Indian equity benchmarks closed
higher on Wednesday, helped by fag-end buying in index majors JSW Steel, Tata
Motors and Mahindra & Mahindra amid a positive start in European markets.
Key gauges opened flat and slipped into the red as the day progressed as
traders were anxious ahead of two major events -- RBI's monetary policy and the
US inflation data -- due to be announced on Thursday. Traders were also
concerned with a private report indicating that India's retail inflation likely
accelerated to 6.40% in July on surging food prices, breaching the upper end of
the Reserve Bank of India's 2%-6% tolerance band for the first time in five
months. Besides, persistent foreign fund outflows weighed down on the
sentiments. Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange (NSE) showed
foreign institutional investors (FII) offloaded shares worth Rs 711.34 crore on
August 8. However, last-hour buying helped markets to erase all the losses and
end higher. Traders got support as the World Trade Organization (WTO) said that
two separate dispute settlement panels have stated that India and the US have
mutually resolved disputes with regard to certain measures on steel and
aluminium products, and additional duties on certain products from the US. Some
support also came with Sanjeev Sanyal, Member of the Economic Advisory Council
to the Prime Minister, stating that the country should be confident enough to
deconstruct the rest of the world on its own terms as a rising economic power,
creating global norms and benchmarks in various fields. He said India should no
longer be bound by benchmarks that are decided by third parties, and in which
the country has no role in framing. Traders also took a note of Finance
minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that the 28 per cent GST on full face
value of supplies in casinos, race courses and online gaming will result in
higher revenues. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 149.31 points or 0.23% to
65,995.81 and the CNX Nifty was up by 61.70 points or 0.32% to 19,632.55.
The US markets ended lower on
Wednesday, with Nasdaq settling over a percent, as traders remained cautious
ahead of the release of a key report on consumer price inflation on Thursday.
Street expects the report to show consumer prices rose by 0.2 percent in July,
matching the uptick seen in June. Core consumer prices, which exclude food and
energy prices, are also expected to rise by 0.2 percent for the second straight
month. The annual rate of consumer price growth is expected to accelerate to
3.3 percent in July from 3.0 percent in June, while the annual rate of core
consumer price growth is expected to hold at 4.8 percent. Besides, traders will
be looking for the report to reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve
will leave interest rates unchanged next month. On the sectoral front, Computer
hardware stocks saw substantial weakness on the day, contributing to the steep
drop by the tech-heavy Nasdaq. Reflecting the weakness in the sector, the NYSE
Arca Computer Hardware Index plunged by 4.4 percent. Significant weakness was
also visible among airline stocks, as reflected by the 2.6 percent slump by the
NYSE Arca Airline Index. The index fell to its lowest closing level in two
months. Semiconductor, financial and networking stocks also saw considerable
weakness on the day, while energy stocks bucked the downtrend amid a sharp
increase by the price of crude oil.
Crude oil futures ended sharply
higher on Wednesday. The price of crude oil reached its highest levels since
November 2022 as output cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia continued to raise
concerns about supply. Further, the advance came following the release of a
report from the Energy Information Administration showing decreases in gasoline
and distillate fuel inventories. The report said gasoline inventories slid by
2.7 million barrels in the week ended August 4th, while distillate fuel
inventories fell by 1.7 million. Traders shrugged off an increase in crude oil
inventories, which climbed by 5.9 million barrels compared to street estimates
for a 0.6 million barrel uptick. Benchmark crude oil futures for September
delivery rose $1.48 or about 1.78 percent to settle at $84.4 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for October delivery rose $1.38 or
1.60 percent to settle at $87.55 a barrel on London's Intercontinental
Exchange.
Indian rupee ended higher against
the US dollar on Wednesday supported by a weak American currency against major
rivals overseas. Traders overlooked a private report stating that India's retail
inflation likely accelerated to 6.40% in July on surging food prices, breaching
the upper end of the Reserve Bank of India's 2%-6% tolerance band for the first
time in five months. Food prices, which account for nearly half of the
inflation basket, have soared in the last two months largely due to an erratic
monsoon throughout the country, pushing tomato prices at wholesale markets up
more than 1,400% in the past three months. On the global front, dollar eased on
Wednesday after data showed the Chinese economy slipped into deflation last
month, which upped the chances for the government to roll out extra stimulus
measures and nudged investors into risky assets. Finally, the rupee ended at
82.85 (Provisional), stronger by 6 paise from its previous close of 82.91 on
Tuesday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday's data
were net sellers in equity segment, while they were net buyers in debt segment.
In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 10756.95 crore against gross selling
of Rs 10815.40 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs
320.72 crore with gross sales of Rs 294.09 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 9.99 crore against gross selling of Rs
21.49 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Wednesday as investors awaited key inflation readings that could provide clues
to the Fed's monetary policy path. Asian markets are trading mixed on Thursday
as investors braced for July consumer price index data out from the US. Indian
markets staged a smart recovery and reversed early losses to end modestly
higher on Wednesday led by strong gains in metal shares. Today, markets are
likely to get negative start amid weak cues from global markets along with rise
in crude oil prices overnight. Investors likely to remain on sidelines ahead of
the Reserve Bank of India's bi-monthly monetary policy decision, slated to be
announced later in the day for more directional clues. The RBI's rate setting
Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is widely expected to take a hawkish stance as
flaring vegetable prices upend the inflation math of the economy. Also, there
will be some cautiousness with a private report that the rate of price rise for
the consumer basket likely breached the central bank's upper tolerance level of
6 per cent in July. There will be some volatility in the markets ahead of
weekly F&O expiry later in the day. However, some respite may come as
foreign institutional investors (FII) made buying in the cash segment of Indian
equities for the first time in the last 10 consecutive sessions, purchasing
shares worth Rs 644.11 crore on August 9, provisional data from the National Stock
Exchange (NSE) showed. Some support may come later in day as Securities and
Exchange Board of India's (SEBI) annual report for the financial year 2022-23
revealed that over 400 new foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) joined the Indian
markets in the last financial year. According to the data, the number of FPIs
operating in India increased to 11,081 from 10,608 in FY 22. Coal industry
stocks will be in focus with a private report that India's total coal imports
fell 1.82 per cent to 68.30 million tonne in April-June period of ongoing
financial year. The import was at 69.57 MT in the same period a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Indian government will sell an additional 50 lakh tonnes of
wheat and 25 lakh tonnes of rice under Open Market Sale Scheme (OMSS) to bring
down prices of the two essential commodities. As on August 7, in one year,
wheat prices have gone up by 6.77 percent in the retail market and 7.37 percent
in the wholesale market. Similarly, rice prices in the retail market have gone
up by 10.63 percent and 11.12 percent in the wholesale market. In primary
market, TVS Supply Chain Solutions' Rs 880 crore IPO to open for subscription
today, in the price band of Rs 187-Rs 197 per share.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
19,632.55
|
19,518.20
|
19,696.20
|
BSE
Sensex
|
65,995.81
|
65,604.79
|
66,226.42
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Coal India
|
352.71
|
234.70
|
231.64
|
236.74
|
Tata Steel
|
341.54
|
120.40
|
118.04
|
121.64
|
ICICI Bank
|
193.17
|
973.00
|
965.96
|
977.66
|
HDFC Bank
|
166.81
|
1652.70
|
1637.70
|
1661.10
|
State Bank of India
|
157.69
|
573.65
|
569.66
|
576.31
|
Coal India has reported 10.11% fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 7941.40 crore for Q1FY24 as compared to Rs 8834.22 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.
NTPC's step-down subsidiary -- NTPC Renewable Energy has been the successful bidder for 80 MW Floating Solar capacity at Omkareshwar Reservoir, Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh.
M&M has rolled out a new wheel harvester under the Swaraj brand in the domestic market as it looks to tap aggressively the farm mechanisation market in the country.
Bharti Airtel's music streaming app Wynk Music and Dolby Laboratories have launched Dolby Atmos to its users at no extra cost.