Indian equity benchmarks ended
volatile day in red terrain on Thursday, despite firm global markets. Markets
made a positive start, after India jumped 14 places to the 63rd position on the
World Bank's ease of doing business ranking, riding high on the government's
flagship Make in India scheme and other reforms attracting foreign investment.
The country also figured among the top 10 performers on the list for the third
time in a row. Adding some support, the commerce and industry ministry said
that India has recorded continuous improvement in its ease of doing business
ranking issued by the World Bank on account of steps taken by the government in
this regard. But, bourses turned volatile to settle lower, as share of FPIs in
domestic capital markets through P-notes stood at Rs 76,611 crore in
September-end, registering the fourth consecutive month-on-month decline. Some
concerns also came, after Fitch Ratings slashed India's GDP growth forecast in
the current fiscal to 5.5% saying a large credit squeeze emanating from shadow
banks has pushed economic growth to a six year low. Traders got cautious with
Economist Intelligence Unit's statement that India is not likely to benefit
from the US-China trade tensions largely owing to existing policy barriers to
large-scale production, strict labour laws & difficult land-acquisition
process. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 38.44 points or 0.10% to 39,020.39, while
the CNX Nifty was down by 21.50 points or 0.19% to 11,582.60.
The US markets ended mostly
higher on Thursday, however the Dow Jones Industrial Average pinned lower by a
tumble in shares of 3M, amid a flurry of corporate quarterly results. A steep
drop by shares of 3M (MMM) weighed on the day after the diversified
manufacturer reported third quarter earnings that beat estimates but lowered its
full-year earnings outlook. Meanwhile, shares of Twitter came under pressure
after the social media giant reported weaker than expected third quarter
results and provided disappointing guidance. Besides, traders were digesting a
slew of US economic data, including a report from the Commerce Department
showing a steep drop in orders for transportation equipment contributed to a
bigger than expected decrease in durable goods orders in September. The
Commerce Department said durable goods orders tumbled by 1.1 percent in
September after rising by a revised 0.3 percent in August. Street had expected
durable goods orders to decline by 0.8 percent compared to the 0.2 percent
uptick that had been reported for the previous month. Excluding the nosedive in
orders for transportation equipment, durable goods orders dipped by 0.3 percent
in September after climbing by 0.3 percent in August. Ex-transportation orders
had expected to edge down by 0.2 percent. A separate report from the Commerce
Department showed new home sales pulled back in September after a sharp
increase in the previous month. The report said new home sales slid by 0.7
percent to an annual rate of 701,000 in September after spiking by 6.2 percent
to a revised rate of 706,000 in August. Street had expected slump by 1.7
percent to a rate of 701,000 from the 713,000 originally reported for the
previous month.
Extending their previous
session's gains, crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday amid rising hopes
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies will
extend output cuts beyond March 2020, and might even consider increasing the
quantum of cuts. A surprise drop in crude inventories in the US last week and
the likelihood of the US and China signing the first phase of a trade deal by
mid-November too supported oil's uptick. Besides, the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) reported that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 87
billion cubic feet for the week ended October 18. Benchmark crude oil futures
for December gained 26 cents or 0.5 percent to settle at $56.23 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. December Brent rose 50 cents or 0.8 percent to
settle at $61.67 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Erasing
all of its initial gains, Indian rupee ended marginally weaker against the US
dollar on Thursday, due to increased demand of the greenback from the importers
and the banks. Investors remained cautious as Fitch Ratings slashed India's GDP
growth forecast in the current fiscal to 5.5 per cent saying a large credit
squeeze emanating from shadow banks has pushed economic growth to a six year
low. Besides, lackluster trade in local equity markets along with dollar's
strength against other currencies overseas weighed on the rupee. However,
losses remain capped as traders found some solace with the commerce and
industry ministry's statement that India has recorded continuous improvement in
its ease of doing business ranking issued by the World Bank on account of steps
taken by the government in this regard. On the global front, euro erased its
earlier gains on Thursday after business surveys pointed to stagnating economic
momentum in the euro zone. Finally, the rupee ended at 71.02, 11 paise weaker
from its previous close of 70.91 on Wednesday.
The
FIIs as per Thursday's data were net sellers in both equity and debt segments.
In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5327.09 crore against gross
selling of Rs 5476.16 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 863.40 crore with gross sales of Rs 1480.97 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 22.03 crore against gross selling of Rs
19.15 crore.
The US markets ended mostly
higher on Thursday, with strong results from Tesla and Microsoft offsetting
weak profits from Ford and some other companies. Asian markets are trading
mostly lower on Friday amid a raft of lingering uncertainties, ranging from
corporate earnings to the US-China trade war. Indian markets ended range-bound
session in red on Thursday led by fall in banking and IT heavyweights like
Infosys, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank and IndusInd Bank. Today, the start is
likely to be flat-to-negative amid weak cues from Asian peers. There will be
some cautiousness with report that the government might be impelled to steeply
cut its direct tax collection target, with growth in this regard slumping to
3.5 per cent up to mid-October from the same period in the earlier financial
year, as against the Budget target of 17.3 per cent. However, some respite may
come later in the day with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that
efforts will be made to further simplify Goods and Services Tax, and expressed
hope that it will help in further improving India's ranking in the World Bank's
ease of doing business index. Some support may also come with report that
notwithstanding global and domestic economic uncertainties, private equity
funds recorded an all-time-high investment of $9.4 billion in the third quarter
this year, driven by big-ticket transactions. Traders may take note of Director
of Development Economics at the World Bank Simeon Djankov's statement that
India needs a fresh set of bold reforms in the next three to four years if it
wants to be among the top 50 countries with ease of doing business. Besides, a
private report indicated that the Reserve Bank of India may go for rate cuts in
December as well as next year as a modest rise in recent inflation is
outweighed by downside risks to the central bank's growth estimates.
Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) stocks will be in focus with report that
the financial metrics of mortgage lenders and NBFCs could deteriorate further
due to non-availability of funding and the possibility of large loans to
builders turning into bad loans next year when the moratorium expires. There
will be some reaction in telecom stocks with report that in a setback to
telecom service providers, the Supreme Court has allowed the Centre's plea to
recover adjusted gross revenue (AGR) of about Rs 92,000 crore from them. There
will be some buzz in the sugar stocks with report that the country's sugar production
is expected to decline by 12.38 per cent to 28-29 million tonnes in the 2019-20
marketing season starting this month, due to sharp fall in the output in
Maharashtra. There will be lots of earnings reaction based on the performance
of the companies.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
11,582.60
|
11,518.30
|
11,663.25
|
BSE Sensex
|
39,020.39
|
38,798.38
|
39,284.77
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Yes Bank
|
2,307.87
|
48.30
|
46.32
|
51.42
|
Bharti Airtel
|
726.98
|
372.35
|
339.78
|
390.63
|
SBI
|
639.43
|
262.50
|
248.22
|
277.22
|
Tata Motors
|
419.52
|
133.50
|
130.95
|
135.60
|
Infosys
|
256.66
|
635.35
|
627.17
|
648.37
|
TCS has launched a next-generation blockchain-based multi-brand customer loyalty platform using R3's Corda.
Tech Mahindra has entered into a collaboration with Quantoz to offer Blockchain-as-a-Service for secure digital payments.
Titan Company has incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary company namely Titan Holdings International FZCO, Dubai.
Coal India is planning to switch over to mechanised transportation of coal through piped conveyor belts in its large mines by 2023-24, replacing the existing road movement of the dry fuel.