Indian equity benchmarks surged
for sixth session in a row and clocked another session of record closing high
on Monday, as a budget-inspired rally continued, with Auto, Metal, Industrials
and Telecom shares leading the broad-based rally. The benchmarks staged a gap
up opening and held on to gains, amid a positive trend in global markets.
Sentiments got a boost with Expenditure Secretary T V Somanathan's statement
that the government is confident of lowering the fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent
of GDP by 2025-26 fiscal, considering a nominal GDP growth of 10 per cent every
year. Sentiments remained up-beat with Economic Affairs Secretary Tarun Bajaj's
statement that the government is sticking to the target of becoming a $5
trillion economy by 2024-25 and emphasis on infrastructure sector and other
initiatives taken in Budget 2021-22 are aimed at achieving the goal. Investor
sentiment was also buoyed after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government
will work with the Reserve Bank for execution of the bank privatisation plan
announced in the budget. She also said that the government has no plan to form
any bank investment company to house the government stakes in banks. Some
support also came with Union Minister Nitin Gadkari's statement that the
government aims to increase the MSME sector's share in the GDP to 40 percent to
benefit the rural poor. Currently, around 6.5 crores micro, small and medium
enterprises (MSMEs) contribute 30 per cent to the GDP. Adding to the optimism,
the Business Confidence Index (BCI) developed by the Delhi-based economic think
tank NCAER rose 29.6 percent between second and third quarter of the current
financial year on the back of rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in different
countries, including India. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 617.14 points or 1.22%
to 51,348.77, while the CNX Nifty was up by 191.55 points or 1.28% to
15,115.80.
The US markets ended the session
at new record closing highs on Monday, following the strong upward move seen
last week. A slowdown in the spread of the coronavirus in different parts of
the world and vaccine rollout efforts have helped generate continued buying
interest. Traders also remained optimistic about the outlook for the global
economy and the likelihood of additional US fiscal stimulus. Democrats have
taken the first steps toward passing President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief
package without Republican support but continue to favor a bipartisan approach.
Nonetheless, trading activity was somewhat subdued amid a quiet day on the US
economic front, with some traders away from their desks following the Super
Bowl on Sunday. Considerable strength was visible among airline stocks, with
the NYSE Arca Airline Index soaring by 3.7 percent to its best closing level in
almost a year. Semiconductor, housing and networking stocks also saw
significant strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.
Magnifying their previous
sessions' gains, Crude oil futures ended higher on Monday lifted by leading oil
producers' decision to cut output, and rising optimism about a big stimulus
from the Joe Biden administration. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and its allies agreed to extend production cuts till March.
Saudi Arabia's decision to cut supply in February and March by 1 million
barrels per day contributed as well to the bullish sentiment in the oil market.
Amid tighter global supplies, optimism about a pick-up in energy demand, and
data showing a drop in new coronavirus cases, further supported oil prices. Crude
oil futures for March rose $1.12 or 2 percent to settle at $57.97 barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. April Brent crude gained $1.22 or 2.1 to settle
at $60.56 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ended weaker against
the US dollar on Monday, on increased demand for the greenback from importers
and banks. Traders were concerned despite report that foreign portfolio
investors (FPIs) remained net buyers to the tune of Rs 12,266 crore in the
Indian market in the first five trading sessions of February, as positive
sentiment post-Union Budget 2021 sparked a rally in investment. As per FPI
statistics available with depositories, overseas investors pumped in a net Rs
10,793 crore into equities and Rs 1,473 crore in the debt segment between
February 1-5. However, healthy growth in the domestic equity market and dollar
weakness against other currencies overseas capped the rupee loss. On the global
front, dollar steadied against major currencies on Monday as traders waited for
more data on the US economy, after a disappointing jobs report last week ended
a rally in the greenback. The euro was little changed against the dollar, after
data showed German industry avoided a contraction in December. Finally, the
rupee ended at 72.97, 4 paise weaker from its previous close of 72.93 on
Friday.
The FIIs as per Monday's data
were net buyer in equity segment, while net seller in debt segment. In equity
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 9129.14 crore against gross selling of Rs 7717.06
crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 622.60 crore
with gross sales of Rs 1173.33 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 15.27 crore against gross selling of Rs 31.43 crore.
The US markets settled in green
on Monday as investors bet on hopes that a fiscal relief package and vaccine
roll-outs would lead to a speedy economic recovery. Asian markets are trading
higher on Tuesday following overnight gains on Wall Street that saw the major
indexes rallying to record closing highs. Indian markets ended at a record high
level on Monday led by strong gains in auto and metal stocks amid positive
global cues. Today, the markets are likely to make slightly positive start
tracking firm trend in global peers. Traders will be taking encouragement with
report that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the government is taking
steps to carefully monitor the fiscal deficit, which is estimated at 9.5
percent of the GDP for the current financial year. Some support will come with
a report that US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed
to work together on the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, renew partnership
on climate change, rebuild the global economy in a way that benefits the people
of both countries and stand together against the scourge of global terrorism.
Traders may take note of report that FPIs' ownership in NSE-listed companies
reached a five-year high of 22.74 percent in December 2020 on the back of a
huge net inflow of Rs 1.42 lakh crore by such investors in the third quarter.
However, there may be some cautiousness as India recorded 8,947 fresh Covid-19
cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19). The total number of active cases
in the country has fallen to 145,690, while the caseload tally stands at
10,803,533. Globally, nearly 107 million people have been infected by the
virus. The country continues to be second-most-affected globally, and ranks
18th among worst-hit nations by active cases. There will be some buzz in power
stocks as rating agency Moody's upgraded the outlook on the power sector to
stable from negative, citing the fifth consecutive month of generation growth
in January. Pharma stocks will be in focus as Chemical and Fertiliser Minister
D V Sadananda Gowda said that the Indian pharmaceutical industry has proved to
be a dependable supplier of quality drugs in a time of global need on account
of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is expected to reach a size of $130 billion by
2030. There will be some reaction in coal industry stocks with report that coal
demand in the current fiscal may be lower than the initial estimate of 1,085
million tonnes (MT) due to the impact of COVID-19. Telecom industry stocks will
be in limelight with report that the government expects that the roll-out of 5G
services will begin in early-2022 after another round of spectrum auction that
is planned to be held after six month.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
15,115.80
|
15,051.26
|
15,170.11
|
BSE
Sensex
|
51,348.77
|
51,146.68
|
51,523.39
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Motors
|
1,021.23
|
335.95
|
322.89
|
344.14
|
State
Bank of India
|
793.89
|
397.05
|
391.94
|
404.99
|
NTPC
|
537.38
|
100.30
|
97.29
|
102.14
|
ITC
|
414.96
|
233.10
|
230.39
|
236.94
|
Indian
Oil Corporation
|
379.25
|
104.10
|
102.90
|
104.85
|
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