Indian equity benchmarks closed
on a high note on Friday, the last trading session of calendar year 2021, led
by gains in metal and consumer durables shares, even though concerns about the
Omicron variant of coronavirus kept investors cautious globally. Markets
started day on positive note and displayed a firm trend throughout the day, as
traders got some encouragement with India Ratings and Research's (Ind-Ra)
statement that higher tax and non-tax revenue collections this fiscal are expected
to more than offset the shortfall in disinvestment revenue, leading to the
fiscal deficit coming in at 6.6 per cent of GDP in FY22, or 20 basis points
lower than the budgeted target. Traders remained positive, as markets regulator
Sebi extended the deadline till September 30 next year for the applicability of
the tweaked reporting requirements for alternative investment funds (AIFs).
Earlier, the deadline was December 31, 2021. Besides, a High-Level Committee
chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah has approved Rs 3,063.21 crore of
additional central assistance to six states under the National Disaster
Response Fund. Sentiments remained upbeat after India's agricultural and
processed food exports have grown at a steady pace in the last decade notwithstanding
several logistical challenges faced in the global trade of the commodities.
Exports of agricultural and processed food products under Agricultural and
Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) basket rose to
$20,674 million (Rs 15,30,50 crore) during 2020-21, from $17,321 million (Rs
83,484 crore) in 2011-12. Meanwhile, the finance ministry has extended the
benefit of reduced performance security of 3 percent for all central government
tenders/contracts issued/concluded till March 31, 2023. According to the rules,
a successful bidder awarded a government contract has to deposit a performance
security of 5-10 per cent of the value of the contract with the government.
Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 459.50 points or 0.80% to 58,253.82 and the CNX
Nifty was up by 150.10 points or 0.87% to 17,354.05.
The US markets ended lower on
Friday as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves on the final
trading day of the year. A lack of major US economic data has also kept traders
on the sidelines along with limited activity in overseas markets.However, the
Dow and the S&P 500 remained near their recent record highs, as traders are
optimistic the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will only be a small road
bump for the global economic recovery. Most of the major sectors showed only
modest moves on the day, although weakness among computer hardware and software
stocks weighed on the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Among individual stocks, shares of
Lexicon Pharmaceuticals showed a significant pullback after seeing early strength
after the drug maker submitted a new drug application to the FDA seeking
approval for its heart drug sotagliflozin for adults with type 2 diabetes.
Fitness equipment maker Peloton (PTON) also showed a notable move to the
downside after JMP Securities downgraded its rating on the company's stock to
Market Perform from Market Outperform. On the other hand, drug giant Pfizer
(PFE) moved higher after British regulators approved the use of its Covid-19
antiviral pill Paxlovid for people over 18 with mild to moderate illness.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
the eve of 2022, marking the first decline in the past eight sessions, but the
loss belies a stellar year for crude bulls, with the commodity posting the
sharpest annual rise since 2009. Oil Prices fell after US health experts warned
Americans to prepare for severe disruptions in the first weeks of 2022 amid
increased holiday travel, New Year celebrations and school reopenings following
winter breaks. Crude oil futures climbed 1.9% in the week. Oil futures climbed
as much as 55% in the year. Brent crude futures gained about 11% in December,
and posted a gain of 51% in the year. Benchmark crude oil futures for February
delivery fell $1.78 or 2.3 percent to settle at $75.21 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February delivery dropped $1.68 or 2.1
percent to settle at $77.85 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Rising for the second consecutive
day, Indian rupee ended higher against dollar on Friday, tracking positive
domestic equities amid year-end dollar selling by banks and exporters.
Sentiments remained buoyant as India's agricultural and processed food exports
have grown at a steady pace in the last decade notwithstanding several
logistical challenges faced in the global trade of the commodities. Traders
remained positive as India Ratings and Research's (Ind-Ra) statement that
higher tax and non-tax revenue collections this fiscal are expected to more
than offset the shortfall in disinvestment revenue, leading to the fiscal
deficit coming in at 6.6 per cent of GDP in FY22, or 20 basis points lower than
the budgeted target. On the global front, dollar strengthened on Friday against
the basket of currencies. Finally, the rupee ended 74.29 (Provisional),
stronger by 13 paise from its previous close of 74.42 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net sellers in equity segment, while they were buyers in debt segment. In
equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5363.15 crore against gross selling
of Rs 6495.61 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 857.52
crore with gross sales of Rs 114.55 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the
gross buying was of Rs 2.51 crore against gross selling of Rs 15.65 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Friday as traders seemed reluctant to make significant moves on the final
trading day of the year. Asian markets are trading mostly in green on Monday
amid thin trade on account of holidays in most regions. Indian markets rose
notably on Friday despite mixed global cues and signs that India has entered
the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. Today, that markets likely to start
flat-to-negative note as global peers traded mixed. Traders will be concerned
as India reported 123 Omicron cases on Sunday. India's cumulative Omicron
tally, after adding old unaccounted cases, stood at 1,711. There will be some
cautiousness as the Reserve Bank said India's current account slipped into a
deficit of $9.6 billion or 1.3 per cent of GDP in the September quarter.
Besides, the RBI said India's forex reserves decreased by $587 million to
$635.08 billion for the week ended December 24. However, some respite may come
later in the day as the Finance Ministry said GST revenue collected in December
2021 was over Rs 1.29 lakh crore, 13 per cent higher than the same month last
year. The gross GST revenue collected in the month of December 2021 is Rs
1,29,780 crore, of which CGST is Rs 22,578 crore, SGST is Rs 28,658 crore, IGST
is Rs 69,155 crore and cess is Rs 9,389 crore. Traders may take note of report
that India will start administering its indigenous Covid vaccine Covaxin to the
15 to 18 age group from Monday. Meanwhile, the central government's fiscal
deficit at the end of November worked out to be 46.2 percent of the annual
budget target for the financial year 2021-22 due to an improvement in the
revenue collection. There will be some buzz NBFCs stocks as Crisil's report
that non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) showed resilience in 2021 despite
the coronavirus pandemic woes and are expected to witness continued momentum in
growth this year. Textile industry stocks will be in focus with report that
heeding to demands from states, including the polls-bound ones, the Goods and
Services Tax (GST) Council held an emergency meeting on Friday and virtually
rolled back a decision taken in its September meeting to increase the GST rate
on textile products from 5% to 12%. There will be some reaction in aviation
industry stocks as aviation turbine fuel (ATF) price has been hiked by Rs
2,039.63 per kilolitre, or 2.75 per cent, to Rs 76,062.04 per kl in the
national capital. Auto stocks will be in limelight reacting to their monthly
sales numbers.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
17,354.05
|
17,261.44
|
17,423.74
|
BSE Sensex
|
58,253.82
|
57,930.46
|
58,493.24
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Hindalco
Industries
|
182.57
|
474.75
|
461.05
|
482.90
|
Tata
Motors
|
155.41
|
482.80
|
475.24
|
486.99
|
State
Bank of India
|
100.05
|
460.20
|
455.06
|
463.36
|
NTPC
|
91.55
|
124.40
|
123.34
|
126.14
|
ITC
|
75.83
|
218.00
|
216.50
|
219.15
|
Reliance Industries' wholly owned subsidiary -- RNESL has signed definitive agreement to acquire 100% shareholding in Faradion for an enterprise value of GBP 100 million.
HDFC Bank has signed a MoU with Agra Smart City to launch Mera Agra app that would enhance ease of living for the citizens and improve tourists' experience.
Paisabazaar.com has strengthened its partnership with Axis Bank by launching a Pre-Qualified Program for unsecured loans on its platform.
Power Grid Corporation of India has received approval from board of director for expansion of POWERGRID Telecom into Data Centre Business.