In a volatile trading session,
Indian equity benchmarks traded with a positive bias for most part of the day
but selling activity which took place during late hour of trade mainly forced
the markets to cut all of their gains and ended Wednesday's session in red
terrain amid weakness in global equities. Key indices started off with marginal
losses, as traders remained on sidelines as the central government mulls over
lockdown extension beyond April 14 amid the spread of coronavirus. The total
number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in India stand at 4,789 as the country
entered the fifteenth day of a 21-day countrywide lockdown to curb the spread
of the deadly disease. Around 124 people have died due to the disease. But,
markets rebounded from the opening losses and surged at day's high in late
morning deals, as traders turned optimistic with Niti Aayog member Ramesh
Chand's statement that the government has taken several measures to safeguard
farmers from any adverse impact of the ongoing lockdown, and the farm sector is
expected to report a growth of little more than 3 per cent in the just-ended
financial year. Adding some relief, the Small Industries Development Bank of
India (SIDBI) said it will provide emergency working capital of up to Rs 1
crore to small and medium enterprises against their confirmed government
orders. Though, key indices failed to hold gains and slid lower in the last
hour of trading, as ratings agency ICRA predicted that India's economy is
likely to witness a sharp contraction of 4.5 per cent during Q4FY2020 and is
expected to post a GDP growth of just 2 percent in FY2021. Finally, the BSE
Sensex lost 173.25 points or 0.58% to 29,893.96, while the CNX Nifty was down
by 43.45 points or 0.49% to 8,748.75.
The US markets ended higher on
Wednesday as investors hoped for more Federal Reserve support and a potential
sooner-than-expected rollback of containment measures put in place to fight the
COVID-19 pandemic. The latest data from the Johns Hopkins University showed
that the number of new cases in US has decreased in recent days after reaching
a peak last Friday. The number of new coronavirus cases has also recently shown
significant downturns in Italy and Spain, which currently have the most
confirmed cases in Europe. The total death toll in the US from the pandemic
rose sharply to more than 12,900. Confirmed infections in the US neared
400,000, more than double the number of any other nation. Cases globally rose
to more than 1.4 million, while deaths exceeded 85,000. Adding to the positive sentiment,
White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said the US could see the
beginning of a turnaround after a bad week for deaths this week. Fauci noted
deaths are a lagging indicator and pointed to the decrease in the number of new
cases and a lower rate of hospitalizations. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders also
ended his race for the White House, removing market uncertainty around his
campaign promises to rein in Wall Street and big corporations as president.
Crude oil futures ended higher on
Wednesday, rebounding from losses in previous session, buoyed by a weekly
decline in US crude production. The Energy Information Administration (EIA)
reported a weekly decline of 600,000 barrels a day in domestic crude production
from a near record level to 12.4 million barrels a day for the week ended April
3. It also reported, however, that US crude supplies rose for an 11th straight
week. Besides, oil prices also rose as oil producers are scheduled to hold a
virtual meeting on Thursday, with private reports indicating Saudi Arabia and
Russia were inching toward a deal to cut production and end a damaging price
war that has flooded the world with crude supply and caused a storage shortage
as major economies shut as governments tried to stop a fast-spreading COVID-19
pandemic. Crude oil futures for May rose $1.46 or 6.2 percent to settle at
$25.09 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. June Brent crude gained 97
cents or 3 percent to settle at $32.84 a barrel on London's Intercontinental
Exchange.
Indian rupee ended sharply lower
against the US dollar on Wednesday on increased demand for the American unit
from importers. Traders remained on sidelines as the central government mulls
over lockdown extension beyond April 14 amid the spread of coronavirus. Traders
also remain worried as ratings agency ICRA predicted that India's economy is
likely to witness a sharp contraction of 4.5 per cent during Q4FY2020 and is
expected to post a GDP growth of just 2 percent in FY2021. Besides, a strong
dollar in world markets along with volatility seen in the domestic equity
market exerted pressure on the rupee. On the global front, dollar firmed on
Wednesday as optimism that the coronavirus crisis was slowing waned, increasing
investors' concern over the economic impact of the pandemic. Finally, the rupee
ended at 76.34, 70 paise weaker from its previous close of 75.64 on Tuesday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday'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 10364.27 crore against gross
selling of Rs 9347.61 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 190.83 crore with gross sales of Rs 1338.75 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 17.74 crore against gross selling of Rs
16.70 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Wednesday after President Donald Trump said Americans might be getting to the
top of the curve in relation to the outbreak. Asian markets are trading mostly
in green on Thursday on hopes the Covid-19 pandemic is nearing a peak and that
governments would roll out more stimulus measures. Indian markets ended lower
on Wednesday in the wake of rising new coronavirus cases. Today, the start of
session is likely to be positive following firm cues from global markets.
Investors will be looking ahead to the Index of Industrial Production (IIP)
data to be out later in the day. Traders will be getting encouragement with a
private report stating that a second stimulus package India is poised to
announce in coming days will be worth around Rs 1 lakh crore ($13 billion) and
focus on help for small and medium businesses weathering the coronavirus
outbreak. Some support will also come as the Ministry of Corporate Affairs issued
a slew of measures to facilitate the functioning of companies as they grapple
with the ongoing nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Though,
there may be some cautiousness with rising coronavirus cases. The number of
coronavirus cases in the country reached 5,916, with 178 deaths. Traders may be
concerned with the United Nations' International Labour Organization (ILO) in
its latest report stating that about 400 million people working in the informal
economy in India are at risk of falling deeper into poverty due to the
coronavirus crisis which is having catastrophic consequences, and is expected
to wipe out 195 million full-time jobs or 6.7% of working hours globally in the
second quarter of this year. Traders may take note of report that India Inc has
sought an economic package from the Centre to tide over the impact of the
coronavirus outbreak and support small and medium businesses to keep their
enterprises afloat while catering to the needs of the poor and informal sector
workers. Aviation stocks will be on focus with a private report that private
Indian airports are staring at a steep 40-60 per cent fall in passenger volume
this financial year due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
8,748.75
|
8,557.87
|
9,035.67
|
BSE Sensex
|
29,893.96
|
29,255.28
|
30,880.31
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Motors
|
821.82
|
67.60
|
64.80
|
71.00
|
State Bank of India
|
804.37
|
183.00
|
177.50
|
191.45
|
ICICI Bank
|
739.32
|
318.95
|
305.12
|
342.77
|
Axis Bank
|
649.31
|
391.35
|
367.33
|
421.53
|
Indusind Bank
|
560.94
|
399.15
|
360.30
|
439.70
|
Larsen & Toubro's wholly owned subsidiary -- L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering has been awarded a Large Project by Indian Oil Corporation.
JSW Steel reported 3.97 million tons crude steel production for Q4FY20.
Hero MotoCorp has extended the duration of all its warranty and free services in view of the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown.
Maruti Suzuki India has reported 32 percent fall in its production in March 2020.