Indian equity benchmarks remained
under selling pressure for the second straight session to end over a half per
cent lower on Friday as investors turned cautious after the government hiked
securities transaction tax (STT) on futures and options contracts, while
lingering concerns of contagion in the global banking sector weighed. After
making a cautious start, key gauges soon slipped into red amid foreign fund
outflows. Provisional data from exchanges showed that FIIs were net sellers to
the tune of Rs 995 crore in the cash markets on March 23. However, key gauges managed to erase losses
and traded marginally higher in afternoon deals, as traders took some support
with report stating that India's exports to the UAE are expected to touch an
all-time high of $32 billion by the end of this fiscal due to the benefits of
free trade agreement between the countries. Some support came after Chief
Economic Advisor (CEA) V Anantha Nageswaran indicated that with global crude
oil prices on the slide, India's current account deficit (CAD), too, will drop
in the current fiscal year (2022-23, or FY23) and the next (2023-24, or FY24),
with the external situation being quite stable. However, the recovery was
short-lived as equity markets witnessed intense selling pressure in the fag-end
of the session amid a bearish trend in Asian and European markets. Besides,
shares of asset management companies also fell on Friday after the finance
minister announced amendments to the Finance Bill to treat returns on debt
mutual funds as short-term capital gain, which is likely to eliminate the
long-term tax benefits on such investments. Traders overlooked Union Minister
of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar
Choubey's statement that retail food inflation, measured by the Consumer Food
Price Index (CFPI) brought out by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme
Implementation (MoSPI), has declined from 8.60 percent in September 2022 to
5.95 per cent in February 2023. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 398.18 points or
0.69% to 57,527.10 and the CNX Nifty was down by 131.85 points or 0.77% to
16,945.05.
The US markets ended higher on
Friday as traders felt the banking concerns have been overdone amid optimism
the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle. However,
U.S.-listed shares of Deutsche Bank (DB) moved sharply lower in early trading
amid a spike by the German lender's credit default swaps. Credit Suisse (CS)
and UBS Group (UBS) also came under pressure after a report said they are among
banks under scrutiny in a Justice Department probe into whether financial
professionals helped Russian oligarchs evade sanctions. On the sectoral front,
Interest rate-sensitive utilities and commercial real estate stocks moved
sharply higher over the course of the session, driving the Dow Jones Utility Average
and the Dow Jones U.S. Real Estate Index up by 3.2 percent and 2.6 percent,
respectively. A sharp increase by the price of natural gas also contributed to
significant strength among natural gas stocks, with the NYSE Arca Natural Gas
Index jumping by 1.9 percent. Gold stocks also moved notably higher despite a
pullback by the price of the precious metal, resulting in a 2.3 percent gain by
the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. On the economic data front, the Commerce
Department released a report showing a continued slump in orders for
transportation equipment led to an unexpected decrease in new orders for U.S.
manufactured durable goods in the month of February. The Commerce Department
said durable goods orders slid by 1.0 percent in February after plummeting by a
revised 5.0 percent in January. Street had expected durable goods orders to
increase by 0.6 percent compared to the 4.5 percent plunge that had been
reported for the previous month.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
Friday on concerns rising interest rates might hurt growth and result in a drop
in energy demand. Several central banks,
including the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, have raised their
interest rates, and indicated more increases in the coming months to fight
inflation. Meanwhile, worries about the turmoil in the banking sector linger
despite steps taken by governments and central banks. Further, a stronger
dollar weighed as well on oil prices. Benchmark crude oil futures for April
delivery fell $0.70 or about 1 percent to settle at $69.26 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery dropped $0. 95 or about
1.3 percent to settle at $74.96 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Rupee settled lower against
dollar on Friday weighed down by the strength of the American currency and
massive selling in the domestic equity market. Besides, the provisional data
from exchanges showed that FIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 995 crore in
the cash markets on March 23, 2023. Concerns that interest rate hikes by
several central banks could slow down economic growth also weighed on the
markets. Traders overlooked a report stating that India's exports to the UAE
are expected to touch an all-time high of $32 billion by the end of this fiscal
due to the benefits of free trade agreement between the countries. On the
global front, Russian rouble gave up most of its gains made against the U.S.
dollar in the previous session on Friday, as the promise of upcoming month-end
tax payments offered limited support amid sharply sliding oil prices. Finally,
the rupee ended at 82.44 (Provisional), weaker by 24 paise from its previous
close of 82.20 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net buyers in equity segment, while net sellers in debt segment. In equity
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 7058.89 crore against gross selling of Rs
6672.40 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 798.70
crore against gross selling of Rs 1387.05 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment,
the gross buying was of Rs 20.29 crore against gross selling of Rs 28.35 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Friday as investors shrugged off data showing that durable goods orders
unexpectedly fell by 1 percent in February from the month before. Asian markets
are trading mostly in red on Monday after the head of the International
Monetary Fund warned of increased risks to financial stability. Indian markets
ended lower for a second straight session on Friday with weak global cues.
Today, markets are likely to start holiday shortened week in green amid mixed
cues from global markets. Local markets will remain close on Thursday owing to
the Ram Navami holiday. Volatility is likely to persist this week ahead of
F&O expiry. Traders will be taking encouragement as Prime Minister Narendra
Modi said India will emerge as a developed nation by 2047 with efforts of every
single individual. He said the dream will turn into a reality with the hard
work of every single individual of the country and the government is
encouraging collective efforts. He added that the role of social and religious
institutions in this regard is also important. Foreign fund inflows likely to
aid domestic sentiments. Foreign investors have pumped Rs 7,200 crore into the
Indian equities so far this month, mainly driven by bulk investment in the
Adani Group companies by the US-based GQG Partners. Some support will come as
the Reserve Bank said India's forex kitty rose by $12.798 billion to $572.801
billion in the week ended March 17. In the previous reporting week, the
reserves had dropped by $2.39 billion to a three-month low of $560.003 billion.
However, traders may be concerned as optimism about resilience of the banking
sector following the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Credit Suisse crisis is
likely to be countered by the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates.
There may be some cautiousness with a private report that the Reserve Bank of
India may go in for a 25 basis points hike in the bi-monthly monetary policy to
be announced on April 6, with retail inflation remaining above the comfort
level of 6 per cent and most global peers including US Fed continuing hawkish stance.
Meanwhile, after hours of confusion regarding the quantum of STT (securities
transaction tax) hike on the sale of options, the Finance Ministry finally
clarified that it will be hiked to Rs 6,250 on a turnover of Rs 1 crore. This
indicates a 25 percent increase. Earlier, the levy was Rs 5,000. There will be
some buzz in the real estate industry stocks with a private report that housing
sales in India's top seven cities are estimated to rise 14 per cent during
January-March to over 1.13 lakh units on strong demand despite increase in
prices by 6-9 per cent. Auto stocks will be in focus as Union road, transport
and highway minister Nitin Gadkari said that if India can use recently
discovered reserve of lithium in Jammu and Kashmir, it will become number one
automobile manufacturing country in the world.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
16,945.05
|
16,871.79
|
17,063.89
|
BSE
Sensex
|
57,527.10
|
57,277.92
|
57,921.34
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Steel
|
390.14
|
102.05
|
100.71
|
104.21
|
ICICI
Bank
|
172.96
|
851.45
|
847.06
|
857.91
|
HDFC
Bank
|
157.39
|
1559.65
|
1551.76
|
1570.71
|
State
Bank of India
|
144.17
|
505.50
|
500.99
|
512.49
|
ITC
|
99.35
|
378.90
|
376.94
|
381.94
|
Tata Steel has acquired the balance 1,35,29,959 equity shares of Rs 10 each, at a premium of Rs 2.81 per share, of Tata Steel Advanced Materials from Tata Steel Downstream Products for an amount aggregating to around Rs 17.33 crore.
State Bank of India has completed acquisition of 40% stake in Commercial Indo Bank LLC Moscow from Canara Bank.
Coal India is eyeing to post 16.6% growth in coal despatch to its non-regulated sector customers in the fourth quarter of the ongoing fiscal (Q4 FY23), compared to the preceding quarter.
Tata Motors has received an order for providing 1000 XPRES-T EVs to OHM E Logistics in Hyderabad, for their electric cab transportation services.