In an extreme
volatile trading session, Indian equity benchmarks ended lower for the fourth
consecutive session on Monday. Except bank, all other sectoral indices ended in
red with Oil & Gas, Metal, Utilities and Basic Materials down the most. Key
gauges made weak start, as traders got anxious with labour ministry's report
stated that retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers rose to 5.49
per cent and 5.74 per cent, respectively in January mainly due to higher prices
of certain food items. Some concern also came with the Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) data showed India's foreign exchange (forex) reserves declined by $1.763
billion to $630.19 billion in the week ended February 11 due to a sharp drop in
the value of foreign currency assets.
Adding to the pessimism, depositories data showed that foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs) have withdrawn a net Rs 18,856 crore from the Indian markets
in February so far amid geopolitical tensions and chances of a rate hike by the
US Federal Reserve. However, in the afternoon deals, key indices trimmed losses
and were trading in green, as traders found some support as India Ratings has
revised the outlook on state finances to improving in FY23 from neutral and
it expects the aggregate fiscal deficit of the states to come in at 3.6 per
cent of their gross domestic product from 3.5 per cent in FY22 on the back of
robust revenue growth. Some solace also came after Crisil Research stated that
India's industrial activity is expected to gather pace in the coming months
owing to a gradual pick-up in consumption as well as investment demand.
Notably, the latest Index of Industrial Production (IIP) printed at 138 (index
reading) in December 2021, representing a 0.4 per cent on-year growth, down
from 1.3 per cent growth in November. But, resumption of selling pressure in
the final hours again trimmed all gains, as investors globally remained on the
back foot amid concerns about the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Finally, the BSE
Sensex fell 149.38 points or 0.26% to 57,683.59 and the CNX Nifty was down by
69.65 points or 0.40% to 17,206.65.
The US markets were closed on Monday on account of
Presidents' Day.
Continuing previous session
gains, Indian rupee ended significantly higher against greenback on the back of
a weak dollar and softer crude oil prices amid hopes of a diplomatic solution
to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Sentiments were upbeat as Crisil Research has
said that India's industrial activity is expected to gather pace in the coming
months owing to a gradual pick-up in consumption as well as investment demand.
Notably, the latest Index of Industrial Production (IIP) printed at 138 (index
reading) in December 2021, representing a 0.4 per cent on-year growth, down
from 1.3 per cent growth in November. The rupee later gave up some of the gains
due to losses in the domestic equity markets and forex outflows. On the global
front, sterling rose against a weakening dollar and was slightly lower versus
the euro on Monday as hopes for a diplomatic solution to the Russian-Ukraine
standoff boosted risk appetite. Finally, the rupee ended at 74.55
(Provisional), stronger by 10 paise from its previous close of 74.66 on Friday.
The FIIs as per Monday's data
were net sellers in equity segment, while net buyers in debt segment. In equity
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 3095.16 crore against gross selling of Rs
6153.15 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 457.24
crore with gross sales of Rs 319.56 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the
gross buying was of Rs 33.91 crore against gross selling of Rs 35.22 crore.
The US markets remained closed on
Monday for the Presidents Day holiday. Asian markets are trading in red on
Tuesday amid geopolitical tensions, as Russia ordered troops into eastern
Ukraine. Indian markets logged their fourth straight session of fall on Monday
as participants remained cautious over lingering geopolitical tensions in
Eastern Europe. Today, start of session is likely to be gap-down tracking
sell-off in the Asian peers as tensions around the Russia-Ukraine conflict
continue to mount. Tensions have escalated in the with Russian President Putin
recognised two breakaway regions Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine as
independent entities and described Ukraine as an integral part of Russia's
history. Moreover, as per a private report, some Ukrainian civilians have been
killed in frontline shelling over the night. Also, as per provisional data
available on the NSE, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) have net sold Rs
2,261.90 crore worth of shares. However, some respite may come later in the day
as NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said the Indian economy is growing at 9.2 per
cent and is expected to grow at similar rates in the coming years. While
referring to the government's production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for
sunrise sectors, Kant said it will add $520 billion to India's output in the
next five years and make India a part of the global supply chain. Some support
may come as commerce and minister Piyush Goyal said India and the UAE are
looking at mutual recognition of professional bodies and educational
institutions under a free trade agreement (FTA) that was signed last week. This
development could boost co-operation between universities, students and
employers in the two nations. Meanwhile, Union Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman has said banks need to focus more on being customer-friendly so that
the process of availing credit becomes more hassle-free for borrowers. There
will be some buzz in the oil & gas industry stocks as India's fuel demand
is likely to grow 5.5% in the next fiscal year beginning April 1, initial
government estimates show, reflecting a pick-up in industrial activity and
mobility in Asia's third largest economy after months of stagnation. Aviation
industry stocks will be in focus with a private report that the government is
likely to propose a formula to bring aviation turbine fuel (ATF) under the
ambit of Goods and Services Tax (GST). The likely government proposal will be
to allow 18 percent GST in addition to VAT or excise rate. There will be some
reaction in textile industry stocks as the government may soon revisit a plan
to hike the GST rates for most textile products in the man-made fibre (MMF)
value chain from 5% to 12% in late December 2021 amid protests from the
industry.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
17,206.65
|
17,067.89
|
17,348.24
|
BSE
Sensex
|
57,683.59
|
57,186.42
|
58,161.36
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Motors
|
225.92
|
493.80
|
486.46
|
500.76
|
State Bank of India
|
168.66
|
511.50
|
504.94
|
517.79
|
ITC
|
161.29
|
218.10
|
216.40
|
220.55
|
Coal India
|
148.70
|
161.10
|
159.46
|
163.11
|
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
|
142.22
|
163.25
|
161.69
|
166.19
|
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Bharti Airtel has joined the SEA-ME-WE-6 undersea cable consortium to scale up its high speed global network capacity to serve India's fast growing digital economy.