Thursday turned out to be yet
another weak day for Indian equity markets, as investors remained on sidelines
on the F&O expiry day. The start of the day was negative, amid a private
report stating that the Indian economy likely expanded at its slowest pace in
more than five years in the April-June quarter, driven by weak investment
growth and sluggish demand. Domestic sentiments remained lackluster, as
slamming decision of the RBI to transfer its excess reserve to the government,
bankers' body All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA) said the apex bank
should not be an extension counter of the finance ministry and what is
happening now is a matter of serious concern. Indian key indices remained under
the grip of bears during the whole day, despite firm cues from global markets.
Markets participants failed to take any sense of relief with the development
that the Government relaxed conditions for single-brand retailers having
foreign direct investment (FDI) for complying with the mandatory 30% local
sourcing regulations by allowing them to adjust all of their purchases to meet
this norm. Investors also ignored the Singaporean minister K Shanmugam's
statement that India can explore many opportunities with the Southeast Asian
grouping Asean and deepen the trade engagements with the region further.
Finally, the BSE Sensex lost 382.91 points or 1.02% to 37,068.93, while the CNX
Nifty was down by 97.80 points or 0.89% to 10,948.30.
The US markets settled higher
with gains of over one percent on Thursday on the heels of indications China is
seeking to de-escalate the trade war with the US. Chinese Ministry of Commerce
spokesman Gao Feng indicated China does not currently intend to retaliate
against President Donald Trump's latest threat to raise the rate of tariffs on
Chinese imports. Gao said we firmly reject an escalation of the trade war, and
are willing to negotiate and collaborate in order to solve this problem with
calm attitude. Gao claimed China has plenty of countermeasures it could impose
but will instead focus on removing Trump's new tariffs, which were announced
after China said it plans to impose tariffs on $75 billion worth of US goods.
On the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report showing a
modest increase in first-time claims for US unemployment benefits in the week
ended August 24th. The report said initial jobless claims inched up to 215,000,
an increase of 4,000 from the previous week's revised level of 211,000. Street
had expected jobless claims to climb to 215,000 from the 209,000 originally
reported for the previous week. Besides, a separate report released by the
Commerce Department showed the pace of growth in US economic activity slowed by
slightly more than initially estimated in the second quarter. The Commerce
Department said gross domestic product increased by 2.0 percent in the second
quarter compared to the previously reported 2.1 percent growth. The downward
revision came in line with street estimates. The downwardly revised GDP growth
seen in the second quarter compares to the 3.1 percent jump in GDP reported for
the first quarter. Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 326.15 points or 1.25
percent to 26362.25, Nasdaq rose 116.51 points or 1.48 percent to 7973.39 and
S&P 500 was up by 36.64 points or 1.27 percent to 2924.58.
Extending their previous session
gains, crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday as China said the country
would not immediately respond to the latest round of tariffs, helping to defuse
worries around an escalating US-China trade war. The intensifying battle has
stoked fears of a global economic slowdown and the potential for a US
recession, which would hit demand for energy. Besides, the Energy Information
Administration (EIA) reported that domestic supplies of natural gas rose by 60
billion cubic feet for the week ended August 23. Benchmark crude oil futures
for October rose 93 cents or 1.7 percent to settle at $56.71 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. October Brent gained 59 cents or 1 percent to
settle at $61.08 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian
rupee pared most of its early losses but still ended marginally weaker against
the American currency on Thursday, due to fresh dollar demand from banks and
importers. Traders remain concerned with a private report stating that the
Indian economy likely expanded at its slowest pace in more than five years in
the April-June quarter, driven by weak investment growth and sluggish demand.
Investors also remained on sidelines ahead of gross domestic product (GDP) data
for the quarter ended June 30, due tomorrow. The weak trade in the local equity
market also weighed on the local unit. On the global front, dollar held gains
against the safe-haven yen on Thursday as ebbing recession worries soothed
markets after earlier volatility although the pound nursed its losses as
investors became increasingly worried about a hard Brexit. Finally, the rupee
ended at 71.80, 3 paise weaker from its previous close of 71.77 on Wednesday.
The
FIIs as per Thursday'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
3391.60 crore against gross selling of Rs 4656.05 crore, while in the debt
segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1564.73 crore with gross sales of Rs
1451.22 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 14.82
crore against gross selling of Rs 39.51 crore.
The US markets settled higher on
Thursday amid renewed hopes for progress in the trade dispute between the US
and China. Asian markets are trading in green on Friday as China struck a
hopeful tone on trade with the US but continued fears about a global growth
slowdown, or even a recession, capped sharp rallies. Indian markets ended
lackluster trade in red on Thursday, with cut of around a percent each, dragged
by a sell-off in financial stocks, as August series derivatives expired amid
tepid global cues. Today, the markets are likely to make a cautious start.
Investors will be looking ahead to the April-June quarter (Q1FY20) Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) numbers to be out later in the day. As per a private
report, India's economy likely expanded at its weakest pace in more than five
years in April-June, as consumer demand and private investment weakened at a
time global trade frictions have dampened business sentiment. However, some
respite may come later in the day as stating that consumption needs to be given
a push, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre will announce
two more big steps in the coming days to give momentum to industry. The
government has decided to increase spending and has announced a slew of
measures to arrest the sluggishness in the automobile market. There will be
some buzz in the auto stocks with ICRA's report that passenger vehicle sales in
India is likely to decline in the range of 4-7% this fiscal saying agricultural
output, revival in economic and industrial growth would be critical for auto
sector's growth despite recent government measures to rekindle demand. There
will be some reaction in agriculture stocks with Crisil's report that monsoon
deficit in the crucial first one-and-half months of the Kharif-sowing season,
coupled with excessive rains in August that inundated agricultural fields in
several states, are likely to drag down production of foodgrain (rice, pulses
and coarse cereals) this season by 3-5% from last year's 141.71 million tonne.
Banking stocks will be in focus with the RBI's report that early recognition
and resolution of stressed assets have helped banks contain their gross non-
performing loans ratio at 9.1% in FY19 down from 11.2% a year before. It said
fresh slippages have also come down and as a result, the system-level provision
coverage ratio has jumped to 60.9% during the period.
Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10,948.30
|
10,906.77
|
11,005.47
|
BSE Sensex
|
37,068.93
|
36,910.25
|
37,304.70
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Sun Pharmaceutical
Industries
|
199.67
|
434.65
|
424.30
|
441.80
|
Bharti Infratel
|
27.55
|
258.45
|
247.75
|
266.75
|
JSW Steel
|
187.86
|
211.95
|
204.28
|
217.08
|
Vedanta
|
143.79
|
135.75
|
131.72
|
138.87
|
Coal India
|
310.69
|
189.00
|
183.97
|
192.17
|
Bharti Airtel's subsidiary -- Airtel Africa has achieved the 100-million customers mark.
ICICI Bank has deployed industrial Robotic Arms to digitise operations at its currency chests.
IOC is planning to invest around Rs 2 trillion over the next five to seven years to expand the core petrochemical business and to ensure comprehensive energy solutions to the nation.
Wipro has expanded its strategic partnership with Google Cloud to accelerate cloud adoption and digital transformation for global enterprises.