Erasing their initial losses,
Indian equity benchmarks ended the session flat with negative bias and extended
their consolidation for third straight day on Thursday. After making a decent
start, markets witnessed sharp sell-off which dragged key gauges below their
crucial 32,200 (Sensex) and 10,100 (Nifty) levels in early deals, as traders
turn concerned with report that advance tax payments by top corporate for
September quarter has increased only marginally. Adding to the pessimism, a
survey found that optimism level among India's Chief Financial Officers during
July-September touched a one and half year low amid concerns related to subdued
demand and strain on corporate balance sheet. The Composite CFO Optimism Index
for the September quarter of this year declined by 11% year-on-year and by 5.7%
on a quarter-on-quarter basis. However, markets got support near those
psychological levels and started trimming their losses with traders taking
solace after Finance Minister Arun Jaitley hint at a package of measures to
boost the economy, while virtually ruling out any cut in duties on petroleum
products to check the spike in fuel prices. Jaitley said the government is
considering additional measures to bolster economy that has hit a three-year
low of 5.7 percent in the first quarter of the current fiscal. He said an
announcement with regard to the additional steps will be made after consulting
Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Traders also get some comfort with World Bank
President Jim Yong Kim's statement that India has been growing pretty
‘robustly' and predicted a strong global growth this year. Finally, the BSE
Sensex slipped 30.47 points or 0.09% to 32,370.04, while the CNX Nifty was down
by 19.25 points or 0.19% to 10,121.90.
The US markets closed lower on
Thursday, with the Dow snapping a nine-day winning streak as investors found
few reasons to chase equities a day after the Federal Reserve indicated it
still intends to deliver another rate increase in 2017 and detailed the
unwinding of $4.5 trillion balance sheet. On the economy front, applications
for US unemployment benefits fell sharply in mid-September, reflecting fewer
new claims than expected in Florida and Texas following a pair of destructive
hurricanes. Initial weekly claims in the period running from September 11 to
September 16 fell by 23,000 to 259,000. Earlier in the month claims hit a
two-year high after hurricane Harvey. Setting aside new claims tied to the
hurricanes, the number of Americans seeking jobless benefits remains near a
44-year bottom. The unemployment rate recently hit a 16-year low of 4.3%, job
openings are at a record and companies are hiring at a steady clip. A monthly
average of jobless claims, seen as a more stable barometer of labor-market
trends, rose by 6,000 to 268,750. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 53.36
points or 0.24 percent to 22,359.23, the Nasdaq was down 33.35 points or 0.52
percent to 6,422.69, and the S&P 500 edged lower by 7.64 points or 0.30
percent to 2,500.60.
Crude oil futures snapped their
rally mood and ended lower on Thursday ahead of the Opec meeting and traders continued
to weigh data showing a sharp rise in U.S. crude production and stockpiles.
Some strength in dollar too weighed on the sentiments after the Federal Reserve
suggested a rate hike is imminent. Also, the Fed said it will begin shrinking
its bloated $4.5 trillion portfolio in October by allowing $10 billion in bonds
to mature without replacing them. Meanwhile, Opec and other major producers
will meet Friday in Vienna to discuss the market impact of the production-cut
agreement and progress toward rebalancing supply and demand. Benchmark crude
oil futures for November delivery ended lower by 14 cents or 0.3 percent at
$50.55 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for November
delivery gained 12 cent to $56.41 a barrel on the ICE.
Indian
rupee ended 11-week low against US dollar on Thursday, following continued
dollar demand from banks and importers coupled with heavy capital outflows. Traders
failed to get relief from Finance minister Arun Jaitley's statement that the
government would soon announce measures to revive economic growth that has
decelerated to the slowest pace in three years. Moreover, a firming dollar
overseas coupled with lackluster trade in the equity markets for the third
consecutive session, too weighed heavily on forex sentiment. On the global
front, dollar rose to a two-month high against yen and extended its gains
against the euro on Thursday after a hawkish-sounding Federal Reserve
heightened expectations for an interest rate hike in December. Finally, the
rupee ended at 64.80, 53 paise weaker from its previous close of 64.27 on
Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net sellers in equity segment, while they were net buyers in debt segment.
In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6311.25 crore against gross
selling of Rs 7197.13 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 439.19 crore with gross sales of Rs 270.53 crore.
The US markets turned mildly weak
in the last session with the Dow and the S&P 500 pulling back off
yesterday's record closing highs, as traders continued to digest the Federal
Reserve's monetary policy announcement, when it left interest rates unchanged
but signaled another rate hike is likely this year. The Asian markets have made
mostly a lower start on renewed geo-political worries after a report that North
Korea could respond to fresh sanctions with a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific and
on a downgrade to China's credit rating by S&P Global Ratings. The Indian
markets recovering from the lows managed a flat close albeit in red in the last
session, following hawkish signals from the US Federal Reserve. Today, the
start is likely to be in red on sluggish global cues and geopolitical worries,
all eyes will be on Opec and non-Opec nations meeting today to discuss a
possible extension of oil supply cuts to support prices. However, in latter day
of trade markets may get some support with report that the government is considering
a plan to loosen the fiscal deficit target so that it could spend an additional
Rs 500 billion ($ 7.7 billion) in the financial year ending in March 2018. A
separate report has said that given the lack of considerable space both on the
monetary and fiscal front to support economic growth, part of the country's
forex reserves can be used to support GDP numbers. Meanwhile, World Bank
President Jim Yong Kim has said that India has been growing 'pretty robustly'
and called for more cooperation among the multilateral system, private sector
and the governments to take advantage of the current win-win situation. The
infra sector stocks will be in action as the Government's 100 smart cities
mission seeks to invest over $15 billion in the next few years to build
efficient and effective city management solutions and infrastructure.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10121.90
|
10067.37
|
10167.67
|
BSE Sensex
|
32370.04
|
32202.10
|
32500.29
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
ICICI Bank
|
144.97
|
284.95
|
282.27
|
289.02
|
Bank of Baroda
|
121.14
|
145.60
|
143.87
|
148.12
|
Sun Pharma
|
102.18
|
519.65
|
508.10
|
528.10
|
Hindalco
|
98.89
|
244.55
|
238.63
|
248.13
|
SBI
|
85.09
|
268.50
|
266.77
|
270.82
|
SBI is looking to hire merchant bankers for the sale of its non-core investments in order to try and boost its capital base.
NTPC is planning to add 32 GW of clean energy by 2032, in addition to its plan to create 15 GW of solar capacity under National Solar Mission.
ICICI Bank has received an approval for the allotment of 10,800 Basel III compliant unsecured subordinated perpetual Additional Tier 1 bonds aggregating Rs 10.80 billion on private placement basis.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has received an EIR for its Formulation Srikakulam Plant Unit II, Andhra Pradesh from the USFDA.