Bouncing back from the previous
day's fall, Indian equity benchmarks witnessed a relief rally and ended with
strong gains of over one and a half percent on Friday, tracking supportive
global cues. After the gap up start, markets gradually inched higher as the
session progressed, as traders took encouragement after Chief Economic Advisor
V Anantha Nageswaran expressed hope that the GDP growth for the current
financial year will exceed the projected 7 per cent in view of the expected
revision of high frequency data. Sentiments remained up-beat as a private
business survey showed activity in India's dominant services sector expanded at
the fastest pace in 12 years in February on strong demand as price pressures
eased further amid mild job rises & capacity pressures in the country. The
S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers' Index rose from 57.2 in
January to 59.4 in February, its highest since February 2011. It was above the
50-mark separating growth from contraction for a 19th straight month, its
longest stretch of expansion since June 2013. Markets extended gains in late
afternoon deals, taking support from report stating that the Centre has taken
steps to enhance exports by micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector
by setting up facilitation centers across the country. It also said the export
facilitation centers will provide the requisite mentoring and handholding
support to the sector and also help to set up a network of entrepreneurial
leaders. Foreign fund inflows added support to domestic sentiments. The
National Stock Exchange's provisional data showed foreign institutional
investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 12,770.81 crore on March 2. Traders
overlooked Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) data showing that listed manufacturing
companies recorded lower sales growth of 10.6 per cent in the December quarter
of the current fiscal (Q3FY23) as compared to 20.9 per cent in the previous
quarter. The moderation in the manufacturing companies was broad-based across
the industries, except for cement. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 899.62 points
or 1.53% to 59,808.97 and the CNX Nifty was up by 272.45 points or 1.57% to
17,594.35.
Magnifying their previous
session's gains, the US markets ended higher with good gains of over a percent
on Friday as traders continued to pick up stocks at relatively reduced levels
following recent weakness, as the gains posted by the Nasdaq and S&P 500 on
Thursday came after they hit their lowest intraday levels in over a month.
Traders also reacted positively to a report from the Institute for Supply
Management showing a very slight slowdown in the pace of growth in U.S. service
sector activity in the month of February. The ISM said its services PMI edged
down to 55.1 in February from 55.2 in January, although a reading above 50
still indicates growth in the sector. Street had expected the index to slip to
54.5. The report also showed the prices index fell to 65.6 in February from
67.8 in January, pointing to a slowdown in the pace of price growth. On the
sectoral front, banking stocks moved sharply higher over the course of the
session, driving the KBW Bank Index up by 1.9 percent. The index rebounded
after ending the previous session at its lowest closing level in over a month.
Significant strength was also visible among software stocks, as reflected by
the 1.8 percent gain posted by the Dow Jones U.S. Software Index. Natural gas
stocks also turned in a strong performance amid a substantial increase by the
price of the commodity, with the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index climbing by 1.7
percent. Brokerage, housing and commercial estate stocks also saw notable
strength on the day, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
Crude oil futures wipe out early
losses and settled higher on Friday with gains of over a percent. Initially,
oil prices witnessed losses after a Wall Street report said United Arab
Emirates is having an internal debate about leaving the Organization of
Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Later in the day, oil prices rebounded
sharply after the United Arab Emirates denied the report that officials were
internally debating whether to leave the OPEC. Oil also supported from optimism
about the outlook for global demand following upbeat data from China and
Europe. Benchmark crude oil futures for April delivery surged $1.52 or 1.9
percent to $79.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for
May delivery rose $1.08 or 1.3 percent to $85.83 a barrel on London's
Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee settled higher
against dollar on last trading day of the week as fresh foreign fund inflows
and positive domestic equities supported investor sentiments. Sentiments got
boost after activity in India's dominant services sector expanded at the
fastest pace in 12 years in February on strong demand as price pressures eased
further amid mild job rises & capacity pressures in the country. On the
global front, U.S. dollar eased from a 2-1/2-month high versus the yen on
Friday and looked set for its first weekly loss since January against major
peers as traders tried to gauge the path for Federal Reserve policy. Finally,
the rupee ended at 81.97 (Provisional), stronger by 63 paise from its previous
close of 82.60 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 20564.32 crore against gross selling of Rs 7823.27 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 431.54 crore against
gross selling of Rs 159.48 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 3.01 crore against gross selling of Rs 4.69 crore.
The US markets closed higher on
Friday as US Treasury yields eased and economic data helped investors look past
the growing likelihood that the Federal Reserve will have to keep its
restrictive policy in place until late in the year. Asian markets are trading
mixed on Monday ahead of an update on the US rate outlook from the world's most
powerful central banker, and a jobs report that could decide if the next hike
needs to be super-sized. Indian markets ended higher on Friday as comments from
a Federal Reserve official raised hopes that the Fed will stick with a 25-bps
rate hike at its next meeting in March. Today, markets are likely to start
holiday truncated week is likely to be optimistic following firm global cues.
Markets will remain close on March 07 on account Holi. Foreign fund inflows
likely to support markets. The National Stock Exchange's provisional data
showed foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 246.24
crore on March 3. Traders will be taking some encouragement as Commerce and
Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India's goods and services exports are
expected to cross $750 billion this fiscal despite the global economic
uncertainties. Traders may take note of private report that India's
macroeconomic stability indicators will gradually improve in FY24 owing to a
combination of factors. It said a combination of easing in global commodity
prices (YoY terms), healthy growth mix (more capex driven), and fiscal and
monetary policy on a consolidating path create the basis for the trend in macro
stability indicators to improve. However, traders may be concerned as the
Reserve Bank of India said India's foreign exchange reserves dropped $325
million to $560.942 billion as of February 24, making it the fourth consecutive
week of decline in the kitty. There may be some cautiousness as External
Affairs Minister S Jaishankar conveyed to his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang at a
meeting that the state of India-China relations is abnormal as their talks
focused on addressing the challenges in bilateral ties, especially that of
peace and tranquility in the border areas. There will be some buzz in oil &
gas sector stocks The Centre hiked the windfall profit tax levied on crude
petroleum to Rs 4,400 per tonne from Rs 4,350. The special additional excise
duty on diesel has been reduced to Rs 0.5 a litre from Rs 2.5, while it has
been slashed to nil on ATF (Aviation Turbine Fuel). Railways stocks with report
that slow freight growth in the second half of FY23 continued to impact
railways, with freight volumes in February at 124 million tonnes (mt), just 3.55
per cent higher than the same period last year. There will be some reaction in
real estate industry stocks with private report that the size of the country's
real estate industry is expected to reach $1 trillion by 2030 from $200 billion
in 2021.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
17,594.35
|
17,466.45
|
17,683.50
|
BSE
Sensex
|
59,808.97
|
59,371.36
|
60,106.82
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Steel
|
1171.75
|
107.45
|
105.81
|
108.26
|
Adani Ports And Special Economic Zone
|
428.33
|
683.70
|
654.84
|
708.29
|
State Bank of India
|
276.57
|
561.00
|
547.06
|
569.61
|
Adani Enterprises
|
228.89
|
1874.00
|
1737.69
|
1958.14
|
NTPC
|
129.63
|
172.55
|
171.04
|
174.54
|
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ICICI Bank has launched an array of digital solutions for participants of the capital market and clients of custody services.
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Tata Motors has achieved the 5 million passenger vehicles production mark. This milestone is testimony of the popularity of its cars among the Indian customers.