Indian equity benchmarks failed
to hold the strong momentum witnessed in early trade and finally ended the
trading session in red on Thursday amid selling in Healthcare, Energy and
Financial Services stocks. Markets made a gap-up opening and extended the gains
in the initial hours of trading, on positive global cues. Sentiments got boost
with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that
vegetable rates may ease from September, led by tomato prices, which have
started showing signs of correction on the back of increased supply. Some
support also came with commerce minister Piyush Goyal's statement that India is
hopeful that trade and investment ministers from the world's 20 biggest
economies set to meet in Jaipur will be able to strike a consensus on key areas
of trade and investment, although differences persist over the Ukraine war.
Some optimism also came as the provisional data available on the NSE showed
that foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth net Rs 614.32
crore on August 23. However, key gauges reversed all of their intraday gains in
late afternoon deals and ended lower amid weekly expiry of the derivative
contracts as selling pressure in heavyweights weighed on investor sentiments.
Traders also awaited US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell's speech, due on
Friday, for cues on inflation. Traders paid no heed towards Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's statement that India is seen as a combination of openness,
opportunities and options as the world sees optimism and confidence in the
Indian economy. The prime minister said that during the last nine years, India
has become the fifth largest global economy and it has increased its
competitiveness and enhanced transparency. Traders also overlooked Union
Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh's statement that
Indian embassies and consulates are well-placed to help the country's
businesses explore new markets for exports. He said India's growth and
prosperity are intrinsically linked to its ability to tap into global markets
and focusing on the incredible products and services that it has to offer.
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 180.96 points or 0.28% to 65,252.34 and the CNX
Nifty was down by 57.30 points or 0.29% to 19,386.70.
The US markets ended deeply in
red on Thursday, with Nasdaq falling cut of around two percent, despite
Nvidia's blowout earnings results. Sentiments were weak as investors were
nervous ahead of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech Friday. Central bankers
and other economic leaders gathered Thursday for an annual symposium in Jackson
Hole, Wyoming. Powell's highly anticipated speech on the economic outlook is
due Friday. Further, weakness also prevailed in the markets as the Commerce
Department released a report showed new orders for U.S. manufactured durable
goods tumbled by more than expected in the month of July. The Commerce
Department said durable goods orders plunged by 5.2 percent in July after
surging by a revised 4.4 percent in June. Street had expected durable goods
orders to slump by 4.0 percent compared to the 4.6 percent jump that had been
reported for the previous month. Excluding a pullback in orders for
transportation equipment, durable goods orders rose by 0.5 percent in July
after inching up by 0.2 percent in June. Ex-transportation orders were expected
to edge up by 0.2 percent. On the sectoral front, Semiconductor stocks pulled
back sharply despite the upbeat earnings news from Nvidia, dragging the
Philadelphia Semiconductor Index down by 3.4 percent. Substantial weakness also
emerged among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.9 percent nosedive by the
NYSE Arca Airline Index. Networking, computer hardware and software stocks also
came under considerable selling pressure, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Crude oil futures ended slightly
higher on Thursday. Recent data showing a larger than expected drop in crude inventories
in the US, and expectations that Saudi Arabia will extend its voluntary
production cut into the next month supported oil prices. However, gains were
limited as the dollar surged higher amid speculation the Federal Reserve might
hold interest rates higher for longer. Besides, worries about the outlook for
fuel demand following disappointing August PMI data signaling weaker economic
activity in Asia, Europe and the US, contributed as well to the limited upside
in oil prices. Benchmark crude oil futures for October delivery gained $0.16 or
about 0.2 percent to settle at $79.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery added $0.15 or 0.2 percent to settle
at $83.36 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee appreciated against
the dollar on Thursday, marking its third straight day of gains on the back of
softening crude oil prices and foreign funds inflows. Investors got support
after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said that vegetable
rates may ease from September, led by tomato prices, which have started showing
signs of correction on the back of increased supply. On the global front, the
pound declined against the dollar and euro on Thursday, a day after data showed
a contraction in British activity in August, prompting markets to trim
expectations for further rate hikes from the Bank of England. Besides, Russian
rouble steadied on Thursday as a favourable month-end tax period approached,
but domestic uncertainty was high following the possible death of Yevgeny
Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary group, in a plane crash. Finally, the
rupee ended at 82.56 (Provisional), stronger by 16 paise from its previous
close of 82.72 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 9542.87 crore against gross selling of Rs 8641.24 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 456.71 crore with gross sales
of Rs 383.66 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs
16.14 crore against gross selling of Rs 11.44 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Thursday failing to sustain early gains after Nvidia beat earnings views and
raised its guidance. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday tracking
overnight losses on Wall Street. Indian markets closed with losses on Thursday
after three straight days of gains. Index heavyweight Reliance Industries shed
and accounted for bulk of the losses in both the indices. Today, start of the
session is likely to be negative as global markets maintain caution ahead of
the US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole
symposium. Traders will be concerned as according to RBI minutes, Monetary
Policy Committee (MPC) member Jayanth R Varma said the inflation readings for
the next couple of months are likely to remain well above the Reserve Bank of
India's (RBI) tolerance band of 2-6 per cent. However, foreign fund inflows
likely to aid sentiments. According to the provisional data available on the
NSE, foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth net Rs 1,524.87
crore on August 24. Traders may be taking encouragement as Finance secretary T
V Somanathan said India will continue to clock the highest growth rate among
the top five economies in the world in the foreseeable future and asked Indian
diaspora to act as a catalyst and supplement government efforts in making India
the biggest opportunity. Some support may come as Commerce and Industry
Minister Piyush Goyal said the ongoing negotiations between India and the UK on
a free trade agreement (FTA) are progressing extremely well and it is expected
to conclude at an early date. Traders may take note of Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman's statement that the government is aiming to make India a global hub
for production, utilisation and export of green hydrogen. Meanwhile, Commerce
and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has exuded confidence that the G20 ministers
of trade and investment would be able to reach a broad consensus on all
trade-related issues at the two-day meeting here. There will be some buzz in
telecom stocks as Trai said telecom subscriber base in the country grew
marginally to 1,173.89 million at the end of June on account of new customer
additions led by Reliance Jio.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
19,386.70
|
19,308.99
|
19,524.44
|
BSE
Sensex
|
65,252.34
|
64,984.93
|
65,716.76
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
ICICI Bank
|
283.90
|
968.80
|
962.90
|
978.55
|
Jio Financial Services
|
276.73
|
213.45
|
213.45
|
213.45
|
Tata Steel
|
271.03
|
118.30
|
117.54
|
119.59
|
State Bank of India
|
241.32
|
577.00
|
574.36
|
580.81
|
HDFC Bank
|
215.73
|
1579.60
|
1571.76
|
1591.81
|
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