Indian benchmark indices ended
the session on a flat note, with the Nifty managing to hold on to its 9300
mark. Today's session largely remained characterized by consolidation as the
aimless indices moved only sideways in a tight band amid lack of triggers.
Sentiments got some support with IMF's report indicating that India's growth is
expected to rebound to 7.2% in the 2017-18 fiscal and 7.7% in 2018-19.
According to the report, the temporary disruptions (primarily to private
consumption) caused by cash shortages accompanying the currency exchange
initiative are expected to gradually dissipate in 2017 as cash shortages ease.
It noted that the investment recovery is expected to remain modest and uneven
across sectors as deleveraging takes place and industrial capacity utilisation
picks up. Some support also came with the report that mutual fund (MF)
industry's asset base crossed the Rs 19 lakh crore mark in April on the back of
fresh inflows in equity, debt and money market segments. The assets under
management (AUM) of the MF industry, comprising 42 players, rose to an all-time
high of Rs 19.26 lakh crore at the end of April from Rs 17.55 lakh crore at the
end of March 2017. However, traders turned cautious after agriculture minister
Radha Mohan Singh asked chief ministers of all states and union territories to
review their preparedness to mitigate possible drought in the event of a rain
deficit in the upcoming monsoon season. As per the weather office's forecast
issued earlier this month, the June-September monsoon rainfall this year is
expected to be 96% of the long-term average, with a 5% error margin. Meanwhile,
India's food safety regulator has proposed a tax on all packaged foods with
high fat, sugar and salt content. The regulator also proposed strict labelling
norms for such products and a bar on advertising them on children's television
channels. The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), however,
did not specify the quantum of tax that it wants imposed. Finally, the BSE
Sensex gained 7.10 points or 0.02% to 29933.25, while the CNX Nifty was up by
2.80 points or 0.03% to 9,316.85.
The US markets extending the
sluggish trend made a mixed closing on Tuesday, though the tech-heavy Nasdaq
reached a new record closing high. The trade remained lackluster and the traders
seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of the release of key reports
on retail sales and producer and consumer prices later this week. Traders were
also keeping an eye on comments from Federal Reserve officials, with Boston Fed
President Eric Rosengren suggesting the central bank could be forced to raise
interest rates at a faster pace if unemployment drops below 4 percent. On the
economy front the Commerce Department reported an unexpected increase in
wholesale inventories in the month of March. The wholesale inventories rose by
0.2 percent in March after climbing by 0.3 percent in February. On the other
hand, the report said inventories of non-durable goods fell by 0.5 percent amid
steep drops in inventories of petroleum and farm products. The Commerce
Department also said wholesale sales came in unchanged in March after rising by
0.7 percent in February. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 36.50
points or 0.17 percent to 20,975.78 and the S&P 500 was lower by 2.46 points
or 0.10 percent to 2,396.92, while the Nasdaq added 17.93 points or 0.29
percent to 6,120.59.
Crude oil futures got a halt to
their recent rally on Tuesday, as concerns over rising US oil output returned,
after the Energy Information Administration (EIA) raised its near-term outlook
for U.S. oil production and revised down its projections for oil prices. The
EIA now sees US output averaging 9.3 million barrels a day in 2017, and nearly
10 million barrels a day in 2018. The EIA revised down its projection for
average oil prices in 2017 to $52.60 a barrel for Brent and $50.68 for WTI. Benchmark
crude oil futures for June delivery ended down by $0.55 or 1.2 percent to $ 45.88
on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude for June delivery lost
1.3 percent to end at $ 48.83 on the ICE.
Tracking losses in Asian currency
markets, Indian rupee ended considerably weaker against the US dollar on
Tuesday, on increased demand for the American currency from importers amid
sustained foreign fund outflows. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have sold
stocks worth a net Rs 3081.98 crore into the secondary equity markets in May
2017 so far (till May 08, 2017). They sold stocks worth a net Rs 1645.32 crore in
April 2017. Besides, the dollar's strength against other currencies overseas,
as investors raised expectations of another US interest rate hike next month,
also weighed on the domestic unit. On the global front, yen weakened against
Dollar, on Tuesday following news of further earnings weakness in Japan. As per
the official data, Labor cash earnings for March fell by 0.4% on the year.
Total real cash earnings were miserable too, they fell by 0.8%, from a flat
reading in February. Finally, the rupee ended at 64.62, 31 paise weaker from
its previous close of 64.31 on Monday.
The FIIs as per Tuesday'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 3364.40 crore against gross selling
of Rs 3945.75 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
1203.77 crore with gross sales of Rs 163.73 crore.
The US markets made a mixed closing
in last session, as the traders remained on sidelines ahead of key economic
data releases. Hope that US President Donald Trump will cut corporate and
personal taxes too remained in focus for investors. The Asian markets have made
mostly a positive start with dissipating concerns over North Korea's nuclear
program. The Chinese market too was trading higher though the producer price
index rose less than forecast in April at 6.4 percent from a year earlier. The
Indian markets after struggling through the day managed a flat but positive
close in the last session, investors mainly were reacting to earnings
announcements and got some support with IMF report that India's growth will
rebound. Today, the start is likely to remain in green and any downside is
restricted on mostly positive regional cues and with the Indian Meteorological
Department (IMD) predicting a ‘normal' monsoon this calendar and expecting 100
per cent rainfall instead of 96 per cent as predicted earlier. It has said that
recent development on El-Nino indicates that the monsoon could be normal this
year and it could reach 100 per cent of the long period average. There will be
buzz in the market with commerce & industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman
stating that India's manufacturing policy will soon be overhauled with the
objective of creating more jobs in an environment where technology is rapidly
replacing labour. There will be some buzz in companies doing business in
defence sector, as Finance and defence minister Arun Jaitley has said that
foreign companies need to be incentivised to set up defence manufacturing bases
in India. The telecom sector stocks are likely to come under pressure, as the
India's largest telecom services provider Bharti Airtel posted a 72% decline in
net profit for the fourth quarter, impacted by free services offered by new
entrant Reliance Jio Infocomm until 31 March. There will be lots of important
earnings announcements too, to keep the markets in action.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE
(Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
9316.85
|
9303.38
|
9334.63
|
BSE Sensex
|
29933.25
|
29890.52
|
29996.90
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support
(Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
ICICI Bank
|
138.13
|
300.60
|
297.55
|
304.50
|
Hindalco
|
113.55
|
186.40
|
183.47
|
188.97
|
Axis Bank
|
78.72
|
518.20
|
512.08
|
522.78
|
SBI
|
78.44
|
296.50
|
294.20
|
299.85
|
ITC
|
67.49
|
271.50
|
269.45
|
275.10
|
Indian Oil Corporation is in talks with Saudi Aramco on downstream investments, including a mega project on its west coast, which could help the OPEC member lock-in customers amid an oil supply glut.
Bharti Infratel has reported a fall of 16.95% in its consolidated net profit at Rs 596.60 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2017, as compared to Rs 718.40 crore for the corresponding quarter in the FY16.
Bharti Airtel has entered into a strategic partnership with Ola, India's largest and most popular mobile app for transportation, to offer a range of exciting digital services to customers.
US Food and Drug Administration issued eight observations for Lupin's Aurangabad unit, which was inspected between April 17 and 26, 2017.