Extending their consolidation
mood for second straight session, Indian equity benchmarks ended the choppy day
of trade slightly in red amid weak global cues. Markets altered between green
and red throughout the session and profit booking in dying hour of trade
dragged markets tad below the neutral lines. Traders also remained concerned
with the details of the minutes of the MPC meeting held on December 5 and 6
released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), where RBI Governor Urjit Patel
flagged concerns over rising global oil prices and uncertainties on fiscal and
external fronts. Two other members in the panel, Deputy Governor Viral Acharya
and Executive Director Michael Debabrata Patra, flagged the issue of inflation
in petroleum products. Sentiments also remained down-beat with private report
stating the RBI's policy rates are likely to remain unchanged in 2018 despite
higher inflation, a recovering growth, and elevated oil prices. Meanwhile,
the special CBI court pronounce the judgment in the 2G scam, which
rocked the telecom sector some years ago and played a major part in cementing
the UPA government's reputation of being corrupt. The court acquitted all
accuses including former telecom minister A Raja acquitted in 2G case. However,
losses remained capped with traders getting some solace with the Union Cabinet
approving the Consumer Protection Bill, 2017, paving the way for its
introduction in Parliament. Once approved by Parliament, the new law will replace
the current Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Some support also came with Chairman
of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Bibek Debroy's
statement that India is expected to be a $6.5-7 trillion economy by 2030, and
at the current exchange rate it would touch $10 trillion by 2035-40. Finally,
the BSE Sensex slipped 21.10 points or 0.06% to 33,756.28, while the CNX Nifty
was down by 3.90 points or 0.04% to 10,440.30.
The US markets closed higher on
Thursday, with energy stocks helping major indexes to end just points away from
record territory. The latest economic data, which pointed to slight slowing
from strong previous readings, further supported the market. The US economy's
pace of growth in the third quarter was lowered slightly to a 3.2% annual rate
from 3.3% under the government's final revision to gross domestic product. The
economy expanded at a 3.1% rate in the second quarter. The core personal
consumption expenditure index, the Fed's favorite measure of inflation was
softer than previously estimated, rising at a 1.3% rate down from 1.4%. The
downgrade in GDP reflected slightly less consumer spending in the July-September
quarter than previously estimated. Consumer spending was revised down a tick to
a still solid 2.2% rate. Meanwhile,
initial US jobless claims, a tool to measure layoffs, rose by 20,000 to 245,000
in the week ended December 16. The more stable monthly average of claims
increased by 1,250 and stood at 236,000. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added
55.64 points or 0.23 percent to 24,782.29, the Nasdaq gained 4.402 points or
0.06 percent to 6,965.36, and the S&P 500 edged higher by 5.32 points or
0.20 percent to 2,684.57.
Crude oil futures extended their
gains on Friday, as investors continued to cheer mostly positive EIA inventory
data. U.S. oil inventories have been declining for four weeks despite robust
production. However, the upside especially of Brent crude were capped on report
Forties pipeline could restart as soon as January. Ineos, operator of the
Forties pipeline, which had been on outage since Dec. 11, said it expected the
pipeline to resume operations in early January. Benchmark crude oil futures for
January delivery ended higher by $0.27 or 0.5 percent at $58.36 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery was up by $0.35
to $64.91 a barrel on the ICE.
Indian
rupee pared some of early gains to end marginally stronger against dollar on
Thursday, due to some dollar demand from importers and corporates. Investors
took support with Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime
Minister (EAC-PM) Bibek Debroy's statement that India is expected to be a
$6.5-7 trillion economy by 2030, and at the current exchange rate it would
touch $10 trillion by 2035-40. However, gains were capped as traders remained
concerned with the details of the minutes of the MPC meeting held on December 5
and 6 released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), where RBI Governor Urjit
Patel flagged concerns over rising global oil prices and uncertainties on
fiscal and external fronts. On the global front, dollar hit a nine-day high
against yen on Thursday, after comments by Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko
Kuroda reinforced expectations that the BOJ was in no hurry to move away from its
ultra-loose monetary policy. Finally, the rupee ended at 64.06, 5 paise
stronger from its previous close of 64.11 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net sellers in equity and debt segments both. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 4844.47 crore against gross selling of Rs 6290.73 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 914.44 crore with gross sales
of Rs 1194.64 crore.
The US markets though managed a
modestly positive close but ended the last session off their highs. Optimism
about the economic impact of the Republican tax reform bill contributed to the
strength but the buying interest was somewhat subdued. The Asian markets have
made mostly a positive start, though the Japanese stock market is flat in
choppy trade on Friday despite the positive lead from Wall Street. The Indian
markets remained in consolidation mood and ended lower for the second straight
day in last session. Today, the start is likely to be flat on cautious cues
from the global markets. Traders will be concerned with an IMF report that
India's financial sector is facing considerable challenges with high
non-performing assets and slow deleveraging and repair of corporate balance
sheets testing the resilience of the banking system and holding back growth.
However, the Reserve Bank of India in its latest edition of the Financial
Stability Report has noted that while the stress in the banking sector remains
elevated, it appears to be bottoming out. Also, there will be some support with
Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) Bibek
Debroy's statement that India is expected to be a $ 6.5-7 trillion economy by
2030, and at the current exchange rate it would touch $ 10 trillion by 2035-40.
He said that India will be remarkably different country as the size of its
economy will enhance the country's role in global affairs. The 2G spectrum case
related stocks will continue buzzing after the special CBI court acquitted all
18 accused including A Raja and K Kanimozhi in 2G spectrum allocation case.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10440.30
|
10420.15
|
10467.20
|
BSE Sensex
|
33756.28
|
33689.06
|
33842.25
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
Hindalco
|
137.71
|
263.30
|
260.42
|
265.42
|
SBI
|
99.16
|
316.75
|
315.37
|
318.17
|
ICICI Bank
|
97.06
|
315.45
|
312.85
|
317.30
|
Vedanta
|
80.13
|
317.15
|
313.67
|
320.47
|
Yes Bank
|
71.31
|
310.45
|
308.58
|
313.13
|
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