Thursday turned out to be a
remarkable day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks where bulls went brisk on
Dalal Street, with Nifty conquering its crucial 10,300 level, while Sensex
ending just shy of 33,600 mark after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the
repo rate unchanged at 6% in the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meet of
FY19. Sentiments remained up-beat since beginning of the trade as markets
started the session with a gap-up opening, as investors welcomed signals the US
and China are open to negotiations rather than escalating threatened
tit-for-tat trade tariffs. Traders took some encouragement with report that the
trade deficit between India and the US dropped by almost six per cent in 2017
compared to the previous year, even as it continued to harp on issues such as
market access and high tariffs on several American products being imported into
India. Some support also came from NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant's statement that
the government has been able to save Rs 83,000 crore through direct benefit
transfer (DBT) scheme. He said that advantages of digitization are so enormous
in making India a progressive, effective society. Markets extend rally in last
leg of trade after RBI on expected lines kept the repo rate unchanged at 6% in
its First Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Review, 2018-19. Consequently, the reverse
repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facility (LAF) remained at 5.75%, and
the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate at 6.25% each. This
is the fourth time when the RBI maintained status quo on repo rate. Meanwhile,
the central bank has projected the India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth
to strengthen to 7.4% in 2018-19 from 6.6% in 2017-18. Traders also took some
encouragement with private weather forecasting agency Skymet's forecast that
Monsoon in India is likely to be normal with no chances of drought this year.
The forecaster said there were 5% chances of excess rainfall that is more than
110% of long-period average (LPA). The average, or normal, rainfall in the
country is defined between 96 and 104% of a 50-year average for the entire
four-month monsoon season. Finally, the BSE Sensex surged 577.73 points or
1.75% to 33,596.80, while the CNX Nifty was up by 196.75 points or 1.94% to
10,325.15.
The US markets closed higher on
Thursday, with major indices posting their first three-day rally in several
weeks as worries about trade hostilities between the two biggest economies in
the world continued to ease. Investors are increasingly looking to the start of
earnings season next week, with plenty of optimism baked in. Atlanta Fed
President Raphael Bostic said that the Federal Reserve should get interest
rates up to neutral and then take a wait-and-see approach from there. The
Atlanta Fed president said his definition of a neutral rate was federal funds
rate in the range of 2.25% and 2.75%. The neutral setting of the policy rate is
a value that puts neither upward nor downward pressure on inflation. In March,
the Fed raised rates a quarter point to 1.5%-1.75%. So two more rate hikes this
year would get the Fed into the low end of his neutral range. Bostic added that
inflation is trending in the right direction and should hit the Fed's 2% target
in the next quarter or two. On the economy front, the US trade deficit rose
1.6% in February to reach nearly a 10-year high, underscoring the seemingly
near impossible task of the Trump administration to dramatically reduce the gap
as the president has vowed. The US trade deficit rose to $57.6 billion in
February from $56.7 billion in the prior month. The Dow Jones Industrial
Average added 240.92 points or 0.99 percent to 24,505.22, the Nasdaq gained
34.445 points or 0.49 percent to 7,076.55, while the S&P 500 was up by
18.15 points or 0.69 percent to 2,662.84.
Crude oil futures edged slightly
higher on Thursday staying in a narrow trading range amid conflicting reports
about OPEC's supply quota plans. Earlier in the week, a top Russian official
said that it wants to extend its supply quota plan with OPEC beyond 2018.
However, other reports say Russian production may be rising as the Kremlin does
not want to lose market share. The up-move was also supported by report that
oil supplies are signaling strong demand as oil inventories fall when they
should be rising. The EIA on Wednesday said U.S. crude stockpiles fell by 4.6
million barrels last week, in the biggest weekly decline since January, beating
analysts' forecasts. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery gained 17
cents or 0.3 percent to settle at $63.54 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. May Brent crude jumped 31 cents or 0.5 percent to settle at $68.33 a
barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian
rupee strengthened against dollar on Thursday, on fresh selling of the US
currency by banks and exporters. Rupee throughout the day remained positive,
taking support with the India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) upgrading its
India's economic growth forecast to 7.4% for FY19 from 7.1% forecasted earlier.
Sentiments improved further after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept the repo
rate unchanged at 6% in the first Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meet of FY19.
Besides, abundant capital inflows into domestic equities supported the rupee.
However, dollar's strength against major global currencies overseas restricted
the local unit's further up move. On the global front, dollar rose to a
two-week high against a basket of major currencies on Thursday as investors
reassessed the danger of a trade war between the China and the United States.
Finally, the rupee ended at 64.96, 18 paise stronger from its previous close of
65.14 on Wednesday.
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 4495.71 crore against gross selling of Rs 4204.03 crore, while in the
debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 2438.77 crore with gross sales of Rs
736.05 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4.81 crore
against gross selling of Rs 2.31 crore.
The US markets closed higher for
the third straight day on easing concerns about a potential trade war between
the U.S. and China. Asian stocks are trading mixed on Friday, as the overnight
rally on Wall Street failed to translate after President Donald Trump indicated
that more tariffs against China could be in the works. Indian markets rallied
on Thursday as trade-war worries eased and the RBI left its key interest rates
unchanged for the fourth straight meeting. Today, the markets are likely to
make pessimistic start after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered his
administration to consider tariffs on a $100 billion worth of Chinese imports,
dashing hopes for a cooling of trade tensions. However, markets may get some
support later in the day after the finance ministry welcomed the Monetary
Policy Committee's (MPC) projection of higher GDP growth and lower inflation in
the current fiscal. The MPC's growth projection of 7.4 percent is in line with
the Economic Survey. Traders may get some support with private report that
Indian services sector climbed back into expansion zone in March, helped by the
flow of new work, encouraging companies to hire at the fastest pace in seven
years. There will be buzz in Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) related stocks
on report that FMCG firms are expected to post a net revenue growth of 11.8
percent in the March quarter, highest in the past 18 quarters, on acceleration
in volume growth, GST-led savings and higher leverage benefits. Gems &
Jewellery stocks too will be buzzing after Gems and jewellery council has set a
target of $100 billion by 2025 for the domestic gems and jewellery sector.
Stocks related to fertilisers space will also be buzzing on report that the
demand for fertilisers in the first half of the current financial year is
likely to remain stable on the outlook for normal monsoon and higher farm
income.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
10,325.15
|
10,257.80
|
10,362.15
|
BSE Sensex
|
33,596.80
|
33,363.95
|
33,733.55
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close
(Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Motors
|
288.86
|
362.20
|
357.22
|
369.77
|
ICICI Bank
|
267.59
|
278.65
|
270.90
|
283.20
|
Hindalco
|
242.02
|
214.15
|
208.55
|
217.35
|
SBI
|
228.81
|
259.30
|
252.23
|
264.13
|
Vedanta
|
154.57
|
289.90
|
282.82
|
294.37
|
IndusInd Bank in association with the JSW Foundation has launched the IndusInd Bank Girl Power Programme to support junior as well as established girl athletes.
ICICI Bank has launched a service that enables NRIs to send money to a beneficiary in India using social media like WhatsApp as well as by email.
L&T's construction arm -- L&T Construction -- has won orders worth Rs 3,376 crore across various business segments.
Maruti Suzuki India has reported 11.91% rise in its production to 172,195 units in March 2018, as compared to 153,868 units in March 2017.