Indian equity markets ended
Wednesday's session on bearish note, as Sensex and Nifty settled with losses of
over 350 and 85 points, respectively. The markets started on a cautious note,
after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) outlook for India. The IMF has moderately scaled down India's economic
growth projection to 7.3 per cent for the current financial year from its
earlier forecast of 7.4 per cent and suggested that the country should continue
to undertake economic reforms, including hire and fire, to create jobs. Trading
sentiments also remained lackluster with the finance ministry's statement that
the government has fallen short of Rs 50,000 crore in its direct tax collection
target of Rs 12 lakh crore for 2018-19. Key indices extended their losses in
last hours of trade to settle near their day's low points. The markets
participants remained worried, as the IMF cut its global growth forecast to the
lowest level since the financial crisis, warning of significant downside risks
to the world economy including trade tensions, pockets of political
instability, mounting debt levels and increasing inequality. The IMF lowered
its growth forecast for 2019 to 3.3 percent from the previous level of 3.5
percent in its latest World Economic Outlook (WEO). The street paid no heed
towards a report stating that the government has managed to meet the revised
fiscal deficit target of 3.4 percent of the GDP after it cut last minute
expenditure and rolled over fuel subsidies to make up for the shortfall in tax
collection. Finally, the BSE Sensex slipped 353.87 points or 0.91% to
38,585.35, while the CNX Nifty was down by 87.65 points or 0.75% to 11,584.30.
The US markets ended higher on
Wednesday after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy
meeting suggested the outlook for interest rates remains fluid. The minutes
said a majority of meeting participants expected that the evolution of the
economic outlook and risks to the outlook would likely warrant leaving rates
unchanged for the remainder of the year. Several of these participants saw the
current target range for rates of 2.25 to 2.50 percent as close to their
estimates of its longer-run neutral level. However, the minutes noted
participants continued to emphasize that future rate decisions would depend on
their ongoing assessments of the economic outlook and potential risks. On the
economic front, reflecting a spike in energy prices, the Labor Department released
a report showing consumer prices in the US increased by slightly more than
anticipated in the month of March. The Labor Department said its consumer price
index climbed by 0.4% in March after edging up by 0.2% in February. Consumer
prices showed their biggest monthly increase in over a year, as energy prices
soared by 3.5% in March after rising by 0.4% in February. Gasoline prices led
the way higher, skyrocketing by 6.5%. Excluding the jump in energy prices and a
modest increase in food prices, core consumer prices inched up by 0.1% in
February, matching the uptick seen in the previous month. Dow Jones Industrial
Average added 6.58 points or 0.03 percent to 26157.16, Nasdaq surged 54.97
points or 0.69 percent to 7964.24 and S&P 500 was up by 10.01 points or
0.35 percent to 2888.21.
Crude oil futures ended higher on
Wednesday despite the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported that US
crude supplies climbed by 7 million barrels for the week ended April 5.
Analysts polled by S&P Global Platts expected a rise of 2.8 million
barrels, following two consecutive weeks of increases. The American Petroleum
Institute on Tuesday had reported a climb of 4.1 million barrels. However, the
EIA data showed that supplies of gasoline dropped by 7.7 million barrels, while
distillates declined by 100,000 barrels last week. Benchmark crude oil futures
for May surged 63 cents or 1 percent to settle at $64.61 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. June Brent crude gained $1.12 or 1.6 percent to settle
at $71.73 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Extending gains for the second straight session, Indian
rupee ended higher against dollar on Wednesday, on persistent selling of the
American currency by banks and exporters. Market participants got support with
report that the government has managed to meet the revised fiscal deficit
target of 3.4 percent of the GDP after it cut last minute expenditure and
rolled over fuel subsidies to make up for the shortfall in tax collection.
However, further upward move got restricted as the International Monetary Fund
(IMF) lowered Gross Domestic Product (GDP) outlook for India as well as the
global economy. The IMF has moderately scaled down India's economic growth
projection to 7.3 per cent for the current financial year from its earlier
forecast of 7.4 per cent and suggested that the country should continue to
undertake economic reforms, including hire and fire, to create jobs. On the
global front, safe-haven yen held most of its recent gains on Wednesday as
investor caution prevailed due to fresh global trade tensions and as the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) downgraded its global economic outlook.
Finally, the rupee ended at 69.11, 19 paise stronger from its previous close of
69.30 on Tuesday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday's data
were net buyers in equity segment, while they were net sellers in debt segment.
In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4877.28 crore against gross
selling of Rs 3647.71 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 1147.43 crore with gross sales of Rs 1768.67 crore. Besides in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 1.51 crore against gross selling of Rs 0.82
crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Wednesday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes suggested no shift in the
central bank's dovish tilt. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday on
expectations global interest rates will stay lower for longer after a dovish
turn by the European Central Bank and milder than expected US inflation. Indian
markets ended lower on Wednesday on growth worries after the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth forecast for India and the global economy,
citing heightened trade tensions. Today, the markets are likely to make a
cautious start tracking mixed cues from Asian peers. Investors may remain
cautious as the first phase of general elections start today. There will be
some cautiousness with Federation of Indian Export Organisations' (FIEO)
statement that rising protectionism, fluctuation in commodity prices and
inadequate availability of liquidity are the three major challenges, which
exporters will face in the coming months. It added that the WTO has already
cautioned that the global trade growth is expected to be lower in 2019 than it
was last year. However, some support may come later in the day with IMF's
statement that some reforms in India have shown the benefits of digitalisation
which has also reduced the opportunities for discretion and fraud. Meanwhile,
the government has extended the last date for filing final sales return form
GSTR-1 for March by two days till April 13. Similarly, the due date for
furnishing tax deducted at source (TDS) return GSTR-7 for March has also been
extended till April 12. There will be some buzz in the banking sector stocks
with report that the government's large capital infusion of around Rs 60,000
crore during the last quarter would help public sector banks to improve their
provision coverage ratio (PCR) because of which they are likely to report
higher losses for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2019. On the other hand,
private banks will be able to improve their profitability sequentially and on a
year-on-year basis. There will be some reaction in the pharma sector stocks
with report that the pharma industry will have to wait for the return of
double-digit growth as the industry is expected to witness a moderate growth of
8 to 10 per cent till FY21. The pricing pressure in the US generic market will
continue to be a concern for the industry. There will be some buzz in the
agriculture sector stocks with the Agricultural and Processed Food Products
Export Development Authority's (APEDA) data showing data the country's exports
of agricultural and processed food products have dipped by 2.27 per cent to
$16.27 billion during the April-February period of 2018-19, on account of
contraction in shipments of buffalo meat, wheat and non-basmati rice.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
11,584.30
|
11,544.02
|
11,652.32
|
BSE Sensex
|
38,585.35
|
38,434.94
|
38,843.11
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Motors
|
693.49
|
216.05
|
208.63
|
220.43
|
Yes Bank
|
320.16
|
268.25
|
265.35
|
273.30
|
HDFC Bank
|
270.32
|
2,237.35
|
2,217.57
|
2,270.57
|
SBI
|
192.38
|
310.90
|
308.25
|
315.30
|
Wipro
|
185.31
|
281.00
|
276.73
|
283.53
|
Raymond in collaboration with Reliance Industries has launched an eco-friendly range of fabrics Ecovera.
L&T has launched mobile app for people with hearing impairment to make learning of sign language easy.
NTPC has awarded order worth Rs 142 crore to GE Power India for supply and installation of emission control equipments.
Tata Motors Group global wholesales in March 2019, including Jaguar Land Rover, were at 1,45,459 nos., lower by 5%, as compared to March 2018.