Indian equity benchmarks gave up
early gains to end lower on Thursday, with Sensex and Nifty falling over 250
and 90 points, respectively, succumbing to the selling pressure exerted by Oil
& Gas and Utilities stocks. Indices started in green as traders got support
after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Indian inflation will remain
steady in coming months, despite short-term rises in the prices of certain food
items. Market participants were awaiting India's Q1 Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) data to be out later in the day for more directional cues. There are
expectations that the country's economy grew at its fastest pace in a year in
the April-June quarter, driven by services and manufacturing. However, soon
markets cut their gains and turned lackluster, amid foreign fund outflows.
According to the provisional data available on the NSE, foreign institutional
investors (FII) sold shares worth net Rs 494.68 crore on August 30. Traders
were cautious as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest report said that
listed private non-financial companies' sales growth moderated during Q1FY24.
As per the data, sales growth (y-o-y) of listed private non-financial companies
moderated to 2.1 per cent in Q1FY24 from 8.0 per cent in the previous quarter
and 41.0 per cent a year ago. In the second half, markets added more losses,
despite positive cues from European markets. Sentiments remained cautious as
CareEdge Ratings in its latest report has said the India's rural demand is
vulnerable and could be further impacted by the dual blows of lower income and
high food inflation owing to an erratic monsoon. Meanwhile, emphasizing digital
capability upgradation of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs) by November 1, 2023,
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that banks should map RRBs
with MSME clusters and put greater thrust on increasing network of rural
branches in cluster areas identified by the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 255.84 points or 0.39% to 64,831.41
and the CNX Nifty was down by 93.65 points or 0.48% to 19,253.80.
The US markets ended mostly in
red on Thursday as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves ahead of
the release of the closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday. Street expect
employment to increase by 170,000 jobs in August after climbing by 187,000 jobs
in July, while the unemployment rate is expected to remain at 3.5 percent.
However, the early strength on markets partly reflected a positive reaction to
a Commerce Department report showing consumer price growth in the U.S.
accelerated in line with street estimates in the month of July. The Commerce
Department said the annual rate of consumer price growth increased to 3.3
percent in July from 3.0 percent in June. The faster growth matched
expectations. The reading on inflation also showed consumer prices rose 0.2
percent on a monthly basis in July, matching the uptick in June as well as
street estimates. The report also said the annual rate of growth by core
consumer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, inched up to 4.2 percent
in July from 4.1 percent in June. The modest increase also matched
expectations. Core consumer prices rose by 0.2 percent on a monthly basis in
July after edging up by 0.2 percent in June, in line with estimates. The
readings on prices for personal consumption expenditures are said to be the
Federal Reserve's preferred gauges of inflation. On the sectoral front,
Networking stocks saw substantial strength on the day, driving the NYSE Arca
Networking Index up by 3.1 percent to its best closing level in a month.
Crude oil futures ended sharply
higher on Thursday, extending recent gains. The increase by the price of crude
oil have reflected a positive reaction to a Commerce Department showing
continued strength in consumer spending. The Commerce Department said consumer
spending advance by 0.8 percent in July after climbing by an upwardly revised
0.6 percent in June. Street had expected spending to increase by 0.6 percent.
Besides, oil continued to benefit from report showing another steep drop in
U.S. crude oil inventories in the week ended August 25th. Benchmark crude oil
futures for October delivery rose $2 or about 2.5 percent to settle at $83.63 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery
surged $0.97 or 1.29 percent to settle at $86.83 a barrel on London's
Intercontinental Exchange.
Rupee settled lower against
dollar on Thursday tracking a firm American currency and rising crude oil
prices. Besides, negative sentiment in the equity market and outflow of foreign
funds also weighed on the domestic unit. Sentiments were cautious as CareEdge
Ratings in its latest report has said the India's rural demand is vulnerable
and could be further impacted by the dual blows of lower income and high food
inflation owing to an erratic monsoon. On the global front, the pound firmed
against the euro on Thursday as euro zone data showed core inflation slowing,
while the Bank of England's chief economist said British interest rates should
probably stay high to quash stubbornly high core inflation. Finally, the rupee
ended at 82.76 (Provisional), weaker by 13 paise from its previous close of
82.63 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 10365.00 crore against gross selling of Rs 10355.14 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 408.41 crore with gross
sales of Rs 379.90 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was
of Rs 7.70 crore against gross selling of Rs 18.95 crore.
The US markets ended mostly lower
on Thursday after U.S. inflation data matched estimates, underscoring
expectations the Federal Reserve could pause its monetary tightening. Asian
markets are trading mostly in green on Friday as major Chinese banks cut
deposit rates ahead of widely anticipated mortgage-rate cuts. Indian markets
gave up early gains to end lower on Thursday amid F&O expiry. Today, start
of session is likely to be negative as investors react to mixed global cues and
domestic macro data. Traders will be concerned as data compiled by the India
Meteorological Department (IMD) showed India witnessed the driest August in
more than a century as the country received 36% less rainfall than normal in
2023. It added the country has received 10% lower rainfall than normal from
June 1 to August 31. Some cautiousness will come as output of eight key
infrastructure sectors - known as the core sector - marginally slowed to 8 per
cent in July from 8.3 per cent in June. This is due to a low base effect and
positive growth in all the eight sectors during the month. Besides, the
Centre's fiscal deficit in the first four months of 2023-24 touched 33.9 per
cent of the full-year target. In absolute terms, the fiscal deficit - the gap
between expenditure and revenue - was Rs 6.06 lakh crore as of end-July.
However, some respite may come later in the day as India's economy grew at the
fastest pace in four quarters -- at 7.8 per cent -- in the April-June period of
FY24, aided by a supportive base along with a robust increase in investment.
Also, gross value added (GVA) in agriculture and allied activities recorded a
growth of 3.5 per cent in the first quarter (Q1) of 2023-24 (FY24), driven by a
healthy rabi harvest. This is an increase from the 2.5 per cent growth during
the same period in the previous financial year (2022-23, or FY23). Some support
may come as Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said the economy is
expected to grow at 6.5 per cent in the current fiscal notwithstanding
deficient monsoon rains. Shares of automobile companies will be in focus as
they announce the sales figures for the month of August. Textile stocks will be
in limelight as the Textiles Ministry decided to extend the deadline for fresh
applications under the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for textiles,
covering MMF (manmade fibre) apparel, MMF fabrics and products of technical
textiles, by another two months, till October 31 2023.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
19,253.80
|
19,188.90
|
19,353.45
|
BSE
Sensex
|
64,831.41
|
64,611.02
|
65,164.43
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Jio Financial Services
|
1241.22
|
240.00
|
233.16
|
244.81
|
Tata Steel
|
606.27
|
123.60
|
122.64
|
124.09
|
HDFC Bank
|
500.38
|
1577.00
|
1565.69
|
1585.74
|
ICICI Bank
|
366.75
|
959.85
|
953.86
|
966.01
|
State Bank of India
|
278.98
|
562.15
|
557.60
|
568.50
|
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Tata Steel on Wednesday signed an MoU with IIT (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad for a flagship MTech internship programme.
Titan Company has reportedly launched two new stores in the Andhra Pradesh - the first Taneira and Mia outlet and grand relaunch of Tanishq.