Indian equity benchmarks traded
in a range bound manner with a positive bias for most part of the day but
witnessed sudden fall in final hour of trade which forced to close Friday's
session on negative note. Benchmarks made positive start, tracking gains in
Asian peers. Sentiments remained positive with report that the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) will purchase government securities under open market operations
(OMOs) for an aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore on September 24, 2020. Some
support also came with data showing that investment in the Indian capital
market through participatory notes (P-notes) climbed to over Rs 74,000 crore
till August-end, making it the highest level in 10 months. This marks the fifth
consecutive monthly rise in the investment through the route, also signaling at
growing confidence of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the local market.
Though, key indices failed to hold initial gains and entered into a negative
territory in last hour of trade amid cooling off buying interest across
sectors. Traders turned wary as domestic ratings agency -- ICRA warned that
divesting majority stake in state-run lenders by the government will be credit
negative for such public sector banks (PSBs). Some concern also came with
report that advance tax collections fell 25.5 per cent to Rs 1,59,057 crore in
the second quarter of the fiscal. However, markets managed to trim some losses
in final minutes of trade, taking support from report that the Employees' State
Insurance Corporation (ESIC) subscribers who lost their job due to the COVID-19
situation can claim unemployment relief of 50 per cent of wages under the Atal
Bimit Kalyan Yojana. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 134.03 points or 0.34% to 38,845.82,
while the CNX Nifty was down by 11.15 points or 0.10% to 11,504.95.
Extending their previous
session's losses, the US markets settled lower on Friday with cut of around a
percent each, due to a continued slump by technology stocks, with tech giant Apple
showing a significant drop. Shares of Apple, which have been a key driver of
the markets in most recent sessions, tumbled by 3.2 percent to their lowest
closing level in well over a month. Big-name tech companies like Google parent
Alphabet, Amazon, and Microsoft also posted notable losses. Traders also
continued to express renewed concerns about the economic outlook following the
Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. While the Fed
indicated it plans to leave interest rates at near-zero levels for years to
come, traders seem skeptical that will be enough to support the economy. Recent
economic data suggests the rebound from the lockdown-induced economic collapse
may be plateauing, raising concerns about the possibility of a double-dip. A
report released by the Conference Board showed a continued increase by its
reading on leading US economic indicators in the month of August, although the
pace of growth slowed compared to recent months. The Conference Board said its
leading economic index jumped by 1.2 percent in August after surging up by 2.0
percent in July and spiking by 3.1 percent in June. Street had expected the
index to increase by 1.3 percent. Meanwhile, a separate report from the
University of Michigan showed a much bigger than expected improvement in
consumer sentiment in the month of September.
Crude oil futures ended higher on
Friday as prices edged up despite a surge in coronavirus cases raising
uncertainty about the pace of economic recovery and causing worries about the
outlook for energy demand. However, recent data showing a sharp drop in US
crude stockpiles and Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
and allies' move to press for better compliance with output cuts supported oil
prices. Gaines in oil prices were capped weighed down by an announcement from
Libya about lifting of its blockade of oil output for one month. Reports about
US oil producers readying rigs in the Gulf of Mexico weighed as well. Crude oil
futures for October gained $0.14 or 0.34 percent to settle at $41.11 a barrel
on the New York Mercantile Exchange. November Brent crude surged $0.55 to
settle at $42.75 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ended substantially
stronger against dollar on Friday amid fresh selling of American currency by
banks and exporters. Sentiments remained upbeat as investment in the Indian
capital market through participatory notes (P-notes) climbed to over Rs 74,000
crore till August-end, making it the highest level in 10 months. This marks the
fifth consecutive monthly rise in the investment through the route, also
signaling at growing confidence of foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the
local market. Traders also took note of report that Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
will purchase government securities under open market operations (OMOs) for an
aggregate amount of Rs 10,000 crore on September 24, 2020. The securities will be purchased through a
multi-security auction using the multiple price method. On the global front;
pound edged slightly higher against the euro and the dollar on Friday as data
showed that British shoppers continued to increase spending last month, taking
sales further above pre-COVID levels. Finally, the rupee ended at 73.45, 21
paise stronger from its previous close of 73.66 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net seller in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 4518.09 crore against gross selling of Rs 4649.34 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 259.12 crore with gross sales
of Rs 526.84 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs
142.57 crore against gross selling of Rs 162.68 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Friday as investors continued to dump shares of high-flying tech companies.
Asian markets are trading mixed on Monday as investors await the release of
China's benchmark lending rate. Indian markets erased day's gains and ended
volatile session lower on Friday, dragged by selling in banking and financial
stocks. Today, the start of new week is likely to be pessimistic following
mixed Asian cues coupled with India-China border tensions. The sixth round of
Corps Commander-level talks between the armies of India and China is scheduled
to be held today. Traders will be concerned with report that the net direct tax
collection during April-August was Rs 1.92 lakh crore, down 31 percent over the
same period of the last fiscal. The net indirect tax collection during the
five-month period till August fell 11 percent year-on-year to Rs 3.42 lakh
crore. Also, rising coronavirus cases may dampen sentiments in the markets.
After recording more than 90,000 Covid-19 cases consecutively for five days,
India on Sunday witnessed 87,382. The country's tally now stands at 5,485,612,
while 87,909 have died from the highly contagious disease so far. Besides,
according to the Reserve Bank data, after touching a life-time high in the
previous week, the country's foreign exchange reserves declined by $353 million
to $541.660 billion in the week ended September 11. However, some respite may
come later in the day as the Centre is in consultations with the Russian government
for exploring the possibility of cooperation between the two countries for
advancing the Covid-19 vaccine in India. some support may also come with CII's
business outlook survey's showing that India Inc's business sentiment has
improved during July-September quarter as the government gradually unlocked the
economy and business activity resumed. Banking stocks will be in focus as
Domestic rating agency India Ratings and Research revised its outlook on the
country's banking sector to negative for the second half of this fiscal from
stable due to the likely increase in stressed assets, credit costs and weak
earnings. There will be some reaction in NBFCs stocks with Crisil's report that
non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) are likely to see up to 250 basis
points (bps) increase in their delinquencies in the current fiscal. Meanwhile,
investors will be looking ahead to the two IPOs -- Chemcon Speciality Chemicals
and Computer Age Management Services (CAMS) -- opening for subscription today.
CAMS' IPO has the price band of Rs 1,229-Rs 1,230 per share while Chemcon
Speciality's price band is Rs 305-306 per share. Both will close on Wednesday.
Support
and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
11,504.95
|
11,439.34
|
11,577.34
|
BSE Sensex
|
38,845.82
|
38,587.56
|
39,152.25
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
ICICI Bank
|
781.67
|
369.55
|
364.51
|
374.61
|
State Bank of India
|
552.87
|
192.60
|
189.14
|
196.64
|
Bharti Airtel
|
548.02
|
494.55
|
480.69
|
503.04
|
Tata Motors
|
462.72
|
147.90
|
145.94
|
150.19
|
NTPC
|
447.58
|
90.55
|
89.14
|
91.54
|
Dr Reddy's Laboratories has settled a litigation with a unit of Bristol Myers Squibb related to patents for Revlimid capsules, used to treat various kinds of cancer.
Coal India's subsidiary -- Central Coalfields is planning to install 80 MWp ground-mounted solar power plant in the ongoing fiscal year.
Hindalco Industries has entered into a MoU with Hindustan Copper for the long-term purchase and sale of copper concentrate produced by the PSU.
ITC has acquired, in the second tranche, 1964 Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares of Rs 10 each of Delectable Technologies.