Extending previous session's
gains, Indian equity benchmarks ended the Tuesday's trade with a gain of one
third of a percent. Markets started the session on cautious note and entered
into red terrain in morning deals with escalating trade tensions between the US
and China. Investors also remained on sidelines ahead to the Reserve Bank of
India's (RBI) policy decision on April 5 for directional cues. The central bank
is expected to maintain status quo on rates despite increased risks to
inflation posed by rising oil prices and a hike in minimum support price (MSP)
announced in the Budget 2018. Traders also remained concerned with ICRA's
report that more Indian companies are likely to default on their borrowings in
the fiscal year that started in April compared with the previous year on higher
interest costs and a deterioration in business conditions. Adding to the
pessimism, India's manufacturing sector activity expanded at its slowest pace
in the month of March to fall at 5-month low. The seasonally adjusted Nikkei
India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) - a composite
single-figure indicator of manufacturing performance - slowed down to 51.0 in
March from 52.1 in February. However, markets took U-turn and started paring
losses to enter into green terrain in last leg of trade with traders taking
support from report that the government's revenue collection during fiscal year
2017-18 gone up by 17.1% at Rs 9.95 lakh crore, supported by the addition of
one crore new assessees who have started filing income tax returns. Traders
also took some solace with report that a steep rise in output of cement and
fertilisers pushed up the growth of the core sector to 5.3% in February even as
refinery products, electricity, coal, and natural gas production made the
output of the infrastructure industries grow slower than 6.1% in January. Finally,
the BSE Sensex surged 115.27 points or 0.35% to 33,370.63, while the CNX Nifty
was up by 33.20 points or 0.33% to 10,245.00.
The US markets closed higher on
Tuesday, following a volatile session that saw major indices fluctuate widely
as investors digested a sharp move lower in the previous session and gauged the
likelihood of both trade risk and further weakness in technology names.
Volatility is expected to remain elevated, and President Donald Trump is a
particular focus for the equity market, with investors wary of any trade
actions he might announce - particularly after China retaliated to US tariffs
with protectionist measures of its own. Fed Governor Lael Brainard said that
high asset prices and growing economic pressure from US fiscal stimulus mean
financial markets may be particularly vulnerable to an unexpected shock,
warning that the central bank could respond with stronger requirements on banks
as needed. Lael Brainard added that valuations seem stretched and cyclical
pressures are building. On the economy front, US construction spending rose
less than expected in February amid a steep decline in investment in public
construction projects. The Commerce Department said construction spending edged
up 0.1 percent after being unchanged in January. February's marginal increase
in construction spending could have implications for first-quarter gross
domestic product growth estimates, which are mostly below a 2 percent
annualized rate. In February, spending on public construction projects tumbled
2.1 percent, almost reversing January's 2.3 percent rise. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average added 389.17 points or 1.65 percent to 24,033.36, the Nasdaq
gained 71.163 points or 1.04 percent to 6,941.28, while the S&P 500 was up
by 32.57 points or 1.26 percent to 2,614.45.
Crude oil
futures edged higher on Tuesday after the American Petroleum Institute (API)
reported a surprise draw of 3.28 million barrels of United States crude oil
inventories for the week ending March 30. The street had anticipated a modest
build in crude oil inventories of 246,000 barrels. Last week, the API reported
major build and a surprise one at that of 5.321 million barrels of crude oil.
The API reported this week a build for gasoline for week ending March 30 of
1.123 million in gasoline stockpiles, a surprise given the 1.26-million-barrel
draw that analysts had expected. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery
surged 50 cents at $63.51 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. May
Brent crude gained 0.58 percent to settle at $68.03 a barrel on London's
Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian
rupee gained ground against dollar and ended higher on Tuesday, due to selling
of the US currency by exporters and banks. Market participants drew some
support with report that a steep rise in output of cement and fertilisers
pushed up the growth of the core sector to 5.3% in February even as refinery
products, electricity, coal, and natural gas production made the output of the
infrastructure industries grow slower than 6.1% in January. Additional support
also came with the report that Direct tax collections in 2017-18 at Rs 9.95
lakh crore, exceeded the revised budgetary target of Rs 9.8 lakh crore for
FY18. Also, 6.84 crore income tax returns filed in the year against 5.43 crore
in the previous year. Besides, last hour recovery in local equity markets also
influenced the rupee sentiment. On the global front, dollar rebounded from an
early fall on Tuesday, on concerns about US-China trade tensions on Tuesday, as
foreign exchange markets appeared to shrug off worries that the dispute could
damage global growth. Finally, the rupee ended at 65.02, 16 paise stronger from
its previous close of 65.18 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Tuesday's data
were net sellers in equity segment, while they were net buyers in debt segment,
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 15806.65 crore against gross selling
of Rs 16064.77 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
4214.21 crore with gross sales of Rs 2132.68 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8.02 crore against gross selling of Rs 0.65
crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Tuesday as bargain hunting contributed to the strength on Wall Street, with
traders picking up stocks at reduced levels after the sharp decline seen on
Monday. Asian markets are trading mixed in early deals as recent concerns over
trade tensions persisted amid new China-U.S. trade developments. Indian markets
ended a choppy session slightly higher on Tuesday even as global markets
succumbed to selloff amid jitters about US - Chinese trade tensions and
mounting public scrutiny of technology companies. Today, the markets are likely
to open slightly in green on Wednesday. Traders will be taking some
encouragement with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley's statement that direct tax
collection has grown by 18 per cent to cross Rs 10.02 trillion in the financial
year ended on March 31, 2018. He said demonetisation and GST implementation
have resulted in higher formalisation of the economy which is evident from
additional 10 million IT returns being filed in the previous financial year.
However, there will be some concern on report that the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) is unlikely to yield to the India Inc's pressure for a benign monetary
policy stance by keeping policy rates unchanged in its first monetary policy
review of 2018-19 to be announced on Thursday against the backdrop of hardening
global crude oil prices. There will be buzz in sugar related stocks on report
that sugar output increased 49 per cent to 28.18 million tonne (MT) so far in
2017-18 marketing year, but mills are unable to make cane payment to growers
owing to low prices. Stocks related to tea sector too will be buzzing on a
private report that Profit margins for bulk tea producers, particularly in
north India, is likely to improve in the just-concluded financial year on firm
price trends from August 2017 to January 2018.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous
close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
10,245.00
|
10,192.25
|
10,276.55
|
BSE
Sensex
|
33,370.63
|
33,215.33
|
33,464.44
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous
close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance
(Rs)
|
(in
Lacs)
|
ICICI
Bank
|
407.73
|
270.05
|
263.80
|
273.90
|
SBI
|
198.83
|
250.50
|
248.23
|
252.78
|
Hindalco
|
181.45
|
207.95
|
204.37
|
211.62
|
Tata
Steel
|
105.08
|
579.70
|
570.22
|
587.32
|
Yes
Bank
|
103.93
|
313.10
|
306.67
|
316.87
|
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