Indian equity
benchmarks wiped out all the initial gains and ended marginally lower for the
sixth straight day on Wednesday, dragged by Energy, Capital Goods and Auto
stocks. Markets opened higher as traders took encouragement with the commerce
ministry data showed that the country's merchandise exports rose by 26.4 per
cent to $25.33 billion this month till February 21 on account of healthy
performance by sectors including gems and jewellery, engineering, textiles and
chemicals. The exports during February 1-21 last year stood at $20.04 billion.
Key indices trimmed some gains in morning deals, but continued to trade in
green, as some solace also came with Nasscom Centre of Excellence for internet
of things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) CEO Sanjeev Malhotra stating
that India has the third-largest ecosystem for start-ups in the world and the
number of such firms is growing significantly with ten per cent being added
every year. However, benchmark indices failed to hold on to their gains in late
hour of trading session and ended lower, as traders turned cautious with
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that the Russia-Ukraine crisis
and the ensuing jump in global crude prices are a challenge to financial
stability in India. Sitharaman said it is difficult to say how it (crude
prices) will go. Even today, in the FSDC, when we were looking at the
challenges which are posed for the financial stability, crude was one of the
things. Some pessimism also came as forecasting a lower-than-previously
projected 10 per cent GDP growth for the fiscal year 2022 due to the third wave
of the pandemic, a private report said the Indian economy is likely to have
expanded by 6.6 per cent in the December quarter. It said the economy had a
relatively stable Q3 with several sectors returning to pre-pandemic level of
activity, with services playing a bigger role in activity and added that with
the mild Omicron wave in January, there is clear downside risks to the earlier
growth forecast of 10 per cent in FY22. Finally, the BSE Sensex declined 68.62
points or 0.12% to 57,232.06 and the CNX Nifty was down by 28.95 points or
0.17% to 17,063.25.
The US markets ended deeply in
red on Wednesday, extending the sell-off seen over the three previous sessions,
amid lingering concerns about a potential Russia invasion of Ukraine. Selling
pressure seemed to intensify after President Joe Biden officially announced
plans to allow the toughest sanctions on Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to
move forward. Biden called the move another piece in his administration's
initial tranche of sanctions against Russia, arguing Russian President Vladimir
Putin's actions have provided the world with an overwhelming incentive to move
away from Russian gas and to other forms of energy. The continued weakness on
markets also came as a Pentagon official said 80 percent of Russian forces
amassed on the Ukraine border are ready to go and said Putin has assembled
enough military assets to conduct a large-scale invasion. Traders remained
concerned a potential Russian invasion coupled with the international sanctions
imposed in response could derail the global economy even as the Federal Reserve
prepares to begin raising interest rates. On the sectoral front, housing stocks
moved sharply lower over the course of the session, dragging the Philadelphia Housing
Sector Index down by 2.9 percent to its lowest closing level in almost a year.
Crude oil futures ended higher on
Wednesday as traders weighed risks to global crude supplies amid sanctions on
Russia and the potential for a full invasion of Ukraine. Meanwhile, Ukraine
declared a state of emergency and told its citizens in Russia to flee, while
Moscow began evacuating its Kyiv embassy in the latest ominous signs for
Ukrainians who fear an all-out Russian military onslaught. Benchmark crude oil
futures for April delivery surged $0.19 or 0.2 percent to settle at $92.10 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery ended
flat at $96.84 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Erasing previous session
drubbing, Indian rupee ended significantly higher against dollar due to
pullback in the greenback and crude oil prices after Western countries imposed
several sanctions on Russia for sending troops into separatist-held regions in
Ukraine. Investors hoped that Western sanctions on Russia after Moscow's troop
movements near Ukraine border might soften Vladimir Putin's defiant tone and
leave some room to avoid war. Sentiments got boost with commerce ministry data
showing that the country's merchandise exports rose by 26.4 per cent to $25.33
billion this month till February 21 on account of healthy performance by
sectors including gems and jewellery, engineering, textiles and chemicals. On
the global front, sterling edged up on Wednesday mirroring the equity market,
which rebounded as investors waited to see how Russian President Vladimir Putin
will respond to Western sanctions over the standoff with Ukraine. Finally, the
rupee ended at 74.61, stronger by 23 paise from its previous close of 74.84 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 9102.54 crore against gross selling of Rs 11560.74 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 352.03 crore against
gross selling of Rs 783.34 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 3.65 crore against gross selling of Rs 8.53 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Wednesday extending their recent rout as Ukraine declared a state of emergency
and the U.S. State Department said a Russian invasion of Ukraine remains
potentially imminent. Asian markets are trading in red on Thursday with
investors avoiding risks as tensions between Russia and Ukraine mount. Indian
markets extended their losing streak to the sixth session on Wednesday as
lingering Ukraine crisis continued to dent investors' sentiment. Today, markets
are likely to start F&O series expiry session with deep cut after a global
sell-off. As per reports, United States secretary of state Blinken has said that
Russia will invade Ukraine before the night is over. While, Donetsk and
Luhansk-separtatist regions have asked Russia for military assistance to repel
Ukraine's aggression. Traders will be concerned as India Ratings revised
downwards its GDP growth forecast for 2021-22 to 8.6 per cent from the
consensus 9.2 per cent projected earlier. The National Statistical Organisation
(NSO), which has forecast 9.2 per cent real GDP growth for the year, will
release the second advance estimate of national income on Monday. According to
an India Ratings analysis, NSO is likely to peg the FY22 real gross domestic
product growth at Rs 147.2 lakh crore. Some pessimism may also come as Foreign
Institutional Investors (FII) remained net sellers of domestic stocks on
Wednesday. FIIs sold Rs 3,417 crore worth equity. There will be some
cautiousness as the central bank's deputy governor Michael Patra said Consumer
price index (CPI)-based inflation - the main yardstick of the Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) for policy making - is likely to have peaked in January this year
and, it will ease to the 4 per cent target by 2023. Meanwhile, Patra said that
India's central bank wants to focus all its energies on reviving the country's
economic growth given that inflation's momentum is declining. Healthcare
industry stocks will be in focus as a private report stated that India has the
potential to generate a staggering $774 billion revenue in the healthcare
sector by 2030. It added with an investment of $217 billion, the country can
create 12 million jobs in healthcare and allied sectors, which can impact 1.5
billion lives by 2030. There will be some reaction in oil & gas industry
stocks as the government data showed India's crude oil production fell to
2,511.66 thousand metric tonnes (TMT) in January 2022, which is 2.40 per cent
lower than the output registered during the same month last year and 6.04 per
cent lower than the official target for the month.
Support and Resistance:
NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
17,063.25
|
16,987.16
|
17,180.01
|
BSE
Sensex
|
57,232.06
|
56,983.07
|
57,607.20
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
|
213.01
|
161.00
|
158.30
|
165.05
|
Tata Motors
|
177.03
|
477.00
|
473.06
|
483.16
|
State Bank of India
|
138.99
|
498.15
|
495.15
|
503.25
|
ICICI Bank
|
116.24
|
744.50
|
739.34
|
753.04
|
ITC
|
110.14
|
215.75
|
214.70
|
217.15
|
Hero MotoCorp has entered into partnership with BPCL to set up charging infrastructure for two-wheeled electric vehicles across the India.
Maruti Suzuki India has launched technologically superior premium hatchback - the New Age Baleno.
Tech Mahindra has collaborated with ASKA to create the best drive-and-fly experience.
Wipro is all set to launch its Workplace Experience Centre in Munich.