Friday turned out to be a
fabulous day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks where Nifty and Sensex once
again scaled fresh record highs and ended above 10,450 and 33,600 levels,
respectively. Despite some initial volatility, markets gained momentum and
traded jubilantly throughout the session, as sentiments remained up-beat with
the government's statement that it has approved foreign direct investment (FDI)
proposals worth Rs 24.56 crore, including one from Sterling Commerce Solutions
India. Markets extended their northward journey mainly after the Nikkei India
Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 51.7 in October from September's
50.7 due to greater inflows of new business. The report enlightened that service
providers retained an optimistic outlook regarding business activity over the
coming 12 months, while the labor market was further reinforced as firms raised
their payroll numbers over the month.
Traders also took some comfort with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
statement that starting business in India is easier than ever before as
procedures have been simplified, archaic laws repealed and compliance
requirements reduced. Meanwhile, responsible or sustainable investment in India
is at a niche stage as assets deployed under this strategy amount to nearly $31
billion, while globally it stood at a whopping $22.89 trillion. Adding to the
optimism, former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan termed the government's
announcement to infuse Rs 2.11 lakh crore in PSU banks as good news saying it
is important for banks to have capital for lending going forward. He added that
public sector banking system is a big part of Indian system and it is about
70%. Investors took note of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) statement that corporate
borrowers who fail to get a Legal Entity Identifier (LEI) number from banks
won't be given credit. The schedule for getting the LEI number is spread out
till December 2019 and depends on exposure. Finally, the BSE Sensex gained
112.34 points or 0.33% to 33,685.56, while the CNX Nifty was up by 28.70 points
or 0.28% to 10,452.50.
The US markets closed at records
on Friday, with major indexes extending their lengthy upward moves on the back
of strong results at Apple, which offset a mixed set of economic data,
including a lackluster October jobs report. For the week, the Dow added 0.5%,
the S&P was up 0.3% and the Nasdaq advanced 0.9%. The week marked the eight
straight weekly gain for both the Dow and the S&P, the longest such streak
for both since November 2013. The Nasdaq marked its sixth positive week in a
row, matching a streak that ended in early March. Meanwhile, Minneapolis
Federal Reserve Bank President Neel Kashkari said that there is no sign of
rising inflation and that the US central bank should hold off on raising
interest rates until that change. Kashkari, who is a voter on this year's
rate-setting committee, has repeatedly said the Fed should wait to raise
borrowing costs again until inflation hits its 2-percent goal. On the economy front,
the US economy added 261,000 jobs in October as employment rebounded from
barely any gain in the prior month due to hurricanes Harvey and Irma.
Unemployment dipped to 4.1% from 4.2% and sat near a 17-year low, but the
decline stemmed in part from a 765,000 plunge in the number of people in the
labor force. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 22.93 points or 0.10
percent to 23,539.19, the Nasdaq gained 49.492 points or 0.74 percent to
6,764.44, and the S&P 500 edged higher by 7.99 points or 0.31 percent to
2,587.84.
Crude oil futures surged on
Friday to end at fresh two year highs, on the back of data showing signs of
U.S. production tightening as US oil rig counts fell to a nearly six-month low.
According to data from energy services firm Baker Hughes, the number of oil
rigs operating in the US fell by eight to 729, declining for the fourth week in
five. Investor optimism on an extension of the Opec-led agreement following
recent comments from both Opec and non-opec officials ahead of the Opec meeting
in Vienna on Nov. 30 too supported the prices. Benchmark crude oil futures for
December delivery ended higher by $1.10 or 2 percent at $ 55.64 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery was up by $1.50 to
$62.12 a barrel on the ICE.
Indian
rupee ended marginally higher against dollar on Friday due to fresh dollar
selling by banks and exporters amid persistent capital inflows. Investors took
some support with report that India's dominant services industry activity expanded
at its fastest pace in four months in October as demand continued to
strengthen, despite accelerating price pressures. The Nikkei India Services
Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 51.7 in October from September's 50.7. Some
support also came with the Finance Ministry's statement that it approved two
foreign direct investment (FDI) proposals worth Rs 24.56 crore. Besides, the dollar losing muscle against
other currencies overseas along with positive trend in equity market too
supported the rupee. On the global
front, dollar steadied on Friday, capping a week of mild losses, as investors
waited for fresh data for evidence of more strength in the US economy and the
progress of tax plans to bet on the greenback's outlook. Finally, the rupee
ended at 64.55, 6 paise stronger from its previous close of 64.61 on Thursday.
The
FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5921.01 crore against gross selling
of Rs 4383.88 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
1215.22 crore with gross sales of Rs 605.62 crore.
The US markets extended their
gains in the last session with major averages ending at record highs after the
tech giant Apple came with a strong set of numbers. The Asian markets have made
a somber start after China's central bank chief warned again about excessive
leverage, however, the Japanese market was marginally in green as the yen tumbled to the weakest since March
after Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said it's crucial for inflation to
exceed the 2 percent target. The Indian markets continued their bull run in the
lasts session; however today the start of the new week is likely to be a bit
cautious on mixed regional cues. All eyes will be on GST Council meeting,
slated later during the week which is expected to consider lowering of the 28
percent GST rate on certain common use items. Traders will also be getting some
support with reports that government could consider a proposal to stagger deadlines
for filing of monthly returns under the Goods and Services Tax for small and
large firms. The move would ensure that the rush towards the last few days gets
partly dissipated and leads to lower burden on the IT systems as well that
often leads to large delays in uploading of returns and invoices. There will be
some action in food processing and related stocks, as the Minister for Railways
and Coal Piyush Goyal has said that the categorisation of the food processing
sector for bank credit should be reviewed as it could in turn help double
farmers' income. There will be buzz from the primary market too, as the shares
of Reliance Nippon Asset Management Company (AMC) will mark its debut on the
National Stock Exchange (NSE). The IPO got tremendous response and was
oversubscribed by 81.54 times.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10452.50
|
10416.83
|
10474.93
|
BSE Sensex
|
33685.56
|
33567.10
|
33768.87
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
SBI
|
268.98
|
325.00
|
315.90
|
330.80
|
Bharti Airtel
|
163.41
|
541.25
|
530.77
|
558.27
|
Power Grid
|
147.90
|
210.05
|
206.27
|
217.17
|
Hindalco
|
143.97
|
268.90
|
263.80
|
275.80
|
ICICI Bank
|
142.58
|
315.90
|
313.75
|
318.35
|
ITC has launched a new brand ‘Farmland' to mark its foray into the fresh fruits and vegetables segment.
Tata Motors has rolled out automated manual transmission version of its compact sedan Tigor priced up to Rs 6.22 lakh.
ONGC is planning to nearly double natural gas production in four years as it invests billions of dollars to produce from newer discoveries.
HCL Technologies will commence its business operations at Nagpur campus in state of Maharashtra from the first week of April 2018.