After gaining for fourth straight
session, Indian equity benchmarks took a breather on Thursday and ended over a
percent lower, as investors booked profit amid weak global cues. Markets made
gap-down opening, as traders got anxious with a private report stated that
India is among the few major nations among emerging and developing economies
with higher inflation in October 2020 compared to December 2019 (pre-Covid
levels). Also, among these nations, the rise in core inflation is the highest
in India. However, local indices managed to cut all losses and traded flat with
positive bias in afternoon session, as some support came with private report
that overseas investors have pumped in $6.3 billion in Indian equity markets in
three months ended September on attractive valuations, opening-up of the
economy and resumption in business activities. Additional support also came
with Former chief economic adviser Arvind Virmani's statement that India's
Gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to contract 7.5 percent in the current
fiscal (FY21) but will see a double-digit growth in 2021-22. He noted that the
central government has come up with some noteworthy reforms, including Goods
and Services Tax (GST), Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) and setting up of
the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). But, domestic markets failed to maintain
positive momentum and fell sharply in final hour of trade as some concern
remained among traders with the WTO's latest Trade Monitoring Report on G20
stating that there is a slowdown in the number of trade restrictive as well as
facilitative measures on goods implemented by G-20 member countries between
mid-May and mid-October, due to the sharp decline in overall global trade since
the COVID-19 outbreak. Market participants also took a note of Credit rating
agency, Moody's Investors Service's report that it has upgraded India growth
forecast to (-) 10.6 per cent for the current fiscal, from its earlier estimate
of (-) 11.5 per cent. Meanwhile, the government has garnered Rs 72,480 crore so
far through the direct tax dispute resolution scheme Vivad Se Vishwas. Finally,
the BSE Sensex fell 580.09 points or 1.31% to 43,599.96, while the CNX Nifty
was down by 166.55 points or 1.29% to 12,771.70.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday. The notable advance by the Nasdaq seemed to reflect expectations that
new lockdowns as a result of the recent spike in coronavirus cases will benefit
technology companies, as was seen earlier in the pandemic. Data from John
Hopkins University showed 170,161 new coronavirus cases in the US on Wednesday,
the second-highest daily total, while daily deaths reached a new high of 1,848.
The recent surge in coronavirus cases has led several states to impose new
restrictions and lockdowns, potentially leading the more Americans once again
relying on technology as they work from home. The markets also seemed to
receive a boost from comments from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer,
D-N.Y., indicating Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ken., has agreed
to resume negotiations over a new stimulus bull. On the economic data front, a
reading on leading U.S. economic indicators increased in line with economist
estimates in the month of October, according to a report released by the
Conference Board. The Conference Board said its leading economic index climbed
by 0.7 percent in October, matching the increase seen in the previous month as
well as expectations. Ataman Ozyildirim, Senior Director of Economic Research
at The Conference Board, said the continued advance by the index reflected
widespread improvements despite weakness from housing permits and consumers'
outlook on economic conditions. However, Ozyildirim said the leading index has
been decelerating in recent months, which suggests growth will moderate
significantly in the final months of 2020, slowing down from the unusually
rapid pace in Q3.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
Thursday as rising coronavirus cases in the US and Europe and imposition of
fresh lockdown measures at several places raised concerns about energy demand.
Despite positive updates on the vaccine front, with Pfizer, Moderna and
AstraZeneca all saying their Covid-19 vaccines are proving to be quite
successful during the final phase of trials, there are worries about the
pandemic due to continued increase in new cases. Meanwhile, the continued
impasse over a fiscal stimulus bill is hurting as well. Crude oil futures for
December fell $0.08 or about 0.2 percent to settle at $41.74 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. January Brent crude declined 0.32 percent to
settle at $44.20 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ended weaker against
the US dollar on Thursday, on increased demand for the greenback from importers
and banks. Investors remain concerned with WTO's latest Trade Monitoring Report
on G20 stating that there is a slowdown in the number of trade restrictive as
well as facilitative measures on goods implemented by G-20 member countries
between mid-May and mid-October, due to the sharp decline in overall global
trade since the COVID-19 outbreak. However, downfall remain capped with former
chief economic adviser Arvind Virmani's statement that India's Gross domestic
product (GDP) is likely to contract 7.5 percent in the current fiscal (FY21)
but will see a double-digit growth in 2021-22. On the global front, dollar
strengthened on Thursday as broad optimism about COVID-19 vaccines ran into
worries about rising infection numbers and risks to the fragile global economic
recovery. Finally, the rupee ended at 74.27, 08 paise weaker from its previous
close of 74.19 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net buyer in equity segment and net seller in debt segment. In equity
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 12426.33 crore against gross selling of Rs
7022.58 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 291.02
crore with gross sales of Rs 395.84 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the
gross buying was of Rs 138.37 crore against gross selling of Rs 17.80 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday after fresh stimulus hopes buoyed investors' sentiment. Asian markets
trade mostly in green with marginal gains on Friday as investors remained cautious
over the short-term economic impact of the coronavirus as cases around the
world continue to rise. Indian markets ended lower with over a percent cut on
Thursday, after 4 sessions of gains, following losses in global peers, as
widening COVID-19 restrictions weighed on market sentiment. Today, the markets
are likely to make flat-to-positive start tracking gains in global peers.
Traders will be taking encouragement with ICRA's report that the contraction in
the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) may have narrowed to 9.5 per cent in
the second quarter of the current fiscal from 23.9 per cent in the April-June
quarter as the economy recovered from the lows of the pandemic-induced
lockdown. Some support will come as the Reserve Bank announced to conduct simultaneous
purchase and sale of government securities under open market operations (OMOs)
for Rs 10,000 crore each on November 26. The decision was taken after a review
of the current liquidity and financial conditions. Besides, investments through
participatory notes (P-notes) in the Indian capital market surged to Rs 78,686
crore at October-end, making it the highest level in 14 months, on enhanced
global liquidity and measures taken by the government back home. However,
traders may be concerned as Global forecasting firm Oxford Economics revised
downwards its India growth forecast over the medium term to an average 4.5 per
cent over 2020-25, from its pre-pandemic projection of 6.5 per cent. In a
research note, it said India's post-COVID-19 scars could be among the worst in
the world. There may be some cautiousness with a private report that it would
not be before 2022 that Indian businesses would be able to recover as most of
them are adversely impacted due to Covid pandemic. Healthcare sector stocks will
be in focus after Niti Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul said India's overall
spending on the health sector is low and the situation must be corrected.
Emphasising that there is a need to request both the union and state
governments to enhance spending on health, he said the COVID-19 experience will
justify an increase in expenditure on health sector. There will be some
reaction in oil & gas sector stocks with Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's
statement that India will see an investment of Rs 10,000 crore in the next
three years in setting up of LNG stations, a fuel that promises to
revolutionalise long-haul transport with reduced cost and lesser emissions.
Realty sector stocks will be in limelight with Crisil's report that the
financial capital has seen a 1.3 times increase in property registrations on
lower duties, but FY21 is going to be a difficult year for the realty sector
with primary sales likely to decline by 50 percent in top 10 cities. Meanwhile,
Gland Pharma will make its stock market debut today. The initial public
offering was oversubscribed by only the Qualified Institutional Buyers (QIB)
while NIIs and retail investors failed to fully subscribe their portion.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
12,771.70
|
12,690.64
|
12,907.89
|
BSE
Sensex
|
43,599.96
|
43,335.38
|
44,047.27
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Motors
|
1,094.49
|
167.95
|
164.21
|
174.01
|
State
Bank of India
|
822.84
|
239.75
|
235.24
|
248.04
|
NTPC
|
551.96
|
89.80
|
87.90
|
91.80
|
ITC
|
489.84
|
187.90
|
183.14
|
192.24
|
Power
Grid Corporation of India
|
364.68
|
189.80
|
179.74
|
198.54
|
Hero MotoCorp has sold more than 14 lakh units of motorcycles and scooters, in retail sales during the just concluded festive season.
L&T's construction arm -- L&T construction has secured another mega contract for its Transportation Infrastructure business from NHSRCL.
Bharti Airtel has started deploying 4G technology in 900 megahertz band, which it was using for 2G services, across 10 telecom circles.
TCS has expanded its partnership with Kingfisher plc to provide consolidated application management and infrastructure support services.