Indian equity
benchmarks logged gains for the third day on Wednesday, aided by Finance,
Realty and Banking stocks, amid a moderation in crudes prices after Russia
hinted at de-escalation of the conflict with Ukraine. Markets made a gap-up
opening and traded on a firm note throughout the day, as investors' morale
remained upbeat with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that
India's sharp economic recovery post COVID-19 and Budget initiatives will help
in sustaining growth momentum in the years to come. Meanwhile, she said FDI
into the country during the Modi government was $500.5 billion, which is 65 per
cent more than the amount received in the 10 years of the UPA government, as
investors have trusted the economic management of the current regime. Some
optimism also came as Sanjiv Mehta, President of the Federation of Indian
Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) said that the Comprehensive Economic
Partnership Agreement (CEPA), India's Free Trade Agreement with UAE, is good
for all types of businesses and industries be it small scale or large scale and
holds benefit for both goods and services sector. Benchmarks continued to move
higher in late afternoon deals, as traders took some encouragement with Union
minister Narayan Rane's statement that the government is setting up a global
market intelligence network to boost India's exports from the micro, small and
medium enterprises sector. He said the Global Market Intelligence Network will
act as a knowledge repository of export-related data on foreign markets and
facilitate easier market access for MSME exporters. Some support also came as
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that gross NPAs have reduced to Rs
7.73 lakh crore as of December 31, 2021, against Rs 10.36 lakh crore as of
March 31, 2018, due to transparent recognition of stressed assets. Traders
overlooked report by domestic ratings agency ICRA in which it has cut its FY23
real Gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate by a sharp 0.8 per cent to
7.2 per cent. It attributed the downward revision to elevated commodity prices
and also fresh supply chain issues arising from the conflict in Ukraine.
Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 740.34 points or 1.28% to 58,683.99 and the CNX
Nifty was up by 172.95 points or 1.00% to 17,498.25.
The US markets ended lower on
Wednesday amid fading hopes about peace talks between Russia and Ukraine after
the former continued to shell certain areas of Ukraine despite having promised
to scale down military operations on Tuesday. Rising worries about inflation
and imminent aggressive monetary tightening by the Federal Reserve weighed as
well on sentiment. Besides, profit taking after three successive days of gains
pushed the Dow to a weak close. The Nasdaq, which scored strong gains in the
previous two sessions, ended with a more pronounced loss, as chip stocks fell
sharply. On the economic data front, a report released by payroll processor ADP
showed private sector employment in the US jumped by 455,000 jobs in March
after surging by an upwardly revised 486,000 jobs in February. Street had
expected private sector employment to climb by 450,000 jobs compared to the
addition of 475,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. Data
released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew by slightly
less than previously estimated in the fourth quarter of 2021. The Commerce
Department said real gross domestic product increased by 6.9% in the fourth
quarter, reflecting a modest downward revision from the previously estimated 7%
spike. Street had expected GDP growth to be unrevised.
Crude oil futures ended higher on
Wednesday amid skepticism over progress in Russia-Ukraine peace talks following
Russia continuing to attack some areas in Ukraine despite its promise to scale
down military operations. Besides, data showing a bigger than expected drop in
US crude stockpiles last week contributed as well to the jump in oil prices.
Data released by US Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed US crude
stockpiles fell by a bigger-than-expected 3.4 million barrels last week,
cutting inventories to 410 million barrels, the lowest levels since September
2018. Crude stockpiles were expected to drop by about 1 million barrels last
week. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery surged $3.58 or 3.4 percent
to settle at $107.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude
for May delivery gained $3.12 or 2.9 percent to settle at $113.35 a barrel on
London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Erasing previous session gains,
Indian rupee weakened against dollar on Wednesday on emergence of demand for
the greenback from importers amid surging crude oil prices and fuel rate hikes
by the oil marketing companies fanned fears of inflation and interest rate
hikes. At home, oil marketing companies raised prices of petrol and diesel by
80 paise a litre each on Wednesday, taking the total increase in rates in the
last nine days to Rs 5.60 per litre. This is the ninth increase in prices since
the ending of a four-and-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22.
Traders shrugged off Union minister Narayan Rane's statement that the
government is setting up a global market intelligence network to boost India's
exports from the micro, small and medium enterprises sector. On the global front,
dollar fell to its lowest in almost two weeks on Wednesday and the euro gained,
with currency traders optimistic about peace talks in Ukraine, even amid
warnings about the damage to Europe's economy. Finally, the rupee ended at
75.94 (Provisional), weaker by 21 paise from its previous close of 75.73 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 7726.56 crore against gross selling of Rs 7903.38 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 104.09 crore against gross
selling of Rs 788.15 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying
was of Rs 29.65 crore against gross selling of Rs 24.17 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Wednesday as Russian forces bombarded the outskirts of Kyiv, a day after
promising to scale down operations. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday
on the back of drop in oil prices. Indian markets continued to rise for the third
session in a row on Wednesday, with the Nifty50 coming within two points of the
17,500 mark, helped by financial, auto and IT shares. Today, markets are likely
to get cautious start on the last session of fiscal year 2022 (FY22) tracking
weak global sentiment. Domestic markets are likely to be volatile today on
account of the monthly future & options expiry today. Investors will also
watch the OPEC+ meet later today. Traders will be concerned as India Ratings
lowered its GDP growth forecast for FY23 to 7-7.2 per cent, from 7.6 per cent
earlier citing the rising uncertainty over Russia-Ukraine war and the resultant
dampening of consumer sentiment. It said since the duration of the war
continues to be uncertain, in the first scenario crude oil prices could remain
elevated for three months, and in the second case for six months. Traders may
take note of report that the global macroeconomic uncertainties have increased
due to the Russia-Ukraine war, but it is too early to predict its impact on the
Indian economy. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund said India, which
has received a record number of foreign direct investment during the last few
years despite COVID-19 crisis, has quite a few safeguards in place to mitigate
the risks from capital flows. There will be some buzz in agriculture industry
stocks as Union Minister of State for Commerce Anupriya Singh Patel said
India's export of agricultural products have touched $40.87 billion in the
first 10 months of the current fiscal and it is 25.14 percent more than the
financial year. Jewellery industry stocks will be in focus as rating agency
Crisil said the revenue of gold jewellery retailers is likely to increase by
12-15 per cent in 2022-23 on steady demand and sustained high prices of gold.
There will be some reaction in infrastructure industry stocks as the government
said that under the guidance of the Department for Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade (DPIIT), 787 new projects with an investment value of Rs 19.6
lakh crore have been brought on the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) for
monitoring in FY22 and 44 projects with an investment value of Rs 1.25 lakh
crore have been commissioned.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
17,498.25
|
17,416.14
|
17,551.44
|
BSE
Sensex
|
58,683.99
|
58,330.74
|
58,882.52
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Indian Oil Corporation
|
1,064.26
|
118.00
|
116.16
|
119.76
|
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
|
952.39
|
161.80
|
160.35
|
164.05
|
Power Grid Corporation of India
|
406.63
|
217.00
|
212.96
|
219.86
|
NTPC
|
240.47
|
134.30
|
133.19
|
135.69
|
ICICI Bank
|
201.54
|
729.45
|
721.79
|
734.44
|
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