR has launched the 2018 version of its Range Rover Evoque Landmark Edition in India priced at Rs 50.20 lakh.
BPCL has raised Rs 750 crore through private placement of unsecured non-convertible debentures on January 16, 2018.
Sun Pharma has reached an agreement with Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Allergan to settle a patent litigation for generic of Linzess in the US.