Indian equity benchmarks undo all
the good work done in early part of the session and ended the lackluster day of
trade slightly in red, as traders remained on sidelines ahead of Reliance
Industries (RIL) Q1FY18 numbers. Though, markets made an optimistic start with
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement, describing the Goods and Services
Tax (GST) as a ‘win- win' deal for all as it will expand the tax net, end
‘inspector raj' and bring down prices of goods. Jaitley added that prices of
goods have come down between four to eight percent since its roll-out on July
1. Traders also took some encouragement with a private report that India will
reclaim its position as the fastest growing major global economy this year,
partly propelled by benefits from a new tax system and bolstered by an expected
central bank interest rate cut. Market
took U-turn in second half of trade where traders opted to book profit ahead of
RIL's Q1 numbers slated to be announced after market hours. According to a
private poll, the company is expected to post consolidated net sales of Rs
76,326 crore and net profit of Rs 7,764.5 crore for the three months ended 30
June. Though, downside remained capped, as traders get some solace with the
Asian Development Bank's report stating that the South Asia will remain the
fastest growing of all sub-regions in Asia and the Pacific, while Indian
economy is expected to achieve previous growth projections 7.4 percent in 2017
and 7.6 percent in 2018 on the back of strong consumption demand. Finally, the
BSE Sensex lost 50.95 points or 0.16% to 31,904.40, while the CNX Nifty was
down by 26.30 points or 0.27% to 9,873.30.
The US markets closed mostly
lower on Thursday, while the Nasdaq bucked the trend to match its best win
streak since February 2015 and closed at a record. Economic news was solid and
supportive of stocks, but a few earnings misses offset the positive impact from
data. On the economy front, manufacturers reported solid, but slowing, growth
in July. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve said its manufacturing survey in July
fell to 19.5 from 27.6 in June. The indexes for activity, new orders,
shipments, employment and work hours were all positive but fell from June
levels. The new-orders index in particular plummeted, to a reading of 2.1 from
25.9 in June. A similar report from the New York Fed released earlier this week
also showed a deceleration in July. However, a broad measure of how well the US
economy is performing surged in June after a strong gain in May, suggesting
growth could speed up in the months ahead. The leading economic index jumped
0.6% last month after a revised 0.4% increase in May. The improvement in the
index was spearheaded by strong housing permits after several months of
weakness. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 28.97 points or 0.13 percent to
21,611.78, S&P 500 edged lower by 0.38 points or 0.02 percent to 2,473.45,
while Nasdaq added 4.96 points or 0.08 percent to 6,390.00.
Crude oil futures settled lower
after reversing off multi-week highs amid profit-taking and nagging worries
about supply overhang. Market focus shifted to domestic crude production that
climbed 32,000 bbl to a fresh two-year high of 9.429 million bbl last week. In
addition, US demand was mixed, with data showing gasoline falling 194,000 bpd
last week, while distillate demand spiked 476,000 bpd on the week and up 10.6%
higher year-over-year. Overseas, supply continues to rise in Libya and Nigeria,
while Iraq plans to increase its output by the end of this year despite the
fact that Iraq is part of an ongoing OPEC agreement to cut output by 1.2
million bpd through March 2018.
Indian
rupee depreciated against the US dollar on Thursday, hurt by fresh demand for
the American currency from importers. Investors failed to get solace with the
Asian Development Bank's (ADB) report which predicted Asia's economy to expand
faster in 2017; South Asia to remain the fastest growing of all sub-regions and
India to achieve a 7.4 percent growth due to strong consumption. Besides, the
dollar rose to a position of strength overseas along with weak trade in
domestic equity market, dragged down the domestic currency. On the global
front, US dollar climbed for a second successive day on Thursday after falling
to a 10-month low earlier this week as some investors pared bearish bets before
a European Central Bank meeting that may signal a policy shift later this year.
Finally, the rupee ended at 64.43, 15 paise weaker from its previous close of
64.28 on Wednesday.
The
FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6580.42 crore against gross selling
of Rs 5563.54 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
1079.61 crore with gross sales of Rs 244.05 crore.
The US markets ended mostly lower
in the last session, while the Asian markets have made a mixed start and the
Japanese market was in red as yen strengthened, as investors assess an
investigation into the U.S. president that may stall his economic agenda. The
Indian markets extended their gains in last session. Today, the start is likely
to be a bit cautious on muted global cues, however, upbeat earnings from market
heavyweight Reliance Industries is likely to support the markets. Also, traders
will be getting some advantage with an ADB supplement report stating that India
is expected to achieve the projected growth rate of 7.4 percent in 2017 and
further up 7.6 percent next year on strong consumption demand, with South Asia
leading the growth chart in Asia and the Pacific. Realty stocks may see some
upmove on reports that foreign investment in Indian real estate sector jumped
more than two-fold at $ 7.6 billion during 2014-16 period compared with the
previous three years. US accounted for more than 40 per cent of the foreign
investments, followed by Canada (18 per cent) and Singapore (17 per cent).
However, the earnings will be keeping the overall markets buzzing for the day.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE
(Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
9873.30
|
9850.32
|
9909.42
|
BSE Sensex
|
31904.40
|
31823.56
|
32021.18
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
Axis Bank
|
163.92
|
540.00
|
525.73
|
549.23
|
ONGC
|
161.55
|
165.85
|
162.68
|
168.43
|
ITC
|
153.07
|
289.50
|
286.97
|
293.47
|
Kotak Bank
|
106.90
|
980.00
|
964.87
|
1005.77
|
ICICI Bank
|
84.58
|
300.60
|
298.95
|
303.05
|
Lupin's US arm - Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc is recalling 12,480 bottles of Paroxetine extended-release tablets in the strength of 12.5 mg from the US market.
Axis Bank has unveiled its digital invoice discounting platform 'Invoicemart', in order to improve access of funds to MSMEs.
Reliance Industries is working on a strategy to sell 200 million 4G feature phones in two years.
ICICI Bank will be selling personal loans of up to Rs 15 lakh through its ATMs that can be availed of by select salaried customers even if they haven't previously applied for one.