A session after showcasing large
gains of over half a percent, Indian equity indices faltered and failed to
extend the winning momentum on Friday. The benchmark indices suffered hefty
bouts of profit booking especially in commodities related counters and got
dragged below the psychological 9,300 (Nifty) and 29,900 (Sensex) levels.
Besides, a selloff in banking shares after the President Pranab Mukherjee
okayed the ordinance on non-performing assets, concerns over French elections
on Sunday and mixed global earnings have also hit the sentiment hard. The
ordinance promulgated by the government on bad loans has now empowered the
Reserve Bank of India to issue directions to banks for resolution of stressed
assets. Market participants remained cautious ahead of the Goods and Services
Tax (GST) Council meeting, scheduled on May 18-19, to finalise the rates of
different commodities and services. It will also approve rates of remaining
items. Investors failed to get any sense of relief with Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) President Shobana Kamineni's statement that India can achieve a
gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 10 percent by fiscal year 2019-20 on the
back of tremendous opportunities available in the economy. Furthermore,
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said Indian economy will grow 8%
next fiscal as the full-year impact of the landmark GST will be seen by that
time. The GST, dubbed as the biggest tax reform since independence, will club
nearly a dozen central and state levies into a single national sales tax,
helping the country integrate into one market. Meanwhile, the gold and
jewellery stocks gained traction on report that the uptake for gold in India
for January-March this year was 124 tonnes, up 15% compared with the overall
demand for the same period in 2016. Finally, the BSE Sensex decreased 267.41
points or 0.89% to 29858.80, while the CNX Nifty was down by 74.60 points or
0.80% to 9,285.30.
The US markets coming out of their
consolidation mood surged on Friday after getting an upbeat jobs data, with the
Nasdaq and the S&P 500 reaching new record closing highs. The Labor
Department's closely watched monthly jobs report showed stronger than expected
job growth in the month of April. As per the report, non-farm payroll
employment jumped by 211,000 jobs in April after climbing by a downwardly
revised 79,000 jobs in March. With the stronger than expected job growth, the
unemployment rate edged down to 4.4 percent in April from 4.5 percent in March,
its lowest level since a matching rate in May of 2007. The report also said the
annual rate of growth in average hourly employee earnings slowed to 2.5 percent
in April from 2.6 percent in March. In other economy news, Consumer credit in
the U.S. increased by more than expected in the month of March. Federal Reserve
in its report said that consumer credit jumped by $16.4 billion in March after
climbing by $13.8 billion in February. Non-revolving credit such as student
loans and car loans surged up by $14.5 billion in March after rising by $12.1
billion in February. The Fed said consumer credit increased by an annual rate
of 5.2 percent in March, as revolving and non-revolving credit climbed by 2.4
percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up
by 55.47 points or 0.26 percent to 21,006.94, the Nasdaq added 25.42 points or
0.42 percent to 6,100.76 and the S&P 500 ended up by 9.77 points or 0.41
percent to 2,399.29.
Crude oil futures showed some
recovery in the last session mainly on bargain hunting after plunging to their
lowest of the year in the previous session. Prices were also supported by news
that Saudi oil export loadings fell by more than 670,000 barrels a day in April.
Saudi Arabia also said it supports the idea of extending the supply-cut
agreement beyond June. Traders however overlooked report that the number of
active US drilling rigs rose for the sixteenth straight week. U.S. energy firms
added oil rigs for a 16th week in a row. Oilfield services firm Baker Hughes
reported its weekly U.S. rig count rose by 6 to 703. Benchmark crude oil
futures for June delivery ended up by $0.60 to $ 46.12 on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for June delivery ended higher by $
0.81 at $49.17 on the ICE.
Indian
rupee extended its weakness for the second straight day against dollar on
Friday due to increased demand for American currency from banks and importers,
tracking losses in the Asian currencies market. Besides, firm dollar against
some global currencies overseas and massive losses of domestic equity markets
too kept home currency under intense pressure. On the global front, dollar fell
to a six-month low against euro on Friday as investors took a cautious approach
ahead of the French election and the latest U.S. jobs data. Finally, the rupee
ended at 64.37, 20 paise weaker from its previous close of 64.17 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday'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 6023.42 crore against gross
selling of Rs 6163.58 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 975.54 crore with gross sales of Rs 228.60 crore.
The US markets moved higher in
the last session on getting upbeat jobs data and also as the oil rebounded from
its series of fall. The Asian markets have made mostly a positive start following
Emmanuel Macron's victory as France's next president. The Japanese market has
taken the lead coming after a three day holiday, while the Chinese market was
still in somber mood. The Indian markets suffered sharp profit taking in the
last session. The mood remained cautious ahead of the French election results
and traders opted to take profit ahead of the big event. Today, the start is
likely to be in green tracking the regional peers after Emmanuel Macron's
victory in the French presidential election signaled a "new beginning for
Europe." Traders will also be getting some support with Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley ruling out any surprises in the tax rates in the Goods and Services Tax
(GST) that is proposed to be rolled out on July 1 and also asserting that there
will be no cascading in goods and commodities, which can even see tax rates
coming down a little. The minister also ruled out the possibility of levying
tax on agriculture. Meanwhile, India has urged the Asian Development Bank (ADB)
to reduce the time it takes to approve a loan as well as to disburse as the
developing countries in the Asian region need to build their infrastructure and
increase social sector spending. Also, there will be some cautiousness too, as
Vice-Chairman, NITI Aayog Arvind Panagariya has said that only genuine farm
income must be exempt from tax. He added that "we are only looking to find
ways to stop the camouflaging of the income earned from sources other than
agriculture as agricultural income". There will be lots of earnings
reaction to keep the markets in action, while there will be some buzz from the
primary market too, as state-owned Housing and Urban Development Corporation
Ltd (HUDCO) is coming with its Rs. 1,200-crore initial public offer (IPO),
through which the government will divest 10 per cent stake in the company.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE
(Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
9285.30
|
9245.83
|
9350.93
|
BSE Sensex
|
29858.80
|
29729.42
|
30082.37
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
ICICI Bank
|
438.08
|
298.55
|
294.75
|
302.05
|
SBI
|
347.56
|
296.00
|
290.47
|
303.22
|
Bank of Baroda
|
270.46
|
187.40
|
180.23
|
198.53
|
Hindalco
|
199.13
|
185.80
|
182.13
|
190.73
|
Tata Motors
|
94.88
|
419.60
|
412.90
|
431.40
|
ONGC's overseas arm - ONGC Videsh has found hydrocarbon reserves in its Mariposa-1 well, which is under drilling in CPO-5 block of Colombia.
Yes Bank has entered into a strategic partnership with Emirates NBD for its Global Indian Banking programme.
Tata Motors' subsidiary -- Jaguar Land Rover has reported a 2.3% fall in April retail sales at 40,385 vehicles.
Reliance Industries will sell the natural gas it produces from coal seams in Madhya Pradesh to its own units in Gujarat and Maharashtra at $4.23 per million British thermal units.