Indian equity benchmarks failed
to hold gains on Tuesday, with Sensex and Nifty closing lower by losses of
around a percent each. After a positive start, key indices remained in green
terrain during first half of the session, aided by the retirement fund body,
Employment Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) latest Provisional Estimate of
Net Payroll data report which showed that India created 8.15 lakh new jobs in
the month of March 2019. According to the data report, 9962 new jobs were
created in less than 18 age group category, while 214699 jobs in 18-21 age
group category. Adding comfort among market participants, IHS Markit's report
stated that India's economic policy will continue to focus on maintaining
strong economic growth and creating jobs for the country's large and growing
population. It added that the government will also focus on the expansion of
already announced policies including infrastructure investment, the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) rationalisation and financial sector regulations. But,
markets turned negative in second half of the trading session and ended on a
pessimistic note, with Trade Promotion Council of India's (TPCI) statement that
the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement may
hurt India's export competitiveness as the trade balance is already skewed.
Traders also got worried with India Ratings and Research's (Ind-Ra) latest
report stating that a continued slowdown in loan disbursements by housing
finance company, owing to tight liquidity condition, could have a spillover
impact on retail home loan borrowers and property developers. Some concerns
also came with a report that rising trade tensions have prompted the World
Trade Organization (WTO) to dim its prospect for trade growth in the second
quarter of the 2019 calendar year. The WTO said world trade growth is likely to
remain weak into the second quarter of 2019. Finally, the BSE Sensex lost
382.87 points or 0.97% to 38,969.80, while the CNX Nifty was down by 119.15
points or 1.01% to 11,709.10.
The US markets ended higher on
Tuesday on reports that the US Commerce Department has temporarily eased trade
restrictions on Chinese tech giant Huawei. The Commerce Department issued a
temporary license authorizing specific, limited engagement in transactions
involving the export, re-export, and transfer of items to Huawei for 90 days.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the temporary reprieve grants operators time
to make other arrangements and the Department space to determine the
appropriate long term measures for Americans and foreign telecommunications
providers that currently rely on Huawei equipment for critical services.
However, Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei said his company would outmuscle its
rivals in 5G in a few years, and that the company was ready for the export ban.
On the economic front, existing home sales in the US unexpectedly showed a
modest decrease in the month of April, according to a report released by the
National Association of Realtors (NAR). NAR said existing home sales dipped by
0.4% to an annual rate of 5.19 million in April after plunging by 4.9% to a
rate of 5.21 million in March. The continued decrease came as a surprise to
market participants, who had expected existing home sales to jump by 2.7% to a
rate of 5.35 million. Meanwhile, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and
Development lowered the 2019 global growth outlook as escalating trade disputes
hurt manufacturing and investment decisions. In its latest Economic Outlook,
the Paris-based think tank forecast 3.2% growth for 2019 versus 3.3% estimated
in March. The global growth outlook for 2020 was retained at 3.4%. Dow Jones
Industrial Average surged 197.43 points or 0.77 percent to 25877.33, Nasdaq
gained 83.35 points or 1.08 percent to 7785.72 and S&P 500 was up by 24.13
points or 0.85 percent to 2864.36.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
Tuesday as US-China trade woes weighed on energy-demand prospects. However,
Brent crude prices settled higher on account of Middle East tensions. Middle
East tensions were reignited after Yemen's Iranian-allied Houthi rebels took
responsibility for an attack on a Saudi airport and military base with a
bomb-laden drone, an assault acknowledged by the kingdom as Mideast tensions
remain high between Tehran and the United States. The attack on the Saudi city
of Najran came after Iran announced it has quadrupled its uranium-enrichment
production capacity, a year after the US withdrew from its global nuclear deal
pact. Benchmark crude oil futures for June declined 11 cents or 0.2 percent to
settle at $62.99 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, July
Brent crude gained 21 cents or 0.3 percent to settle at $72.18 a barrel on
London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on
Tuesday, as bankers and exporters took to selling of American currency. Traders
took some support with IHS Markit's report stated that India's economic policy
will continue to focus on maintaining strong economic growth and creating jobs
for the country's large and growing population. It added that the government
will also focus on the expansion of already announced policies including
infrastructure investment, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) rationalisation and
financial sector regulations. However, late hour sell-off in domestic equity
market along with dollar's strength against major global currencies capped the
gains. On the global front, dollar held near a 2-1/2-week high on Tuesday,
supported by higher US-yields and as intensifying trade frictions between the
United States and China boosted appetite for the safe-haven greenback. Finally,
the rupee ended at 69.71, 3 paise stronger from its previous close of 69.74 on
Monday.
The FIIs as per Tuesday'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 7521.24 crore against gross
selling of Rs 5914.43 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 808.34 crore with gross sales of Rs 820.78 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 21.78 crore against gross selling of Rs
21.99 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Tuesday following reports that the US temporarily eased restrictions on Chinese
telecom giant Huawei. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Wednesday,
following gains on Wall Street, as Washington's temporary relaxation of curbs against
China's Huawei Technologies overshadowed deeper worries about trade tensions.
Indian markets reversed gains on Tuesday and settled near intra-day low levels
as euphoria over exit poll outcomes fizzled out amid profit booking in IT,
banking and auto counters dragged indices lower. Today, the markets are likely
to make an optimistic start following positive global cues. Besides, investors
await final results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to be declared on May 23.
Traders will be getting encouragement with the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) in its Economic Outlook stating that
India's economic growth will regain strength and approach 7.5% by 2020 buoyed
by rural consumption and subdued inflation. It added that this growth will come
from higher domestic demand due to improved financial conditions, fiscal and
quasi-fiscal stimulus, including new income support measures for rural farmers,
and recent structural reforms. Also, some support will come with a report by
the United Nations showing that India's economy is projected to grow at 7.1% in
fiscal year 2020 on the back of strong domestic consumption and investment.
Traders may take note of a private report that land and labour reforms,
privatisation and export promotion would be at the top of agenda of the new
government irrespective of which party or coalition takes charge after the poll
results on May 23. Meanwhile, to boost participation of mutual funds in the
commodities market, the SEBI has allowed Mutual funds to invest in Exchange
Traded Commodity Derivatives (ETCDs) with certain restrictions. There will be
some buzz in the banking and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) industry
related stocks with the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statement that a
specialised cadre will be created within the RBI for supervision and regulation
of financial institutions, including banks and NBFCs. There will be some
reaction in steel sector stocks with rating agency India Ratings' (Ind-Ra)
report that a delay in auction of iron ore mines, whose licences are expiring
by March next year, could hit steel production significantly in the country.
Ind-Ra estimates that around 60 million tonnes of the actual production of iron
ore from these mines could be disrupted.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous
close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
11,709.10
|
11,633.42
|
11,834.17
|
BSE
Sensex
|
38,969.80
|
38,712.52
|
39,399.40
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous
close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance
(Rs)
|
(in
Lacs)
|
Yes
Bank
|
595.00
|
141.00
|
138.00
|
144.50
|
Tata
Motors
|
578.23
|
176.80
|
171.60
|
184.45
|
SBI
|
334.57
|
337.55
|
333.35
|
344.65
|
ICICI
Bank
|
182.86
|
400.15
|
394.90
|
408.10
|
Indiabulls
Housing Finance
|
150.59
|
807.75
|
789.07
|
831.52
|
ICICI Bank has entered into an agreement with the BSE to buy stake in its subsidiary India International Exchange for nearly Rs 31 crore.
UltraTech Cement has commissioned World's first zero discharge ready mix concrete plant in the city of Mumbai.
ITC's personal care and shower gel brand -- Fiama has launched Fiama Scents.
Reliance Industries' telecom arm --Jio has added 94.89 lakh customers in March 2019.