Indian stock markets witnessed a
fairly stable day of trade on Monday as sanguinity got reinforced after
consumer inflation in April eased to its lowest in at least five years,
reviving a debate on whether the central bank should cut interest rates. Hopes
for further easing of inflation got a boost with the India Meteorological
Department (IMD) stating that monsoon rains had reached the country's Andaman
and Nicobar islands ahead of the schedule. Meanwhile, Consumer Price Index
(CPI)-based inflation eased to 2.99% in April, from 3.89% in March, due to
lower cost of food items. Also, the inflation based on the wholesale price
index (WPI) slipped to a four-month low of 3.85% in April as both food articles
and manufactured items showed cooling in prices. The street shrugged off
industrial output growth data which slipped to 2.7% in March compared to 5.5%
in March 2016, mainly on account of poor performance of manufacturing sector.
Adding the optimism among market participants, the private report indicated
that trustees of retirement fund body EPFO are likely to raise the investment
limit in exchange traded funds (ETFs) to 15% of the investible deposits, from
10% at present, in the current fiscal. The higher limit would help the
Employees' Provident Fund Organisation's (EPFO) park around Rs 15,000 crore in
stock markets in 2017-18 as its investible deposits are close to Rs 1 lakh
crore annually. Some support also came with the report that Private equity
investments saw a significant upturn in April with deals worth $ 3.16 billion,
up 69 per cent from a year ago, due to big ticket transactions. Finally, the
BSE Sensex gained 133 points or 0.44% to 30322.12, while the CNX Nifty was up
by 44.50 points or 0.47% to 9,445.40.
The US markets closed higher on
Monday, as a jump in oil prices to a two-week high lifted Wall Street
sentiment. Crude oil prices settled higher after energy ministers from Saudi
Arabia and Russia said in a joint statement that they endorse a nine-month
extension to current production cuts - three months longer than expected. The
proposed extension still needs to be confirmed when the 13 members of the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries gather for a closely watched
meeting in Vienna on May 25. Back home, about 75 percent of S&P 500
companies that have reported quarterly results so far have beaten Wall Street
expectations. On the domestic economy front, sentiment among home builders
rebounded in May, buoyed by optimistic views of demand for housing. The monthly
confidence gauge from the National Association of Home Builders rose 2 points
to 70, the second-highest level since the downturn. The index soared after the
November election, as builders bet on more industry-friendly policies from
Washington, but stumbled after initial steps from the Trump administration,
like a tariff on lumber. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 85.33 points or
0.41 percent to 20,981.94, Nasdaq gained 28.44 points or 0.46 percent to
6,149.67, while S&P 500 edged higher by 11.42 points or 0.48 percent to
2,402.32.
Crude oil futures bounced back on
Monday and surged by over 2 percent after Russia and Saudi Arabia vowed to do
whatever it takes to re-balance oil markets. They said they would support an
extension of the supply-cut agreement into March 2018. Russian President
Vladimir Putin reportedly said that he met the managers of all the main oil and
gas companies in the country, and the minister of energy, behind closed doors
and we discussed the issue and we support this proposal. Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery ended
higher by $1.01 or 2.1 percent to $48.85 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In London, Brent crude for July delivery ended up by 2.44 percent to $51.84
on the ICE.
Indian
rupee ended upbeat for third consecutive session on Monday, fuelled by positive
economic data. The wholesale price index (WPI) for the month of April eased to
a four-month low of 3.85% after the government revised the base year for the
indices in the new series to 2011-12, against the earlier 2004-05. The consumer
price index (CPI) inflation also softened to 2.99% in the first month of the
new financial year compared with 3.89% in March and 5.47% in the year earlier.
Besides, positive momentum in the domestic equities and continuous foreign
capital inflows too kept the domestic unit in good spirits. On the global
front, dollar was slightly lower against a basket of major currencies after US
economic data came in shy of expectations and another missile test by North
Korea over the weekend underpinned the perceived safe-haven yen. Finally, the
rupee ended at 64.06, 25 paise stronger from its previous close of 64.31 on
Friday.
The
FIIs as per Monday's data were net buyers in equity and debt segments both. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4782.52 crore against gross selling
of Rs 3866.47 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
2347.51 crore with gross sales of Rs 503.00 crore.
The US markets ended higher in
the last session and the tech-heavy Nasdaq and the S&P 500 once again climbed
to new record closing highs, as rise in crude oil generated some buying
interest, while report showed homebuilder confidence unexpectedly improved in
the month of May. The Asian markets have made a mixed start and some indices
extended gains after a surge in oil and weakness in dollar. Though, the Chinese
market was in red on weaker industrial production and retail data. The Indian
markets in a steady day of trade managed gains of around half a percent in last
session. Decline in inflation raised hopes of rate cut by the RBI and propelled
the markets to fresh all time highs. Today, the start is likely to be in green
and traders will be getting some encouragement with report that India's exports
grew by 19.8% to $24.6 billion in April, backed by strong performance from
petroleum, engineering and textiles sectors. Though, trade deficit also
witnessed about threefold increase to $13.2 billion, due to goods imports in
April recording a historic 49.07% year-on-year growth to $37.9 billion -
following a surge in gold, oil, coal, chemicals, pearls and precious stones,
machinery, transport equipment and electronics imports. Meanwhile, chief
statistician TCA Anant has said that India's growth numbers to be released
later this month will include the impact of new data series for industrial
output and wholesale price inflation. There will be some buzz in the defence
related stocks, as the government is now getting set to clear the much-awaited
'strategic partnership' policy to boost the private sector's role in defence
production. The banking stocks too will continue to remain in action, as after
PSU lender SBI, private sector lenders ICICI Bank and HDFC too have reduced
home loan rates in the affordable segment. There will be some important
earnings announcements too, to keep the markets buzzing.
Support and Resistance: NSE
(Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
9445.40
|
9429.25
|
9455.40
|
BSE Sensex
|
30322.12
|
30277.84
|
30362.18
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
(in Lacs)
|
Previous close
(Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
Hindalco
|
181.59
|
198.45
|
193.60
|
201.60
|
ICICI Bank
|
155.42
|
301.80
|
298.83
|
304.13
|
SBI
|
103.84
|
301.40
|
298.60
|
303.10
|
Tata Steel
|
97.55
|
456.05
|
443.60
|
462.70
|
Axis Bank
|
88.07
|
500.10
|
496.17
|
506.27
|
Axis Bank is planning to expand its business of distributing life insurance policies through a tie-up with one more insurer.
Tata Power Delhi Distribution, a JV of Tata Power and the Government of Delhi, has inducted 42 electric scooters, 8 e-rickshaws and 3 compact CNG tower wagons in its maintenance fleet.
Tata Motors has increased price of its cars in range of Rs 5000 to Rs 17000.
- ICICI Bank has slashed interest rates by up to 30 basis points for borrowers availing home loans up to Rs30 lakh.