Last trading day of the week closed on lackluster note, with the Sensex and the Nifty ending lower by around 150 and 50 points, respectively. The start of the session was on a cautious note, impacted by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the coronavirus outbreak will have a limited impact on India but the global GDP and trade will definitely get affected due to the large size of the Chinese economy. In afternoon deals, key benchmarks managed to keep their heads in green terrain for some duration, despite weak cues from the global markets. But, in the last leg of the trade, losses got intensified over the street, amid Fitch Ratings' report stating that with deceleration in growth and tight liquidity conditions, the country's financial institution sector may continue to face challenging operating environment. Traders overlooked a report that the CCEA approved a new central sector scheme Formation and Promotion of Farmer Produce Organizations to form and promote 10,000 new FPOs in five years period from 2019-20 to 2023-24 with budgetary support of Rs 4,496 crore as part of its efforts to cut production cost and boost income of farming community. Finally, the BSE Sensex slipped 152.88 points or 0.37% to 41,170.12, while the CNX Nifty was down by 45.05 points or 0.37% to 12,080.85.

The US markets ended lower on Friday as traders continued to keep a close eye on the latest coronavirus report, with Chinese officials reporting 1,109 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, up sharply from 349 cases the previous day. The number of confirmed cases in Japan increased by 23 to 728. The full economic impact of the disease is unclear but early indications suggest that it is already denting China's car sales. Chinese passenger car sales data for the first two weeks of February showed a year-over-year decline of 92%. A number of companies have warned about the impact of the coronavirus, with Coca-Cola (KO) forecasting the outbreak will trim 1 to 2 cents per share off its first quarter earnings. On the economic data front, existing home sales in the US pulled back in January after jumping in December, according to a report released by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), with existing home sales continuing a fluctuating pattern of monthly increases and declines. NAR said existing home sales slumped by 1.3 percent to an annual rate of 5.46 million in January after surging up by 3.9 percent to a revised rate of 5.53 million in December. Street had expected existing home sales to tumble by 1.8 percent. Despite the monthly decrease, the report noted existing home sales in January were up by 9.6 percent compared to the same month a year ago. 

Crude oil futures ended lower on Friday pressured by a reported rift in the crude-production alliance between Saudi Arabia and Russia, as concerns about the spread of COVID-19 in China and beyond take a toll on expectations for energy demand. Saudi Arabia is weighing a break from a production alliance with Russia amid a disagreement between the oil heavyweights over the effect of China's COVID-19 outbreak on global crude demand. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHI) said there were 76,767 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with the death toll at 2,247. The WHI said there were 1,019 new cases world-wide, with 100 in South Korea, which has seen a large uptick in recent days. Crude oil futures for March dropped 50 cents or 0.9 percent to settle at $53.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent crude declined 81 cents or 1.4 percent to settle at $58.50 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

Indian rupee depreciated for second straight session against the US dollar on Thursday, following a spike in crude oil prices amid buying in the American currency by banks and importers. Investor sentiments remained fragile with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the coronavirus outbreak will have a limited impact on India but the global GDP and trade will definitely get affected due to the large size of the Chinese economy. He added that only a couple of sectors in India are likely to see some disruptions but alternatives are being explored to overcome those issues. Investors also remained on sidelines and awaited more clarity on US President Donald Trump's statement ahead of his visit to India that the two countries were working on a major trade deal. Lackluster trade in local equity markets along with dollar's strength against major global currencies overseas also affected the rupee. On the global front, Sterling slipped for the fourth straight day against the dollar on Thursday as the US currency's broad-based strength and jitters over the start of Britain's trade talks with the EU offset data showing a strong rebound in UK retail sales. The last traded price of rupee was 71.64, 10 paise weaker from its previous close of 71.54 on Tuesday.

The FIIs as per Thursday'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 11721.21 crore against gross selling of Rs 10428.04 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1613.07 crore with gross sales of Rs 4860.06 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6.99 crore against gross selling of Rs 2.50 crore.

The US markets ended in red on Friday as the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic from China to neighboring countries amplified worries about the impact on supply chains and global economic growth. Asian markets are trading lower in early deals on Monday. Stocks in South Korea plunged after the country raised its coronavirus alert to the highest level following a recent spike in cases throughout the country. The Indian markets before going for a long weekend posted losses of over one third of a percent amid rising crude oil prices. Markets remained closed on Friday on account of a public holiday. Today, the start of the crucial F&O series expiry week is likely to be negative tracking sell-off in the global markets amid coronavirus outbreak. Market participants will also be looking forward to the Gross Domestic data for the third quarter of current fiscal year (FY20) to be out later in the week. Traders will be concerned as think tank National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) pegged the India's economic growth for the current fiscal at 4.9%, a tad down from 5% estimated by the National Statistical Office (NSO). There will be some cautiousness with Chief Economic Adviser Krishnamurthy Subramanian's statement that India has some distance to go in fully shifting from pro-crony to pro-business policies. Though, some support may come later in the day with the IMF's October World Economic Outlook report showing that India became world's fifth largest economy in 2019 in terms of nominal GDP, leapfrogging France and the UK. Some support may also come with the RBI's data showing that the country's foreign exchange reserves swelled by $3.091 billion to a lifetime high of $476.092 billion in the week to February 14, mainly due to a rise in foreign currency assets. Traders may take note of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the RBI is reviewing the retail inflation targeting framework behind monetary policy decision as well as its effectiveness and also plans to hold stakeholders consultations including with the government in June. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and top brass of his administration will kick-start an eagerly awaited tour of India on February 24, a visit expected to significantly ramp up bilateral defence and strategic ties but unlikely to produce tangible outcome in resolving thorny issues like trade tariffs. There will be some buzz in the power stocks with ICRA's report that the Central Government's efforts to award coal linkages under its Shakti policy to independent power projects having long-term PPAs on an auction basis will have a positive impact on coal-based power plants. Sugar stocks will be in focus with Care Ratings' report that sugar exports from India are expected to remain firm in the next few months given the upward trend witnessed by international sugar prices in recent months. There will be some reaction in pharma stocks as rating agency ICRA said that it has revised its outlook on the Indian pharmaceutical industry to negative from stable due to ongoing lockouts in parts of China following the outbreak of coronavirus. 

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

Nifty Top volumes

• Tata Motors' wholly owned subsidiary -- JLR has flown in auto parts in suitcases as the effects of coronavirus take a toll on the luxury carmaker's supply chains in coronavirus-hit China. 
• ICICI Bank has unveiled the fourth edition of ICICI Appathon, a virtual challenge for startups to create next generation products and solutions. 
• L&T's construction arm has opened its state-of-the-art, new-look and digitally transformed corporate museum at Manapakkam in Chennai. 
• UltraTech Cement has approved the allotment of Unsecured Redeemable NCDs aggregating to Rs 250 crore on private placement basis on February 20, 2020.