Indian equity markets truly
depicted the choppiness of F&O expiry session and ended the session
slightly in red on Thursday. However, both Sensex & Nifty were up by over
2% during the December F&O series. Key gauges traded lackluster throughout
the session and volatility which emerged in dying hour of trade mainly dragged
the bourses lower on lingering concerns over government borrowing exceeding
target. Cautiousness persisted in the markets throughout the session with the
government decision to make additional borrowing of Rs 50,000 crore this fiscal
through dated securities, a move that may put burden on the fiscal deficit
target of 3.2 percent of GDP. At the same time, the government lowered its borrowing
through short-term treasury bills by Rs 61,203 crore. This has made the task of
exactly calculating the fiscal deficit a bit tedious exercise. However, losses
remained capped, as traders took some solace with report that the capital
markets regulator, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is likely to
ease entry norms for FPIs willing to invest in the Indian markets. It may ease
some rules, including expanding the eligible jurisdictions for registration by
including countries with diplomatic tie-ups with India. Market participants
also get some comfort with EEPC India new chairman, Ravi P Sehgal's statement
that the year 2018 is expected to be a good year for exports on back of global
trade boom. The chairman added that as the IMF has outlined, that the global
trade has grown at a faster clip than the overall world output growth, as the
US, Euro zone, Japan and China are witnessing a resurgence in economic
activity. Investors also get some relief with credit rating agency, ICRA's
latest report stating that the retail credit growth for non-banking financial
companies is likely to be moderate at 16-18 percent in the current fiscal,
helped by some asset classes, such as SME credit. Finally, the BSE Sensex
declined 63.78 points or 0.19% to 33,848.03, while the CNX Nifty was down by
12.85 points or 0.12% to 10,477.90.
The US markets closed higher on
Thursday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average logging its 71st record close
in 2017, buoyed mostly by gains in bank shares and a slight pick-up in energy and
materials, as crude-oil prices perked up in seasonally light trading volume.
Trading has been muted as investors have little incentive to make decisive bets
on assets perceived as risky in the penultimate session of trade ahead of the
New Year's holiday on Monday. However, Thursday's late burst suggests that
investors aren't ready to dump stocks going into next year. On the economy
front, the Purchasing Managers Index for Chicago showed a rise of 67.6 in
December from 63.9 in the previous month, compared with expectations for 62.
Initial US jobless claims, a tool to measure layoffs, were unchanged at 245,000
in the seven days ended December 23. The more stable monthly average of claims
rose slightly - they were up 1,750 to 237,750. The number of people already
collecting unemployment benefits, known as continuing claims, edged up by 7,000
to 1.94 million. Separately, the US goods trade deficit widened by 2.3% in
November to $69.7 billion. Exports rose a seasonally adjusted 3% during the
month, while imports were up 2.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 63.21
points or 0.26 percent to 24,837.51 and the Nasdaq gained 10.824 points or 0.16
percent to 6,950.16, and the S&P 500 edged higher by 4.92 points or 0.18
percent to 2,687.54.
Crude oil futures moved higher
once again on Thursday, touching fresh 2-year highs after another drop in U.S.
oil inventories. Prices were also supported by strong data from top importer
China amid thin trading activity ahead of the New Year weekend. However, heading
into 2018, traders said market conditions were relatively tight because of
supply cuts led by the Middle East-dominated Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia. Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration
(EIA) said in its weekly report that crude oil inventories fell by 4.609
million barrels in the week ended December 22. It also said that gasoline
inventories increased by 0.591 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles
rose by 1.090 million barrels. Benchmark crude oil futures for January delivery
ended higher by $0.20 at $59.84 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude for March delivery was down by 0.18 percent to $65.91 a barrel on
the ICE.
Snapping
two day falling streak, Indian rupee bounced back against the Greenback on
Thursday, on the back of fresh dollar selling by exporters and some banks.
Traders took some support with report that the capital markets regulator,
Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is likely to ease entry norms for
FPIs willing to invest in the Indian markets. It may ease some rules, including
expanding the eligible jurisdictions for registration by including countries
with diplomatic tie-ups with India. Besides, the dollar losing muscle against
other currencies overseas, largely supported the rupee's recovery. However,
gains were limited as some concern came with the government decision to make
additional borrowing of Rs 50,000 crore this fiscal through dated securities, a
move that may put burden on the fiscal deficit target of 3.2 percent of GDP. On
the global front, dollar slipped to a four-week low against a basket of
currencies on Thursday, kept under pressure by a recent dip in US 10-year bond
yields. Finally, the rupee ended at 64.08, 7 paise stronger from its previous
close of 64.15 on Wednesday.
The
FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 2951.59 crore against gross selling
of Rs 2513.07 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
675.94 crore with gross sales of Rs 630.95 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 0.79 crore against gross selling of Rs 1.43
crore.
The US markets despite a choppy
trading ended in green in the last session, with the Dow reaching a new record
closing high, however many traders remained away from their desks ahead of the
New Year's weekend, leading to another light trading day. The Asian markets
have made a mixed start on the final trading day of 2017 Japanese equity
benchmarks opened higher even though the yen held gains. The Indian markets
extended their decline for the second day and ended marginally lower in the
last session amid volatility of the F&O series expiry. Today, the start of
the new series and the final day of the calendar year is likely to be cautious
on sluggish regional cues. Traders will be a bit concerned with a study report
of the industry body Assocham, which has said that a slowdown in the economy
coupled with high stress level in the banking sector is expected to restrict
credit growth at around 8 per cent during the current fiscal despite
government's thrust on loan expansion. Also, a report from rating agency ICRA
has said that rising commodity prices, especially that of crude oil that has
hit a three-year peak last week, will double current account deficit (CAD) to
$39 billion or 1.5 per cent of GDP this fiscal year. There will be some buzz in
the India Inc and the banking stocks as the RBI has turned down requests from
banks to extend the deadline for restructuring the debt of companies on a
second list. This will mean bankruptcy proceedings likely kicking off at the
National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) by December 31. Telecom stocks especially
Anil Ambani's debt-laden Reliance Communications will be in focus, as the
company has signed an agreement to sell its wireless assets to Reliance Jio
Infocomm, the telecoms arm of elder brother Mukesh Ambani's Reliance
Industries.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10477.90
|
10447.38
|
10521.48
|
BSE Sensex
|
33848.03
|
33725.49
|
33997.11
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
Hindalco
|
229.38
|
275.25
|
268.57
|
280.37
|
ICICI Bank
|
226.90
|
315.30
|
310.80
|
319.50
|
SBI
|
203.53
|
308.40
|
305.20
|
314.05
|
ITC
|
158.90
|
261.85
|
260.58
|
263.58
|
NTPC
|
149.96
|
176.15
|
174.90
|
178.05
|
Maruti Suzuki India has entered into an agreement with the Government of NCT of Delhi to set up state-of-the-art Automated Driving Test Centres across 12 locations in the city.
Tata Steel is ramping up production at its Khondbond iron ore mine in Odisha in order to fuel expansion of the Kalinganagar plant.
SBI has received its board's approval to raise Rs 8,000 crore through various sources, including masala bonds, to meet Basel III capital norms.
L&T's construction arm -- L&T Construction -- has bagged orders worth Rs 1,600 crore under the Power Transmission & Distribution Business.