It turned out to be a session of
moderate gains for the Indian stock markets, which came off the highest point
of the day in dying hours of trade as investors booked profits in recent
outperformers such as Bharti Airtel and Hindustan Unilever, while negative
opening in European markets also capped gains. However, the benchmarks managed
to settle at record closing highs for the second straight session as local
sentiments continued to show signs of improvement amid optimism over Indian
Meteorological Department's prediction of a 'normal' monsoon this calendar. IMD
said that the prospects of the monsoon have brightened due to reduced chances
of El-Nino. With results of several front line stocks due over the course of
the next few sessions and the data on industrial output and consumer price
inflation due on Friday, the mood was slightly cautious. Furthermore, with the
indices and various blue chip stocks hovering around all-time highs, market
participants are looking for some direction to build up significant positions.
Investors remained cautious with the RBI's data suggesting that new financial
year began on a sour note for bank credit growth, which slipped to 4.32% in the
fortnight to April 28, much lower than the 63-year low level of 5.08% in FY17.
However, sentiments got some support with the report that Prime Minister
Narendra Modi is setting up a task force under the chairmanship of the Vice
Chairman of NITI Aayog Dr Arvind Panagriya, with an aim to create policies on
employment based on credible data. The Prime Minister has directed that this
task be expedited so that policies on employment can be formulated with a
proper appreciation of impacts, based on credible data. Meanwhile, Auto stocks
surged on expectations of lower interest rates after a better monsoon forecast
eased inflation fears in a country that depends heavily on rains to irrigate
its farmlands. Finally, the BSE Sensex gained 2.81 points or 0.01% to 30250.98,
while the CNX Nifty was up by 15.10 points or 0.16% to 9,422.40.
The US markets despite showing a
significant recovery closed in red on Thursday. The major averages climbed well
off their worst levels of the day but remained stuck in negative territory. The
markets were down in the early deals on some weak earnings and overlooked the
Labor Department report showing a bigger than expected increase in producer
prices in the month of April. The Labor Department said its producer price
index for final demand climbed by 0.5 percent in April after edging down by 0.1
percent in March. With the monthly increase, the annual rate of producer price
growth accelerated to 2.5 percent in April from 2.3 percent in March. Prices
rose at the fastest rate since February of 2012. A separate report from the Labor
Department showed that initial jobless claims unexpectedly edged lower in the
week ended May 6th. The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 236,000, a
decrease of 2,000 from the previous week's unrevised level of 238,000. The Dow
Jones Industrial Average was down by 23.69 points or 0.11 percent to 20,919.42,
while the S&P 500 was up by 5.19 points or 0.22 percent to 2,394.44 and the
Nasdaq ended lower by 13.18 points or 0.22 percent to 6,115.96.
Crude oil futures extended their
gains for the second straight day, following surprisingly big drop in US crude
stockpiles. Though, traders overlooked latest report from OPEC, which boosted
estimates for growth in non-OPEC supplies by 64 percent as US shale production
rises at a furious pace and another report that output from top exporter Saudi
Arabia inched up last month. OPEC and non-member oil producers are considering
extending a global supply cut for nine months or more to give the market more
time to rebalance Now traders will keep a close eye on U.S. rig count figures
from Baker Hughes. Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery ended higher
by $0.46 or 1 percent to $47.79 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London,
Brent crude for July delivery ended up by $0.48 to end at $50.70 on the ICE.
Indian
rupee ended considerably stronger against dollar on Thursday, on increased
selling of the American currency by exporters and banks. The domestic currency
was in the positive terrain from the very beginning supported by the positive
gains in the local equity market. Sentiments remained up-beat with the Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting a ‘normal' monsoon this calendar and
expecting 100 percent rainfall instead of 96 percent 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 percent of the long period average. On
the global front, pound dropped against dollar as investors reacted to news of
falling industrial production in Britain and a widening of the country's trade
deficit. Finally, the rupee ended at 64.37, 25 paise stronger from its previous
close of 64.62 on Tuesday.
The
FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 9717.64 crore against gross selling
of Rs 8352.72 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
678.91 crore with gross sales of Rs 562.70 crore.
The US markets reacting to some
weak earnings made another soft closing in the last session, with traders
fearing that consumers are not spending enough to drive strong economic growth.
The Asian markets have made a mixed start and some of the indices are in red on
concern about the appetite of U.S. consumers to keep spending. The Japanese market
too was in red as the yen rose against the dollar. The Indian markets lost their
way completely in the final hours and made just a flat close, positive Asian
cues and some solid earnings results too failed to support the markets. Today,
the start of the day is likely to be cautious on mixed global cues and traders
will be eyeing government release of a new series of Index of Industrial
Production (IIP) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) later in the day, in a bid to
map economic activity more accurately. Traders will be getting some support
with SBI Research's Ecowrap report, which has said that the easing of crude oil
prices will have positive effect not only on inflation but also on GDP growth.
It has said that average crude oil prices will be around $ 45 for the next half
of this year and this, coupled with positive macro fundamentals, could
translate into better growth numbers for the country. Meanwhile, Chief Economic
Adviser Arvind Subramanian slamming global credit rating agencies for not
upgrading India despite clear improvement in its economic fundamentals has said
that they are following 'inconsistent' standards while rating India and China.
There will be some buzz in the textile stocks, as the Finance Ministry has
extended by one year the validity of existing anti-dumping duty on Partially
Oriented Yarn (POY) imports from China. There will be lots of important
earnings announcements to keep the markets in action.
Support and Resistance: NSE
(Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
9422.40
|
9405.58
|
9444.93
|
BSE Sensex
|
30250.98
|
30183.25
|
30342.57
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close
(Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
Hindalco
|
230.26
|
193.65
|
191.87
|
195.62
|
SBI
|
119.35
|
298.10
|
295.23
|
300.18
|
ONGC
|
107.97
|
183.60
|
181.05
|
188.20
|
ITC
|
94.15
|
276.65
|
274.05
|
279.20
|
ICICI Bank
|
93.28
|
300.20
|
299.00
|
301.95
|
Bharti Airtel will focus on cost controls and 4G data revenues and spend $2.5 billion in capex.
HCL Technologies has reported a jump of 27.68% in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2475.27 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as compared to Rs 1938.66 crore for the corresponding quarter in the FY16.
TCS has set up a Business Process Service centre in Patna to create new opportunities as part of Digital India push.
Hero MotoCorp has reported a fall of 13.87% in its net profit at Rs 717.75 crore for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 as compared to Rs 833.29 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.