Indian equity markets truly
depicted the choppiness of F&O expiry session on Thursday with key gauges
ending the session with a cut of over a percentage point. After a cautious
negative start, markets traded range-bound for most part of the session, but
last hour sell off dragged key gauges below their crucial 33,200 (Sensex) and
10,250 (Nifty) levels. Sentiments remained dampened as traders remained on
sidelines ahead of September quarter GDP data that will be announced later in
the day, though it is expected that economic growth pace is likely to pick up
in the three months ending in September, halting a five-quarter slide as
businesses started to overcome teething troubles after the bumpy launch of a national
sales tax. Selling got intensified in final hour of trade on report that
India's fiscal deficit at the end of October hit 96.1 percent of the budget
estimate for 2017- 18, mainly due to lower revenue realisation and rise in
expenditure. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit -- the difference between
expenditure and revenue -- was Rs 5.25 lakh crore during April-October of
2017-18. During the same period of 2016-17, the deficit stood at 79.3 percent
of the target. Sentiments also remained
dampened with Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian's statement that
demonetization and GST rollout may have reinforced the growth deceleration that
had already set in. He added that not just growth, but investment, credit,
exports, industrial production they all started decelerating sometime in the
second quarter last year. Traders also remained concerned with a foreign
brokerage report enlightening that a prolonged bull market across stocks, bonds
and credit has left a measure of average valuation at the highest since 1900, a
condition that at some point is going to translate into pain for investors. The
report added that all good things must come to an end and there will be a bear
market, eventually. Traders paid no heed towards the report that India has
moved up one place to the 68th spot on the Global Entrepreneurship Index of
2018, which is topped by the US. Traders also shrugged off Minister of State
for Finance, Shiv Pratap Shukla's statement that by March 2018, GST will become
so simple that people will have no issues. Finally, the BSE Sensex tumbled
453.41 points or 1.35% to 33,149.35, while the CNX Nifty was down by 134.75
points or 1.30% to 10,226.55.
The US markets closed higher on
Thursday and the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 24,000 for the first time.
The surge was on optimism over prospects for the Senate's passage of a
Republican tax-cut plan as one catalyst for the rise. The House previously
passed its version of the measure. Differences between the two packages would
have to be ironed out with a final bill winning approval in both houses before
it would end up on President Donald Trump's desk. On the economy front, initial
US jobless claims, a tool to measure layoffs, fell by 2,000 to 238,000 in the
seven days ended November 25. The more stable monthly average of claims rose
2,250 to 242,250. The number of people already collecting unemployment
benefits, known as continuing claims, increased by 42,000 to 1.96 million. New
applications for unemployment benefits have subsided to a nearly 45-year low
after a mini-surge in the early fall tied to a trio of hurricanes that battered
the southern US and Caribbean territories. In Puerto Rico, for instance, raw
claims sank 57% to return close to normal levels for the island. Meanwhile,
consumer spending rose a steady 0.3% in October following a nearly 1% gain in
the prior month that was the largest in eight years. Personal income rose 0.4%
for the second month in a row. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 331.67
points or 1.39 percent to 24,272.35, the Nasdaq gained 49.584 points or 0.73
percent to 6,873.97, and the S&P 500 edged higher by 21.51 points or 0.82
percent to 2,647.58.
Crude oil futures made a bounce
back and ended modestly higher on Thursday, after OPEC announced it would
extend cuts in oil output by nine months through 2018. However, the impact of
the announcement remained mostly muted as the extension was said to be mostly
priced in, but reports that both Nigeria and Libya decided to cap production
added a positive slant on the outcome of the meeting. There was speculation
that certain OPEC members will renege on promised supply cuts. The next OPEC
ministerial meeting is set for June 2018. Benchmark crude oil futures for January
delivery ended up by $0.10 or 0.18 percent at $57.40 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery was down by $ 0.13 to
$62.40 a barrel on the ICE.
Snapping
its three-day gaining streak, Indian rupee ended weaker against dollar on
Thursday due to demand for greenback by banks and importers. Traders remained
on sidelines ahead of September quarter GDP data that will be announced later
in the day. Traders' sentiments remained subdued as India reported a fiscal
deficit of Rs 5.25 trillion ($81.36 billion) for April-October, or 96.1% of the
budgeted target for the current fiscal year that ends in March 2018. The
deficit was 79.3% of the full-year target during the same period a year ago.
Net tax receipts in the first seven months of 2017/18 fiscal year were Rs 6.34
trillion. Moreover, the fall in the rupee was also triggered by dollar's
appreciation overseas against a basket of major currencies along with extremely
bearish local equity markets. On the global front, euro dropped against dollar
on Thursday, after data showing that inflation in the euro area missed
forecasts last month, while another report showed that the unemployment rate in
the region hit an almost nine-year low. Finally, the rupee ended at 64.46, 14
paise weaker from its previous close of 64.32 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
4859.48 crore against gross selling of Rs 5481.92 crore, while in the debt
segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1607.38 crore with gross sales of Rs
1479.42 crore.
The US markets moved higher in
the last session and the Dow and the S&P 500 reached new record closing
highs on optimism about the outlook for tax reform after Senate Republicans
cleared a key procedural hurdle. The Asian markets have made a mixed start, as
the U.S. tax bill encountered stumbling blocks. Japanese shares gave up the early
gains that that briefly helped the Nikkei 225 to reclaim a 25-year high reached
in November. The Indian markets suffered sharp sell-off in the last session of
the month and traders went for profit taking amid the expiry of November series
derivative contracts and on data showing a widening fiscal deficit. Today, the
start of the new month and the new series is likely to be flat on mixed global
cues but some strength can appear in reaction to the GDP numbers for the second
quarter ended September. Reversing a five-quarter slide and setting itself on
course for revival GDP rose 6.3 per cent in the July-September period, compared
with the three year low of 5.7 per cent growth in the April-June quarter and
7.5 per cent in the year earlier. Reacting to the GDP growth data, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley has said the impact of demonetization and GST is behind
us and growth in coming quarters will be on upward trajectory. Traders however,
will be a bit cautious with India's fiscal deficit at the end of October hitting
96.1 per cent of the budget target for 2017-18 on account of lower revenues and
increase in expenditure. The fiscal deficit was 79.3 per cent in the same
period last year. Also, the eight core
sectors grew at a slower pace of 4.7% in October, chiefly due to subdued
performance of cement, steel and refinery segments. There will be some buzz in
the auto stocks as their sales numbers for the month of November will be
announced.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10226.55
|
10180.97
|
10302.42
|
BSE Sensex
|
33149.35
|
32979.98
|
33447.46
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
SBI
|
272.76
|
320.35
|
317.07
|
325.07
|
Tata Motors
|
256.46
|
404.15
|
400.18
|
410.18
|
ICICI Bank
|
238.33
|
307.55
|
303.93
|
313.48
|
ITC
|
221.16
|
256.05
|
254.40
|
257.95
|
Axis Bank
|
193.71
|
535.40
|
530.53
|
543.88
|
Yes Bank has received approval to set up MTN programme to raise about Rs 6,500 crore on private placement basis.
Lupin has recalled a single lot of Pravastatin Sodium USP tablets from the US market.
NTPC has floated a tender to acquire commissioned stressed coal-based power plants in the country.
Reliance Industries' consumer electronics chain - Reliance Digital has joined hands with watch retailer Fossil India to launch a range of smart watches across its select stores.