Indian equity benchmarks ended
lower for the second session on Friday, dragged by Auto, Oil & Gas and
Energy stocks. After making slightly positive start, key gauges soon turned
lower, as traders were anxious with Moody's Investors Service stating that a
combination of weak growth in advanced economies, persistent inflationary
pressures, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, tight financial conditions, and a
subdued growth outlook for China will create a difficult environment for
emerging markets (EM) in 2023. As regards India, Moody's said food and fuel
remain the main drivers of inflation because they represent a larger share of
the consumption basket. For example, rising food prices have contributed to
almost half of the growth in headline inflation this year in India. Markets
added losses in afternoon deals, as sentiments remain dampened after S&P
Global Ratings in its latest report has stated that polarization in the
performance of Indian banks may persist in 2023 as many large public-sector
banks are still saddled with weak assets, high credit costs, and poor earnings.
Similarly, the agency expects a mixed-bag performance for finance companies
(fincos). It said the asset quality of these fincos is often weaker than that
of major private-sector banks. Some concern also came as a private report said
taking binding commitments on new issues like environment, labour and
sustainability in the proposed free trade agreements (FTA), being negotiated by
India, may hamper the country's exports in the future. However, indices
recouped most of their losses in late afternoon deals, as traders took some
support with provisional data available on the NSE showed that foreign
institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 618.37 crore on
November 17. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 87.12 points or 0.14% to 61,663.48
and the CNX Nifty was down by 36.25 points or 0.20% to 18,307.65.
The US markets trimmed some of
their gains and ended the choppy session in green on Friday. The initial
strength on Wall Street partly reflected a positive reaction to upbeat earnings
news from some big-name companies. Apparel retailer Gap (GPS) moved sharply
higher after unexpectedly returning to profitability in the third quarter on
sales that exceeded analyst estimates. Shares of Foot Locker (FL) also spiked
after the athletic footwear and apparel retailer reported better than expected
third quarter results and raised its full-year guidance. Discount retailer Ross
Stores (ROST) and cybersecurity company Palo Alto Networks (PANW) also posted
standout gains after reporting quarterly results that beat expectations.
Though, buying interest faded shortly after the start of trading with some
disappointing U.S. economic data. The National Association of Realtors released
a report showing a substantial decrease in existing home sales in the month of
October. NAR said existing home sales plummeted by 5.9 percent to an annual
rate of 4.43 million in October after slumping by 1.5 percent to a rate of 4.71
million in September. A separate report released by the Conference Board showed
a much bigger than expected decrease by its reading on leading U.S. economic
indicators in the month of October. The Conference Board said its leading economic
slumped by 0.8 percent in October after falling by a revised 0.5 percent in
September. Street had expected the index to decrease by 0.4 percent, matching
the drop originally reported for the previous month.
Extending their previous
session's losses, crude oil futures closed in red on Friday with cut of around
2% amid concerns about outlook for demand from China, and easing worries about
supply. A firm dollar also weighed down on oil prices. Baker Hughes reported
that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by one to 623 this
week. That followed an increase of nine in the previous week, and is a third
straight weekly rise. The total active U.S. rig count, which includes those
drilling for natural gas, climbed by three to 782. Benchmark crude oil futures
for December delivery fell $1.56 or about 1.9 percent at $80.08 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery dropped $2.16 or
about 2.4 percent to settle at $87.62 (Provisional) a barrel on London's
Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee concluded weaker
against dollar on Friday on account of continued dollar demand from importers
and banks and lackluster trend in domestic equities. Sentiments remained
pessimistic with Moody's Investors Service's statement that a combination of
weak growth in advanced economies, persistent inflationary pressures, the
Russia-Ukraine conflict, tight financial conditions, and a subdued growth
outlook for China will create a difficult environment for emerging markets (EM)
in 2023. As regards India, Moody's said food and fuel remain the main drivers
of inflation because they represent a larger share of the consumption basket.
On the global front, dollar eased on Friday, but was still headed for its
largest weekly gain in a month, after Federal Reserve officials reiterated
their commitment to raising U.S. interest rates more than markets currently
anticipate. Finally, the rupee ended at 81.70 (Provisional), weaker by 6 paisa
from its previous close of 81.64 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 8400.76 crore against gross selling of Rs 6817.48 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 854.53 crore against gross selling
of Rs 331.02 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs
4.96 crore against gross selling of Rs 23.76 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Friday as gains in defensive shares overshadowed energy declines, and investors
shrugged off hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials about interest
rate hikes. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Monday as China's
central bank kept its benchmark lending rates, or loan prime rates, on hold -
in line with expectations. Indian markets stayed on the back foot and ended
with cut of around 0.15% each on Friday as investors offloaded auto, finance,
and energy stocks amid a lacklustre trend in global markets. Today, markets are
likely to start F&O series expiry week on negative note tracking weakness
in Asian counterparts. Foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments in the
markets. Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net offloaded shares worth Rs
751.20 crore on 18 November, according to the provisional data available on
NSE. Traders will be concerned as the latest payroll data released by the
Employees' Provident Fund Organisation showed the number of fresh formal jobs
created fell for the second consecutive month in September, declining 9 per
cent sequentially to 930,000. Enrolment of new female subscribers fell faster
(11.39 per cent) than their male counterparts (8.13 per cent) in September,
compared with the previous month. However, some respite may come as former Niti
Aayog Vice-Chairman Rajiv Kumar said India will still grow at 6-7 per cent in
the next 2023-24 fiscal even as the economy may be affected by uncertain global
conditions. Traders may take encouragement as Union Minister for Commerce and
Industry Piyush Goyal said India is on track to become a developed nation. He
added that India will be a $30 trillion economy by 2047, becoming one of the
top economies of the world. Some support may come as retail inflation for farm
and rural workers eased marginally to 7.22 per cent and 7.34 per cent,
respectively, in October compared to September 2022, mainly due to lower prices
of certain food items. Besides, the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) weekly statistical
supplement showed that India's foreign exchange reserves rose to $544.72
billion in the week through Nov. 11, marking their biggest weekly jump in more
than a year. Meanwhile, investors focus now will shift to the budget movements
as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will kick-start the customary pre-budget
meetings beginning Monday with a special focus on issues concerning climate
change and infrastructure. Banking stocks will be in focus S&P Global
Market Intelligence in a report on the Indian banking sector said that the
rising interest rates will enable Indian banks to continue posting good profits
during the remaining part of FY23. There will be some reaction in gem and
jewellery sector stocks as GJEPC said the gem and jewellery exports declined 14.64
per cent in October at Rs 25,843.84 crore due to seasonal trend as
manufacturing activities are limited or closed during Diwali. Moreover, Archean
Chemical Industries and Five Star Business Finance will debut on the BSE and
NSE today. Archean Chemical IPO was subscribed 32.23 times. The price for the
issue has been at Rs 407 per share.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
18,307.65
|
18,213.44
|
18,398.24
|
BSE
Sensex
|
61,663.48
|
61,357.32
|
61,949.77
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Steel
|
289.92
|
105.50
|
104.70
|
106.30
|
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
|
199.59
|
141.75
|
140.21
|
143.26
|
State Bank of India
|
129.34
|
602.70
|
597.99
|
606.59
|
NTPC
|
111.35
|
165.85
|
164.29
|
168.24
|
ICICI Bank
|
108.74
|
920.35
|
913.26
|
924.71
|
UltraTech Cement has commenced third Birla White Wall Care Putty plant at Nathdwara, Rajasthan with a capacity of 4 LMT per annum, at a total cost of Rs 187 crore.
Wipro has opened its Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa Strategic Market Unit Headquarters in Dubai, UAE.
HDFC has further sold 12,63,898 shares representing 2.13% of the paid-up share capital of Ansal Housing.
Tech Mahindra has entered into a strategic partnership with Basis Technologies to accelerate delivery of smart utility solutions across Europe and US.