Friday's trading session was
clearly of consolidation as the Indian benchmark indices appeared a bit
fatigued and remained in tight range throughout the day. Nevertheless, the
benchmarks managed to extend the winning momentum for the second consecutive
day of trade as local sentiments got a boost after the goods and services tax
(GST) council on Thursday gave its nod to the two remaining pieces of
supporting legislation for implementing the landmark tax reform, paving the way
for their introduction in Parliament and state legislatures. The council's
approval for the state GST and Union territory GST bills marks an important
step in India's journey towards creating a unified market and is critical to
meeting the deadline of July 1 for GST implementation. Adding optimism among
investors, HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh said the GST regime can push up the
country's growth by as much as 150-200 basis points (bps). India's GDP for the
third quarter ended in December 2016 recorded a growth of 7%. The estimate of
GDP growth for the full fiscal 2016-17 is 7.1%. Meanwhile, IT stocks, which get
bulk of their revenues from exports to the US, edged higher after Indian rupee,
snapping its four-session long gains, fell 24 paise to 65.65 against the dollar
on Friday. Also, IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Friday said the government
had voiced its concern regarding the H1-B visa issue to the US and added that
Indians do not steal but create jobs. Further, cigarette stocks such as ITC
surged after the GST Council capped the cess on tobacco and cigarettes at 290%
or Rs 4,170 per 1,000 cigarette sticks. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 63.14
points or 0.21% to 29648.99, while the CNX Nifty was up by 6.35 points or 0.07%
to 9,160.05.
The US markets closed mostly
lower on Friday, but managed to post moderate weekly gains with investors
awaiting further catalysts before jumping back into the market. The New York
Federal Reserve said that it reduced its estimates on the US economy's growth
rates in the first and second quarter following the latest data on domestic
retail sales, housing, construction and manufacturing. The regional central
bank scaled back its view on first-quarter gross domestic product to 2.83
percent from 3.19 percent a week earlier, while it downgraded its GDP forecast
for the second quarter to 2.53 percent from last week's 3.00 percent. On the
economy front, most Americans are quite optimistic the US economy will do well
in the days ahead, though Democrats remain down in the dumps two months into
the Trump presidency. The index of consumer sentiment rose to 97.6 in March
from 96.3 in February, based on a preliminary reading from the University of
Michigan. Two months ago, the index shot up to its highest level since 2004,
largely because of confidence among Republicans and independents. The March
survey shows Republicans are still gung-ho. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
lost 19.93 points or 0.10 percent to 20,914.62, S&P 500 dropped 3.13 points
or 0.13 percent to 2,378.25, while the Nasdaq was up 0.24 points to
5,901.00.
Crude oil futures despite making
a flat closing ended the week in green, as the traders shrugged off concerns
about high levels of US crude inventories while the number of active US
drilling rigs rose for a ninth straight week. There was some support with the
International Energy Agency's statement that OPEC would be able to re-balance
the oil market and end the global supply glut within months, but soaring US
production has generated skepticism. Meanwhile, the Oilfield services firm
Barker Hughes reported its weekly US rig count rose by 14 to 631, it was the
ninth straight weekly increase. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery gained
by $0.03 to $48.78 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude
for May delivery ended up by $0.03 at $51.77 on the ICE.
Snapping
four-day winning streak, Indian rupee ended marginally weaker against dollar on
Friday, on fresh demand for the American currency from importers. Local
currency was unable to get any support with HDFC Chairman Deepak Parekh's
statement the GST regime can push up the country's growth by as much as 150-200
basis points (bps). India's GDP for the third quarter ended in December 2016
recorded a growth of 7%. The estimate of GDP growth for the full fiscal 2016-17
is 7.1%. Besides, dollar's strength against some other currencies overseas
weighed, but a firm domestic equity market cushioned the impact. On the global
front, dollar hit five-week lows against its peers on Friday, in the wake of
the Federal Reserve's cautious message this week on the outlook for interest
rate hikes and on concerns over a protectionist slant to a G20 meeting this
weekend. Finally, the rupee ended at 65.47, 6 paise weaker from its previous
close of 65.41 on Thursday.
The
FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5611.90 crore against gross selling
of Rs 4187.66 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 5220.00
crore with gross sales of Rs 1451.57 crore.
The US markets made a flat
closing with mostly a negative bias, the trade remained choppy, as traders
continued to digest Wednesday's closely watched monetary announcement from the
Federal Reserve and largely shrugged off the latest batch of U.S. economic
data. The Asian markets have made a mixed start, with some indices trading in
red as the risk appetite was missing and some of the indices are coming off
their best week since January after central banks in the U.S. and China raised
interest rates. The Indian markets
extending their gains for the holiday truncated week had made a modestly
positive close in last session and the benchmarks ended at record highs. Today,
the start is likely to be cautious on mixed global cues and some consolidation
can be expected and traders will be reacting to a report that G20 failed to
agree on free trade amid rising protectionism, even though they reiterated
their resolve to avoid competitive currency devaluation. Traders will be eyeing
the rupee movement too, which has continued its surge to near 16 months high on
dollar weakness in overseas markets and increased foreign fund inflow. There
will be some buzz in the PSU banking stocks as the government has laid down
strict conditions for capital infusion in PSU banks, which includes active bad
loan management, arranging capital from the market, a continuing plan for
selling non-core assets, shutting money-losing branches and temporarily paring
employee benefits, if necessary. There are also reports that government is
considering a proposal to shuffle the heads of some state-run lenders in a bid
to solve their bad loans issue and boost financials.
Support and Resistance: NSE
(Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
9160.05
|
9132.30
|
9203.10
|
BSE Sensex
|
29648.99
|
29559.03
|
29781.79
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close
(Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
ITC
|
520.12
|
281.25
|
275.73
|
287.83
|
IDEA
|
288.05
|
108.10
|
105.40
|
112.40
|
ICICI Bank
|
227.42
|
280.60
|
277.93
|
284.98
|
Axis Bank
|
202.97
|
517.15
|
512.90
|
520.20
|
SBI
|
142.66
|
274.15
|
271.93
|
277.93
|
ICICI Bank has received an approval for allotment of 34,250 Basel III compliant unsecured subordinated perpetual Additional Tier 1 bonds aggregating Rs 3,425 crore on private placement basis, date of allotment being March 17, 2017.
Tata Power Delhi Distribution, a joint venture of Tata Power and the Government of Delhi, has re-launched its popular 5 Star AC scheme for its customers in north and northwest Delhi.
ONGC is planning to invest over Rs 21,500 crore to develop India's deepest gas discovery by 2022-23, helping it more than double output from its prime KG basin block.
Tech Mahindra and Huawei Enterprise Business Group have signed a global partnership agreement.