Indian equity benchmarks ended
the choppy day of trade with a cut of around half a percent on Monday. Markets
started the session slightly in green as traders took encouragement with
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that if required, the
government would take more steps beyond the announcements made in the Union
Budget 2020-21 to boost economic activities. Sentiments also got some support
with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) data showing that the country's foreign
exchange reserves rose by $1.701 billion to a lifetime high of $473 billion in
the week to February 7 on account of increase in foreign currency assets. But
traders turned pessimistic and key gauges entered into red terrain as some
cautiousness crept in with the commerce ministry's data showing that the
country's exports contracted for the sixth month in a row by 1.66% in January
to $25.97 billion. Imports too declined by 0.75% $41.14 billion, leaving a
trade deficit of $15.17 billion during the month under review. Markets extended
losses in second half of the trade as sentiments remained dampened on report
that Global rating agency Moody's said that India's economic recovery is likely
to be shallow and expand at a slower pace of 5.4 per cent in Calendar 2020 than
the earlier estimate of 6.6 per cent. Traders were eyeing the outcome of
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's press conference. Nirmala Sitharaman's is
holding an interactive session with trade and industry representatives,
intellectuals, influencers, economics professors, professionals on Budget 2020
in Bengaluru today. Adding to the worries, the data showed that investments in
the Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) continue to
decline and hit a nearly 11-year low of Rs 64,537 crore till the end of
December 2019. Finally, the BSE Sensex lost 202.05 points or 0.49% to
41,055.69, while the CNX Nifty was down by 67.65 points or 0.56% to 12,045.80.
The US markets were closed on Monday on account of
Washington's Birthday.
Indian
rupee strengthened against dollar on Monday, as bankers and exporters took to
selling of American currency. Market participants took some support with
Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that momentum is gathering
pace on credit growth and expressed hope that transmission of rate cuts will
improve further in the coming days. However, gains remain capped as Moody's
Investors Service slashed India's growth forecast to 5.4 percent for 2020 from
6.6 percent projected earlier on slower than expected economic recovery. On the
global front, euro was on the back foot on Monday, as concerns mounted about
weakening economic growth in Europe at a time financial markets and policy
makers fret about a new threat to the global economy from a fast spreading
coronavirus in China. The last traded price of rupee was 71.29, 8 paise
stronger from its previous close of 71.37 on Friday.
The
FIIs as per Monday's data were net sellers in equity segment, while they were
net buyers in debt segment, In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs
3973.43 crore against gross selling of Rs 5115.48 crore, while in the debt
segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 5073.78 crore with gross sales of Rs
3752.62 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4.87
crore against gross selling of Rs 0.96 crore.
The US markets remained closed on
Monday for the President's Day federal holiday. Asian markets are trading
mostly in red in early deals on Tuesday as the new coronavirus outbreak
continued to roil companies amid expectations it would cause a slowdown. Indian
markets ended lower on Monday after Moody's Investors Service cut its 2020
growth projection for India to 5.4% from 6.6% forecast earlier, citing growing
concerns over the economic fallout of the novel coronavirus outbreak. Today,
the markets are likely to get a weak start following other Asian peers amid
rising coronavirus threats. There will be some cautiousness with Care Ratings'
report that performance of companies during the quarter ended December of the
financial year 2019-20 was weak with contraction in revenue and moderation in
the growth rate of net profits. It added that the decline in profits, despite
the cut in corporate tax, can be attributed to high growth in interest expenses
and depreciation. Traders will also be concerned with a report that the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that the goods and services tax
(GST) collections in India have been below potential. The organisation said
that multiple rates along with exemptions and implementation challenges have
affected the GST collections in India. Moreover, WTO (World Trade Organisation)
said that growth in world merchandise trade is expected to remain weak in early
2020 and coronavirus outbreak may dampen trade prospects further. However, some
respite may come later in the day as a US-based think tank World Population
Review in its report said that India emerged as the world's fifth largest
economy by overtaking the UK and France in 2019. It added that India is
developing into an open-market economy from its previous autarkic policies.
Besides, a private report said that payment of adjusted gross revenue dues of
Rs 1.20 lakh crore by telcos will reduce the fiscal deficit for 2019-20 to 3.5%
of the GDP from the revised estimate of 3.8% of the GDP. Traders may take note
of report that Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has asked the
industry to look for ways to expand the country's export basket by adding more
value-added products and cut shipments of raw materials. Meanwhile, capital
markets regulator SEBI on Monday decided to amend its investment manager
eligibility norms for Infrastructure Investment Trusts and also permit
fast-track issuance of units to existing investors in REITs and InvITs. There
will be some buzz in the Steel stocks with Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's
statement that the impact of Coronavirus outbreak will be felt on the global
steel industry for at least two to three years, as China is the largest
producer of the alloy. The minister also asked Indian steel companies to
enhance output, particularly special steel, to grab a larger global market
share. There will be some reaction in power stocks with crisil's report that as
many as 3 GW of solar projects worth Rs 16,000 crore could be at risk of
penalties for missing their respective scheduled commercial operation date
(SCOD) if the impact of novel coronavirus on trade with China prolongs.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
12,045.80
|
12,002.00
|
12,124.60
|
BSE Sensex
|
41,055.69
|
40,917.40
|
41,307.16
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Yes Bank
|
1,160.76
|
37.15
|
35.80
|
39.30
|
SBI
|
369.51
|
314.20
|
310.18
|
319.68
|
ONGC
|
366.66
|
99.95
|
98.20
|
102.30
|
Tata Motors
|
328.93
|
169.10
|
166.52
|
171.52
|
Bharti Airtel
|
229.24
|
564.85
|
558.00
|
570.20
|
Bharti Airtel and Nokia, a global telecommunications equipment and service provider, have partnered to offer private LTE based Industry 4.0 solution to enterprises.
Tata Elxsi has partnered with Tata Motors in developing their unified Connected Vehicle Platform that powers the Nexon EV range of electric cars.
Tech Mahindra has collaborated with Virsec, a US based cyber security company delivering a radically new approach to protect against advanced targeted attacks.
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