Indian stock markets sustained
the joy of closing in the positive territory for the second successive session
on Wednesday after the frontline equity gained around quarter percent and
settled at record closing highs. Sentiments got some support after government
exceeded the tax collection estimates for 2016-17 fiscal at Rs 17.10 lakh
crore, indicating that it should be able to meet the fiscal deficit target for
the year. While direct tax mop-up during the April-March period grew 14.2% at
Rs 8.47 lakh crore, indirect tax kitty swelled by 22% over last year to Rs 8.63
lakh crore. Some support also came with the report that department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and global think-tank OECD are jointly
organising a seminar in Delhi to assess India's FDI regime and find ways to
further improve the ease of doing business. The international seminar will also
analyse the business climate in the country. However, many market participants
remained on the sidelines and refrained from any buying activity ahead of the
Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy statement due tomorrow. Rising interest
rate in the US provides sufficient indication that benchmark policy rate of RBI
is not going to go down but may increase in the future depending on domestic
and external factors. However, investors are expecting the RBI to announce
measures to absorb liquidity that has accumulated post demonetisation. Central
bank Governor Urjit Patel in his last policy review on February 8 had kept the
key interest rate on hold at 6.25%. Meanwhile, IT stocks came under pressure on
the report that Trump administration has issued a stern warning to companies
not to discriminate against American workers by misusing the H-1B work visas programme.
In a fresh blow to Indian software professionals, the Trump administration has
also moved to bar entry-level programmers from the H-1B visa programme. The BSE
Sensex touched a high and a low of 30007.48 and 29817.69, respectively and
there were 18 stocks on gainers side as against 12 stocks on the losers side on
the index.
The US markets closed lower on
Wednesday, suffering a late selloff after minutes of the Federal Reserve's
March meeting showed policy makers plan to begin unwinding the central bank's
gigantic balance sheet before the end of the year. Markets appeared to shrug
off geopolitical news coming from North Korea, which launched another
intermediate-range missile, and a chemical attack in Syria that left hundreds
dead. The two-day summit between Trump and China's President Xi was still in
focus for investors, who are looking for clues on ramifications for trade and
the dollar. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve released minutes from its March
meeting, noting that most Federal Reserve policymakers think the central bank
should take steps to begin trimming its $4.5 trillion balance sheet later this
year as long as the economic data holds up. The minutes released of the March
14-15 policy discussion, at which the Fed voted 9-1 to raise interest rates,
also showed that the rate-setting committee had a broad discussion about
whether to phase out or halt reinvestments all at once. In the minutes, almost
all policymakers agreed that the timing of a change in balance sheet policy
would depend on economic and financial conditions and generally preferred to
taper or stop investments in both Treasury and mortgage-backed bonds. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average lost 41.09 points or 0.20 percent to 20,648.15, the
Nasdaq was down 34.13 points or 0.58 percent to 5,864.48, while S&P 500
dropped 7.21 points or 0.31 percent to 2,352.95.
Crude oil futures though managed
a positive close on Wednesday but came sharply lower from the day's high after
a surprising build in U.S. oil inventories. A stronger dollar also weighed on
commodities prices, as traders reacted to a very strong ADP private sector jobs
report. Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said inventories
rose by 1.6 million barrels. Gasoline inventories fell by around 0.618 million
barrels, while distillate stockpiles fell by 0.536 million barrels. The
surprise build in U.S. crude stockpiles confounded expectations that U.S.
demand for oil would start to pick up ahead of the 'summer driving season'. Benchmark
crude oil futures for May delivery gained $0.09 or 0.17 percent to $51.12 on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for May delivery ended
higher by $0.22 at $54.29 on the ICE.
Indian rupee ended stronger
against the US dollar on Wednesday on the back of increased selling of the
American currency amid continued foreign inflows. Local currency wiped off its
early losses as sentiments turned optimistic with the government achieving the
upward revised target of tax collection for FY17 and reporting a total tax
collection of Rs 17.10 lakh crore during 2016-17 -- an increase of 18 percent
over 2015-16 and the highest tax collection in last six years. However, traders
remained cautious ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's Monetary Policy
Committee meeting outcome on April 6, 2017, expecting it to maintain status quo
on interest rates. On the global front, the dollar came under pressure after
North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the sea ahead of a summit between US
and Chinese leaders. Finally, the rupee ended at 64.87, 15 paise stronger from
its previous close of 65.02 on Monday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday's data
were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 3647.90 crore against gross selling of Rs 3063.50 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 6054.67 crore with gross
sales of Rs 639.45 crore.
The US markets closed marginally
in red in the last session, though the major bourses traded with strength for
most part of the day but came under pressure in afternoon trading, following
the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy
meeting, which revealed the central bank is ready to start shrinking their $4.5
trillion balance sheet this year. The Asian markets have made a soft start and
many of the indices are down by over half a percent led by the Japanese market
which is down by over a percent as the yen strengthened against dollar. The
Indian markets despite a choppy trade posted gains in last session and the
benchmarks ended at record closing highs ahead of the Reserve Bank of India's
monetary policy review. Today, the start is likely to be cautious and somber,
tailing weak global cues. All eyes will be on the Reserve Bank of India at its
first bi-monthly monetary policy review of this fiscal, though general
expectation are that it will keep interest rates unchanged, in view of
inflation numbers but its statement will eyed. Meanwhile, global credit rating
agency Crisil in its latest report has said that CPI inflation is likely to
average higher at 5 percent in the current fiscal on expectations of increasing
pressure on food prices as well as uptick in global oil and commodity rates.
There will be negative reaction to a Sebi survey that more than 95 per cent
Indian households prefer to park their money in bank deposits, while less than
10 per cent opt for investing in mutual funds or stocks. Some support to the
markets can come with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presenting the much-awaited
Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill for discussion and passage in Rajya Sabha on
Wednesday. There will be some buzz in the steel sector stocks, as the Ministry
of Steel is going to rank non-integrated secondary steel producers. The ranking
will draw inspiration from the Smart City ranking approach that takes into
account multiple factors.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE
(Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
9265.15
|
9229.07
|
9287.57
|
BSE Sensex
|
29974.24
|
29858.79
|
30048.58
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
SBI
|
219.36
|
297.35
|
291.75
|
300.85
|
Hindalco
|
104.40
|
198.20
|
195.20
|
200.20
|
ITC
|
102.88
|
278.95
|
276.60
|
282.40
|
ICICI Bank
|
96.08
|
284.85
|
283.00
|
286.60
|
Reliance Industries
|
92.17
|
1415.00
|
1390.73
|
1428.63
|
NTPC has commissioned Unit 2 of 250 MW of Bhartiya Rail Bijlee Company.
Cipla has received final approval for its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Abacavir and Lamivudine Tablets.
Reliance Industries has received environment clearance for expansion and debottlenecking of its Dahej petrochemical facility in Gujarat.
Yes Bank has reported $1 billion on its balance sheet at the IFSC Banking Unit in Gujarat International Finance Tec City as on March 31, 2017.