Indian equity
benchmarks extended gains to the third straight session on Wednesday led by
gains in financial, banking and healthcare stocks and positive sentiments from
global markets. Markets made gap-up opening and stayed in green for whole day,
as traders took encouragement as Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Nageswaran
expressed hope that India would become a $5 trillion economy by FY26 or the
next year on the back of 8-9 per cent sustained growth. He added gross domestic
product (GDP) in dollar terms has already crossed $3 trillion. Some support
also came in as provisional data of the commerce ministry showed that the
country's exports rose by 23.69 per cent to $34.06 billion in January on healthy
performance by engineering, petroleum and gems and jewellery segments even as
trade deficit widened to $17.94 billion during the month. Traders took note of
report that Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said his ministry is in
talks with the finance ministry to allow firms in the special economic zones
(SEZs) to sell goods in the domestic market by paying just an equalisation
levy. The key indices were seen
extending gains in noon trade as continued buying across all sectors.
Sentiments remained up-beat with IT industry body Nasscom stating that the
Union Budget 2022 sets the tone for India's 'techade' and establishing the
country as a global hub in terms of technology innovation. Traders remained
positive, as the USA India Chamber of Commerce has said that in the midst of
third wave of COVID-19, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has come up with an
impactful budget which is balanced, fiscally prudent and growth-oriented.
Further, support also came in as Union Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister
Narendra Singh Tomar, welcoming the Budget's focus on the agriculture sector,
has said that it is the budget for the villages, poor people, farmers, women
and youth. The minister said the budget of the Ministry of Agriculture and
Farmers Welfare has been increased continuously in both the tenures of the
Government, this time also it has been increased to Rs.1.32 lakh crore from
Rs.1.23 lakh crore last year. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 695.76 points or
1.18% to 59,558.33 and the CNX Nifty was up by 203.15 points or 1.16% to
17,780.00.
The US markets ended higher on
Wednesday, extending the strong upward move seen over the three previous
sessions. The strength on markets partly reflected a positive reaction to
upbeat earnings from some big-name companies like Google parent Alphabet
(GOOGL). Shares of Alphabet spiked by 7.5 percent after the tech giant reported
fourth quarter result that exceeded street estimates on both the top and bottom
lines. Alphabet also announced a 20-for-1 stock split, which has led to
speculation the stock could be headed for inclusion in the Dow. Chipmaker
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) also showed a strong move to the upside after
reporting better than expected fourth quarter results and providing upbeat
guidance. Traders were also reacting to a report from payroll processor ADP
unexpectedly showing a sharp pullback in US private sector employment in the
month of January. ADP said private sector employment plunged by 301,000 jobs in
January after jumping by a downwardly revised 776,000 jobs in December. The
steep drop surprised street, who had expected private sector employment to
increase by 207,000 jobs compared to the spike of 807,000 jobs originally
reported for the previous month. The labor market recovery took a step back at
the start of 2022 due to the effect of the Omicron variant and its significant,
though likely temporary, impact to job growth, said ADP chief economist Nela
Richardson.
Crude oil futures ended
marginally higher on Wednesday supported by data showing a drop in crude
stockpiles in the US in the week ended January 28. Data released by the US
Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories dropped by
1.046 million barrels last week versus expectations for an increase of 1.525
million barrels. The American Petroleum Institute reported on Tuesday that US
oil inventories fell 1.65 million barrels last week to meet increased demand.
Street had forecast a 1.5 million barrels increase. However, upside remained
capped as OPEC and its allies approved another 400,000 barrels per day in
production that will begin in March. Benchmark crude oil futures for March
delivery added $0.06 or nearly 0.1 percent to settle at $88.26 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery rose $0.31 or 0.35
percent to settle at $89.47 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ended marginally
weak against the US dollar on Wednesday, on increased demand for the greenback
from importers and banks. Investors remain concerned as Rating agency Moody's
stated that the Union Budget lacks any tangible measures to increase revenue
generation even though the capital expenditure plans have gone up significantly
and the fiscal deficit estimate suggests that the government is relying too
much on strong growth to help drive fiscal consolidation. However, downfall
remain capped as provisional data of the commerce ministry showed that the country's
exports rose by 23.69 per cent to $34.06 billion in January on healthy
performance by engineering, petroleum and gems and jewellery segments even as
trade deficit widened to $17.94 billion during the month. On the global front,
euro rose for a third consecutive day on Wednesday, after hitting a 20-month
low last week, as markets awaited euro zone inflation data for clues on the
European Central Bank's next move. Finally, the rupee ended 74.83
(Provisional), weaker by 1 paise from its previous close of 74.82 on Tuesday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday's data
were net sellers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 6724.61 crore against gross selling of Rs 6820.34 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 49.94 crore against gross
selling of Rs 721.62 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying
was of Rs 12.72 crore against gross selling of Rs 169.83 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Wednesday extending gains for a fourth straight day, boosted by upbeat earnings
from Alphabet and Advanced Micro Devices. Asian markets are trading mixed on
Thursday amid persisting concerns about global growth and geopolitical
tensions. Indian markets rose 1.2 percent each to scale two-week closing highs
on Wednesday led by broad-based gains. Financial, IT and oil & gas stocks
were the biggest contributors to the rise in headline indices. Today, markets are
likely to make cautious start amid mixed Asian cues. Rising crude oil prices
and geopolitical tensions may weigh on the market sentiment. There will be come
cautiousness as domestic rating agency CRISIL estimated FY23 real GDP growth at
7.8 per cent as compared with the 8.5 per cent projected in the Economic
Survey. However, traders may be taking encouragement as Commerce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal said India is on track to achieve the $400-billion export
target in the current fiscal and is negotiating trade agreements with countries
like the UAE, the EU and Canada. Sentiments may get a boost as asserting that
the Union Budget lays the foundation for the country's long-term growth in the
next 25 years, NITI Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said the government is
taking all possible measures to ignite private investments, which will be the
best bet to pull the economy out of the shadows of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some support may come as data by independent think-tank Centre for Monitoring
Indian Economy (CMIE) showing that India's unemployment rate witnessed a sharp
decline to 6.57 per cent in January, the lowest since March 2021, as the
country gradually recovers with easing of restrictions following a decline in
Omicron cases. Traders may take note of Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth's
statement that the Budget proposals seek to stimulate the economy by stepping
up public investments, which will create demand for industrial inputs like
cement, steel and capital goods, and generate jobs. Meanwhile, Total foreign
direct investment (FDI) inflows during April-November 2021 stood at $54.10
billion. Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Som Parkash said the
government has put in place a liberal and transparent policy for FDI, wherein
most of the sectors are open under the automatic route.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
17,780.00
|
17,705.00
|
17,824.80
|
BSE
Sensex
|
59,558.33
|
59,294.75
|
59,720.21
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
ITC
|
411.30
|
231.85
|
229.46
|
233.76
|
State Bank of India
|
216.61
|
539.65
|
532.59
|
545.49
|
Indusind Bank
|
143.80
|
968.00
|
938.14
|
989.84
|
Tata Motors
|
143.11
|
506.40
|
502.89
|
512.19
|
Axis Bank
|
134.78
|
802.20
|
791.06
|
809.61
|
HDFC has reported 7.76% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 6,168.58 crore for Q3FY22 as compared to Rs 5,724.23 crore for Q3FY21.
Eicher Motors' motorcycle division has reported 15% fall in sales at 58,838 units in January 2022 as compared to 68,887 motorcycles sold in January 2021.
Adani Port & SEZ has reported 6.20% fall in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1,478.76 crore for Q3FY22 as compared to Rs 1,576.53 crore for Q3FY21.
Hero MotoCorp has sold 380,476 units of motorcycles and scooters in January 2022.