Hectic selling dragged Indian
equity benchmarks to end near their intraday low points, with Sensex and Nifty
closing over a percent cut, amid weak sentiments as U.S. bank contagion fears
resurfaced and investors awaited the all-important U.S. jobs data that could
influence the Federal Reserve's monetary policy path. After a negative start,
equity benchmarks remained under selling pressure for the whole trading
session. HDFC twins led losses, amid indications that the merged entity will
have a lower weight in the MSCI index. Losses got intensified in the last leg
of the trade, as bears tighten their grip over the Dalal Street, despite
positive cues from the European markets. Traders remained cautious amid a
private report predicting that the risks to earnings growth, which include the
impact of the global economic slowdown, specifically on the IT sector, as well
as potential delays in rural revival and the possibility of a peak in urban
demand, are apparent in the market movements. On the sectoral front, chemicals
companies stocks remained in watch, after the credit rating agency, India
Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra) in its latest report has maintained a neutral
outlook on the Indian chemicals sector for FY24, amid robust domestic demand,
comfortable profitability and strong balance sheets. Besides, the rating agency
maintained a Stable Rating Outlook on its rated chemical portfolio for FY24.
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 694.96 points or 1.13% to 61,054.29 and the CNX
Nifty was down by 186.80 points or 1.02% to 18,069.00.
Regaining lost ground from
previous session, the US markets closed higher with notable gains of around 2%
on Friday. Strength on the Wall Street came as some traders looked to pick up
stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness. Regional banks helped lead
the recovery after ongoing concerns about turmoil in the sector weighed on the
markets in recent sessions. PacWest Bancorp (PACW) skyrocketed by 81.7 percent
after plummeting by 50.6 percent to a record closing low on Thursday. Western
Alliance (WAL), Zions Bancorp (ZION) and Comerica (CMA) also posted standout
gains after JPMorgan upgraded the stocks to Overweight, saying they appear
substantially mispriced. A positive reaction to quarterly results from tech
giant Apple (AAPL) also contributed to the rebound on Wall Street. Shares of
Apple jumped by 4.7 percent after the company reported fiscal second quarter
results that beat street estimates on both the top and bottom lines. On the
economic data front, traders were reacting to the release of the Labor
Department's closely watched monthly jobs report for April. The report showed
job growth far exceeded street estimates in the month of April, the jump in
employment followed notable downward revision to the two previous months. The
Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 253,000 jobs in
April compared to street estimates for an increase of about 179,000 jobs.
However, the job growth in February and March was downwardly revised to 248,000
jobs and 165,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a combined downward revision of
149,000 jobs. The report also said the unemployment rate edged down to 3.4
percent in April from 3.5 percent in March.
Crude oil futures ended significantly
higher on Friday amid data showed China's services sector activity remained
well within growth territory in April, and the U.S. economy saw a bigger than
expected addition in U.S. non-farm payrolls in April. Data from the Labor
Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 253,000 jobs in April
compared to economist estimates for an increase of about 179,000 jobs.
Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery rose $2.78 or about 4.1 percent
to settle at $71.34 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, Brent crude for July delivery added
$2.69 or about 3.9 percent to settle at $75.30 a barrel on London's
Intercontinental Exchange.
Forex markets were shut on Friday
on the account of Buddha Purnima.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net buyers in equity segment, while net sellers in debt segment. In equity
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 7537.46 crore against gross selling of Rs
6148.04 crore. In the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1050.28 crore
against gross selling of Rs 2191.79 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the
gross buying was of Rs 3.14 crore against gross selling of Rs 3.44 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Friday as shares of Apple surged more than 4% after upbeat results and U.S.
jobs data pointed to a resilient labor market. Asian markets are trading mostly
in green on Monday as investors braced for a week where U.S. inflation data
will test wagers the next move in interest rates will be down. Indian markets
tumbled towards the fag end of the trading session, and finally ended with
significant losses on Friday amid selling pressure in index heavyweights - HDFC
and HDFC Bank. Today, start of the new week is likely to be optimistic tracking
firm global cues and Q4FY23 earnings. Investors await more of financial results
from India Inc for domestic cues, with UPL due to post its earnings later in
the day. Foreign fund inflows likely to aid domestic sentiments. Foreign
institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 777.68 crore on May 5,
provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed. Some support will
come as the Reserve Bank of India said India's foreign exchange reserves jumped
$4.532 billion to $588.78 billion for the week ended April 28. The overall
reserves had dropped $2.164 billion to $584.248 billion in the previous
reporting week. Meanwhile, Commerce & Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has
said that India-US partnership is at a defining stage and the two countries
will continue to work towards diversifying and deepening trade and investment
ties for mutual growth and prosperity. Traders may take note of report that
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said inflation in India is slightly above
the tolerance limit, and the government is taking steps to control it. She said
Because we took a very calibrated approach, today we have an inflation which is
slightly above the tolerance limit, but which is constantly being worked at so
it can be brought down. Moreover, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will
review the state of the economy amid global and domestic challenges at a
meeting of the Financial Stability and Development Council (FSDC) on May 08.
The 27th meeting of the high-level panel to be held here will be attended by
all financial sector regulators, including RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das. This
would be the first meeting of the FSDC after the passage of Rs 45 lakh crore
Budget for 2023-24 with greater emphasis on capital expenditure with an outlay
of Rs 10,00,961 crore. There will be some reaction in agriculture related
stocks with report that exports of agricultural and processed food products
rose by 9% to $26.3 billion in 2022-23 as compared to FY22, driven by a spike
in shipment of rice, fruits and vegetables, livestock and dairy products. Also,
Mankind Pharma is likely to make a stellar debut on the bourses today.
Support
and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
18,069.00
|
18,010.65
|
18,172.15
|
BSE
Sensex
|
61,054.29
|
60,842.48
|
61,425.81
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Steel
|
329.58
|
108.70
|
107.79
|
110.24
|
HDFC
Bank
|
313.85
|
1626.95
|
1612.39
|
1651.24
|
ICICI
Bank
|
190.02
|
927.00
|
919.49
|
938.49
|
State
Bank of India
|
181.63
|
576.45
|
571.59
|
584.79
|
Axis
Bank
|
143.43
|
864.75
|
856.66
|
878.91
|
Coal India is planning to invest Rs 91,000 crore in various projects, including diversification and mine development, by 2025-26.
HDFC Bank is aiming to double its semi-urban and rural business in the next three to four years.
Reliance Industries has received an approval from Shareholders and creditors for a plan to demerge the company's financial services arm, Reliance Strategic Ventures.
Tech Mahindra has received approval to acquire additional 29% stake in Tech Mahindra Arabia.