Indian equity benchmarks ended
marginally in red on Monday amid weak trends in global markets and spike in
Brent crude oil prices due to geopolitical tension in the Middle East. Markets
made a negative start and soon tuned volatile as traders got anxious with data
showing that India's merchandise exports saw a fall of 2.6 percent year on
year, contracting to $34.47 billion in September. The fall was also
significantly reflected in imports, which contracted by 15 percent to $53.84
billion in September 2023 against September 2022. However, markets managed to
keep their heads above water in afternoon deals, as traders took some support
with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) statement that the overall
macroeconomic environment in India is pretty sound, it is fiscally disciplined
and the central bank moved fast to bring inflation under control. Some support
also came with the provisional data available on the NSE showing that foreign
institutional investors (FII) purchased shares worth net Rs 317.01 crore on
October 13, 2023. But, key indices failed to hold recovery and ended with minor
losses as some pessimism remained among traders with chief economic advisor
(CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran's statement that private investment is happening in
India, and inflation is not a concern, but crude oil prices and tightening
global monetary conditions pose a risk. Some concern also came with reports
stating that days after the Reserve Bank took an unprecedented step of warning
banks of their ballooning retail book, a foreign brokerage has cautioned
against increasing default risks in retail unsecured loans of banks. Meanwhile,
traders took note of report that India's inflation based on wholesale price
index (WPI) remained in the deflationary zone for the sixth straight month at
(-) 0.26% for the month of September 2023 as against (-) 0.52% recorded in
August 2023. Deflation in the reported month is primarily due to fall in prices
of coal, minerals, textiles, basic metals and food products as compared to the
corresponding month of previous year. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 115.81
points or 0.17% to 66,166.93 and the CNX Nifty was down by 19.30 points or
0.10% to 19,731.75.
The US markets ended higher on
Monday with Dow Jones Industrial Average settling over 300 points as investors
indulged in some strong buying at several counters ahead of earnings updates
from several top ranked companies. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Tesla,
Netflix and Johnson & Johnson are among the companies scheduled to announce
their quarterly results this week. Traders shrugged off rising bond yields and
concerns about the ongoing war in the Middle East. Meanwhile, Investors looked
ahead to the release of reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing
starts and existing home sales in the comings days. On the economic data front,
a report released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed a downturn in
regional manufacturing activity in the month of October. The New York Fed said
its general business conditions index fell to a negative 4.6 in October from a
positive 1.9 in September, with a negative reading indicating a contraction in
activity. Street had expected the index to drop to a negative 7.0. Twenty-four
percent of respondents reported that conditions had improved over the month,
while twenty-nine percent reported that conditions had worsened. The pullback
by the headline index partly reflected a downturn in new orders, as the new
orders index slumped to a negative 4.2 in October from a positive 5.1 in September.
Crude oil futures ended lower
with cut of over one percent on Monday amid expectations that oil supply
situation will improve if US sanctions on Venezuela could ease in the event of
Caraca agreeing to an election date. Oil prices fell despite fears the ongoing
Israel-Hamas war might fuel a wider conflict in the Middle East. Benchmark
crude oil futures for November delivery fell $1.03 or about 1.2 percent to
settle at $86.66 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for
December delivery dropped $1.24 or about 1.4 percent to settle at $89.65 a
barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ended higher against
dollar on Monday tracking some positive macroeconomic data. Traders took note
of reports that India's inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) remained
in the deflationary zone for the sixth straight month at (-) 0.26% for the
month of September 2023 as against (-) 0.52% recorded in August 2023. Deflation
in the reported month is primarily due to fall in prices of coal, minerals,
textiles, basic metals and food products as compared to the corresponding month
of previous year. On the global front, the Russian rouble weakened slightly on
Monday as capital controls obliging certain exporters to sell a portion of
their foreign currency earnings domestically came into force. Finally, the
rupee ended at 83.27 (Provisional), stronger by 3 paise from its previous close
of 83.30 on Friday.
The FIIs as per Monday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 10345.25 crore against gross selling of Rs 9963.72 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1633.56 crore with
gross sales of Rs 906.12 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 5.76 crore against gross selling of Rs 4.40 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Monday as investors were optimistic about the start of earnings season, while
transportation and small-cap shares also jumped. Asian markets are trading
mostly in green on Tuesday following overnight gains on Wall Street. Indian
markets oscillated between gains and losses and ended in red on Monday as
investors chose to stay on the sideline amid geopolitical tensions in Israel.
Today, markets are likely to get optimistic start tracking strong gains in
global peers. Investors will continue to keep eye on earnings for more
directional cues. Sentiments will get a boost as a survey by industry body
Ficci stated that India's economic growth is expected at 6.3 per cent during
2023-24 on the back of good health of the financial sector and uptick in
private investment even as downside risks remain. However, foreign fund
outflows likely to dent sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock
Exchange (NSE) showed that foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares
worth Rs 593.66 crore on October 16. Some cautiousness may come with a private
report that a sharp decline in tomato prices may have caused the headline CPI
(Consumer Price Index) inflation to plunge to 5.02% in September from 6.83% in
August, but risks to food prices still persist. As per the report, an erratic
monsoon and low reservoir levels are likely to have moderately adverse impact
on yields of several crops, including paddy, pulses, oilseeds, and spices,
which may keep inflationary pressures elevated in the near-term. Auto stocks
will be in focus as industry body SIAM said passenger vehicle wholesales in
India rose to its highest level in any quarter so far in the July-September
period riding on the back of robust demand for utility vehicles. There will be
some reaction in aluminium industry stocks amid reports that aluminium
producers' association AAI has sought government's intervention for
notification of rates for aluminium special economic zones and export oriented
units (EOUs) under the RoDTEP scheme. Sugar industry stocks will be in
limelight with a private report that the Centre may consider imposing stock
limits on sugar trade if all entities engaged in the business don't disclose
their inventories on the official portal by October 17. Additionally, the
government is likely to extend the current restrictions on sugar exports
indefinitely after October 31.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
19,731.75
|
19,688.64
|
19,778.09
|
BSE
Sensex
|
66,166.93
|
66,023.29
|
66,326.66
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Steel
|
238.69
|
127.10
|
125.61
|
127.91
|
Tata
Motors
|
200.06
|
666.35
|
659.14
|
675.69
|
Power
Grid
|
183.37
|
203.05
|
200.81
|
204.56
|
ONGC
|
123.77
|
186.50
|
185.76
|
187.71
|
State
Bank of India
|
112.90
|
575.50
|
571.75
|
579.00
|
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