Indian benchmark indices gave up
all of their morning gains and ended on a flat note with negative bias on
Thursday amid selling in Telecom, Healthcare and Banking counters. Earlier in
the day, benchmarks opened higher amid firm cues from global peers. Sentiments
got a boost with a private report that 70 per cent of all reported coronavirus
cases in India have now recovered. The steepest rise in the recovery rate has
been in the month of August, with the recovery rate gaining almost six
percentage points in just 12 days. Sentiments remained optimistic with private
report stating that amid the economic fallout caused due to the coronavirus
outbreak, the government may soon roll out another set of stimulus measures and
Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself will unveil these steps. Traders also took
note of report that Union minister Nitin Gadkari called for increased
investment by international institutions and bodies in the Indian Highways and
MSME sectors. However, domestic bourses pared initial gains and turned highly
volatile in second half of the session, as investors awaited the release of
retail inflation data later in the day for more clarity on the monetary policy
outlook. Traders failed to get respite with India Ratings and Research's
(Ind-Ra) report that non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) are likely to see an
increase in their refinancing requirements with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
permitting banks to go for one-time restructuring of loans that are facing
stress due to the COVID-19 crisis. Separately, in order to improve the
efficiency, transparency and integrity of the asset classification process, the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked large urban cooperative banks (UCBs) to
undertake the system-based asset classification from June 30, 2021. Finally,
the BSE Sensex fell 59.14 points or 0.15% to 38,310.49, while the CNX Nifty was
down by 7.95 points or 0.07% to 11,300.45.
The US markets ended mostly lower
on Thursday as traders expressed some uncertainty about the outlook for the
markets. Meanwhile, a steep drop by Cisco Systems weighed on the markets, with
the networking giant plunging by 11.2 percent after reporting better than
expected fiscal fourth quarter results but providing disappointing guidance.
Traders also kept an eye on developments in Washington, where Democrats and
White House officials remain at an impasse over a coronavirus relief bill.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
spoke on Wednesday, but both sides came out of the conversation blaming the
other for a lack of progress. On the economic data front, a report released by
the Labor Department showed first-time claims for US unemployment benefits
declined by much more than anticipated in the week ended August 8th. The Labor
Department said initial jobless claims tumbled to 963,000, a decrease of
228,000 from the previous week's revised level of 1.191 million. Street had expected
jobless claims to slide to 1.120 million from the 1.186 million originally
reported for the previous week. With the much bigger than expected decrease,
jobless claims dropped below 1 million for the first time since the week ended
March 14th.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
Thursday, pressured after the International Energy Agency (IEA) applied a
deeper cut to its forecast for global crude demand in 2020. The IEA, in its
monthly oil market report released, deepened its forecast for a contraction in
global demand for 2020. It expects global demand to contract by 8.1 million
barrels a day year on year, 140,000 barrels more than in last month's report.
Its 2020 oil demand forecast now stands at 91.9 million barrels a day. Crude
oil futures for September dropped 43 cents or 1 percent to settle at $42.24 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. October Brent crude fell 47 cents
or 1 percent to settle at $ 44.96 a barrel on London's Intercontinental
Exchange.
Indian rupee ended tad lower
against dollar on Thursday, on account of sustained dollar demand from
importers and banks. Traders took note of Former union minister Suresh Prabhu's
statement that the domestic industry must become more competitive and help the
country become Atmanirbhar. Prabhu also said most countries are adopting
protectionist policies and India too must become self-reliant. On the global
front, pound rose against the dollar on Thursday, driven by dollar weakness as
traders shrugged off Wednesday's dismal GDP data but remained cautious about
the longer-term economic outlook for Britain. Finally, the rupee ended at
74.84, 1 paise weaker from its previous close of 74.83 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net buyers in equity, while they were net sellers in debt segment. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8032.41 crore against gross selling
of Rs 4573.85 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
467.54 crore with gross sales of Rs 1157.63 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 10.17 crore against gross selling of Rs
23.45 crore.
The US markets ended mostly lower
on Thursday as traders kept an eye on developments in Washington, where
Democrats and White House officials remain at an impasse over a coronavirus
relief bill. Asian markets are trading mixed on Friday as investors remained
cautious after US lawmakers seemed unable to move forward with a coronavirus
stimulus bill. Indian markets wiped out early gains and ended lower on Thursday
tracking mixed global cues and amid caution ahead of the release of July's
retail inflation print. Today, the markets are likely to get flat-to-negative
start amid mixed global cues coupled with rising coronavirus cases in the
country. India has recorded over 64,000 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours,
taking its total to 2,459,613. Traders will be concerned with the data released
by the National Statistics Office (NSO) showing that India's retail inflation
as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased to 6.93 percent in the
month of July as food prices continued to soar due to disrupted supply chains.
Investors will now eye Wholesale inflation data, likely to be released later
today. market participants will also looking to the meeting of Reserve Bank of
India's board, led by governor Shaktikanta Das, to be held today amid
expectations that the RBI will disclose its dividend payout to the government.
However, some support may come later in the day as the Union Health Ministry
said the Covid-19 recovery rate has risen to 70.77 per cent on August 13 with
the total number of patients recuperating from the disease reaching nearly 1.7
million, while the case fatality rate has further declined to 1.96 per cent.
Traders may take note of Crisil's report that sales tax revenue for states on
petroleum products will grow by up to 9 percent in FY21 despite the impact of
the COVID-19 pandemic. Aviation stocks will be in focus with civil aviation
regulator - the Directorate General of Civil Aviation's(DGCA) statement that a
total of 2.1 million people travelled by air domestically in July this year,
which is 82.3 per cent lower than the corresponding period last year. Telecom
stocks will be in limelight as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear the AGR
case today. During its last hearing, the apex court observed the government to
prepare a plan to recover adjusted gross revenue-related dues from bankrupt
telecom operators. There will be lots of earnings announcements too, to keep
the markets in action.
Support
and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
11,300.45
|
11,260.50
|
11,349.85
|
BSE Sensex
|
38,310.49
|
38,178.07
|
38,479.87
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous
close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance
(Rs)
|
(in
Lacs)
|
Tata Motors
|
954.90
|
131.15
|
126.40
|
133.90
|
State Bank of India
|
704.44
|
201.90
|
199.34
|
205.89
|
Bharti Airtel
|
367.75
|
535.35
|
523.64
|
547.69
|
Hindalco Industries
|
265.26
|
183.55
|
179.50
|
186.10
|
ICICI Bank
|
262.58
|
368.05
|
365.41
|
371.51
|
Grasim Industries has reported 66.61% decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 620.74 crore for Q1FY21 over Q1FY20.
Maruti Suzuki India has sold 40 lakh cumulative units of Alto.
Britannia Industries has raised Rs 300 crore through allotment of Commercial Papers on August, 12, 2020.
Larsen & Toubro's construction arm -- L&T Construction has secured orders from prestigious clients for its varied businesses.