Indian equity benchmarks ended
the Thursday's trade in red terrain with frontline gauges declining below their
crucial 10,400 (Nifty) and 33,700 (Sensex) levels. After making a cautious
start, markets traded with marginal losses for most part of the session, as
market participants opted to remain on sidelines ahead of balance of trade
figure for the month of February to be released later in the day. Sentiments
remained downbeat with a private report stating that the slowdown seen of late
in India's export growth rate is likely to continue in February as well, thanks
to a slow disbursement of Goods and Services Tax (GST) refunds, low growth in
labour-intensive sectors and a volatile currency. Selling got intensified in
last leg of trade which dragged markets to their lowest level. Investors
remained concerned as Industry bodies said that RBI's decision to ban Letters of
Undertaking (LOUs) for trade credit for imports will have a disruptive impact,
at least in the immediate term, as small businesses would require higher
working capital. Traders took note of a report that the proceedings of the Lok
Sabha were paralysed for the ninth consecutive day today as several parties,
including NDA constituent TDP, continued their noisy protests over various
issues, including the PNB scam and special status for Andhra Pradesh. Traders
failed to take sense of relief with Fitch Ratings in its latest ‘Global
Economic Outlook' forecasting that the Indian economy is likely to grow at the
rate of 7.3% in the next fiscal (FY19) and further to 7.5% in FY20. Traders
shrugged off World Bank's statement that India's economy is expected to grow at
7.3% in the next financial year and accelerate to 7.5% in 2019-20, bottoming
out from the impact of demonetisation and GST, even as it highlighted private
investments and exports as the two lagging engines of growth. In its biannual
publication, India Development Update, the World Bank said it expected Indian
economy to clock a growth rate of 6.7% in the current financial year. Finally,
the BSE Sensex declined 150.20 points or 0.44% to 33,685.54, while the CNX
Nifty was down by 50.75 points or 0.49% to 10,360.15.
The US markets closed mostly
lower on Thursday, with the S&P 500 slipping for a fourth session, marking
its worst string of losses so far this year, as worries about an escalating
trade war overshadowed robust economic data. However, the Dow snapped a
three-day losing streak as economy-sensitive blue chips outperformed the
broader market. Worries are persisting this week about a potential global trade
war after President Donald Trump said Wednesday his administration will seek to
trim the US's trade deficit with China by $100 billion. The announcement
follows comments the previous day that he wants to impose up to $60 billion in
tariffs on Chinese goods. On the economy front, the rate of layoffs in the US
as measured by initial jobless claims fell slightly in early March and clung
near a 50-year low - a boon for workers and a headache for employers looking to
hire. Initial US jobless claims declined by 4,000 to 226,000 in the seven days
ended March 10. The more stable monthly average of claims dropped by 750 to
221,500. The number of people already collecting unemployment benefits, known
as continuing claims, rose by 4,000 to 1.88 million. Yet these claims dropped
below 2 million last spring for the first time since 2000 and have remained
there ever since. The Nasdaq dropped 15.07 points or 0.20 percent to 7,481.74,
the S&P 500 was down by 2.15 points or 0.08 percent to 2,747.33, while the
Dow Jones Industrial Average added 115.54 points or 0.47 percent to 24,873.66.
Extending previous session's
northward journey, Crude oil futures edged higher on Thursday, supported by
signs of growing global crude demand, but concerns surrounding surging U.S. shale
production kept gains in check. The International Energy Agency (IEA) said
global oil demand will grow by 1.5 million barrels a day, to average 99.3
million barrels a day in 2018. The estimate was an upward revision of 90,000
barrels a day compared with last month's report. Robust demand should help
offset burgeoning U.S. shale oil production, largely keeping the oil market
balanced this year. Benchmark crude oil futures for April delivery jumped 23
cents or 0.4 percent at $61.19 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
May Brent crude gained by 23 cents or 0.4 percent to settle at $65.12 a barrel
on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Snapping
its three-day winning streak, Indian rupee ended weaker against dollar on
Thursday, due to demand for greenback by banks and importers. Additionally,
weak trade in domestic equity markets mainly pressurised the home unit. Traders
failed to get relief with World Bank's report which highlighted that India's
economy is expected to grow 7.3% in the next financial year and accelerate to
7.5% in 2019-20, bottoming out from the impact of demonetization and GST, even
as it highlighted private investments and exports as the two lagging engines of
growth. The World Bank said it expected Indian economy to clock a growth rate
of 6.7% in the current financial year. On the global front, dollar fell against
yen on Thursday as trade tensions encouraged investors to buy the Japanese
currency. Market participants are concerned about a US shift towards increased
protectionism under Donald Trump's administration. Finally, the rupee ended at
64.93, 10 paise weaker from its previous close of 64.83 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday data
were net sellers in equity segment, while they were net buyers in debt segment,
in equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4305.94 crore against gross
selling of Rs 4355.55 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 2552.62 crore with gross sales of Rs 1798.24 crore. Besides, in the
hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 0.05 crore against no selling.
The US markets ended mostly in
red on Thursday, as traders digested a slew of U.S. economic data, including a
report from the Labor Department showing initial jobless claims edged lower in
the week ended March 10th. Asian markets were trading mostly lower on Friday amid
a backdrop of global trade-related developments and news out of Washington.
Indian markets edged lower on Thursday amid lingering concerns over the impact
of a trade war on the global economy and on mostly weak cues from the U.S. and
Asian markets. Today, markets are likely to make soft start as global markets
turned defensive on concerns over the U.S. investigation into the Trump
Organization and renewed worries that U.S. tariffs could hurt the global
economy. Back on domestic front, sentiments will be dampened on report that
India's trade deficit for February 2018 was estimated at $11,979.21 million,
25.8 per cent higher than the $9,521.73-million deficit reported during
February 2017. Exports from the country rose 4.48 per cent in dollar terms
during February this year compared to the same month of the last fiscal. But,
in rupee terms, export growth was flat with a mere 0.27 per cent rise,
reflecting a dip in value of the Indian currency. Imports rose during the month
under consideration and were 10.41 per cent higher (in dollar terms). However,
traders may get some support with the IMF's statement that India should see its
growth picking up this year after two transitory shocks - the demonetisation
and the GST - while China's growth is likely to fall gradually. In its G-20
Surveillance Note Global Prospects and Policy Challenges ahead of the G-20
Finance Ministers meeting in Argentina next week, the International Monetary
Fund said that globally growth is expected to revert to a weaker trend.
Support
and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous
close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
10,360.15
|
10,330.90
|
10,404.70
|
BSE
Sensex
|
33,685.54
|
33,593.12
|
33,822.12
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous
close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance
(Rs)
|
(in
Lacs)
|
Indian
Oil Corporation
|
263.70
|
192.05
|
189.78
|
193.78
|
SBI
|
183.40
|
253.70
|
251.23
|
257.48
|
ICICI
Bank
|
132.82
|
301.45
|
299.32
|
304.67
|
Yes
Bank
|
100.00
|
311.85
|
308.13
|
318.28
|
Vedanta
|
91.67
|
316.95
|
314.37
|
320.17
|
Wipro has signed a definitive agreement to divest its hosted data center services business to Ensono for $405 million.
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Yes Bank has launched a robotics based -- Digital export Import -- payments solution as a part of its Yes Transact Smart Trade product suite.