Indian equity benchmarks ended
higher with gains of over a percent and settled near intraday high levels with
frontline gauges recapturing their crucial 65,600 (Sensex) and 19,650 (Nifty)
levels, amid a rally in global markets on favourable US inflation data. Key
indices made gap-up opening and traded with a positive bias throughout the day
as traders took encouragement with data showing that the retail inflation based
on Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased for second consecutive month to a
four-month low of 4.87 per cent in October 2023, in line with cooling prices of
food items. This marks the second consecutive month when the consumer price
index or CPI-based inflation has remained within the Reserve Bank of India's
comfort zone of below 6 per cent. Sentiments remained positive as wholesale
price inflation remained in the negative territory for the seventh month in a
row in October at (-) 0.52 per cent on easing prices of food items. Some
support also came with SBI's report stating that India's unemployment rate is
at a record low and India's labour market is undergoing a deep structural
transformation with self-entrepreneurship across all echelons and higher educational
attainment emerging as key enablers. Markets added gains in late afternoon
deals, as government data showed India's merchandise exports rose by 6.21 per
cent to $33.57 billion in October 2023 even as trade deficit ballooned to
$31.46 billion during the month. Imports increased to $65.03 billion in the
month under consideration, as against $57.91 billion recorded in October 2022.
Adding to the optimism, a private report said the Indian economy likely grew
6.7% in the July-September quarter, boosted by a strong performance by the
services sector. It said robust manufacturing and construction activity also
likely contributed to growth in the second quarter. Traders also took a note of
report that Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has revealed that the central
government is poised to introduce a comprehensive e-commerce policy and rules.
Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 742.06 points or 1.14% to 65,675.93 and the CNX
Nifty was up by 231.90 points or 1.19% to 19,675.45.
The US markets ended higher on
Wednesday, magnifying their previous session's gains, as the latest inflation
data added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates. The Labor
Department released a report showing an unexpected decrease in U.S. producer
prices in the month of October. The Labor Department said its producer price
index fell by 0.5 percent in October after rising by a revised 0.4 percent in
September. Producer prices were expected to inch up by 0.1 percent compared to
the 0.5 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. The report
also said the annual rate of producer price growth slowed to 1.3 percent in
October from 2.2 percent in September. Street had expected the pace of price
growth to slow to 1.9 percent. Following yesterday's tamer than expected consumer
price inflation data, the latest report reinforced expectations that the
Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates. Meanwhile, a report released by
the Commerce Department showed retail sales in the U.S. edged slightly lower in
the month of October. The Commerce Department said retail sales slipped by 0.1
percent in October after jumping by an upwardly revised 0.9 percent in
September. Street had expected retail sales to dip by 0.3 percent compared to
the 0.7 percent increase originally reported for the previous month. On the
sectoral front, airline stocks saw further upside after skyrocketing in the
previous session, driving the NYSE Arca Airline Index up by 2.9 percent to its
best closing level in well over a month. Significant strength was also visible
among banking stocks, with the KBW Bank Index climbing by 1.4 percent to a
two-month closing high.
Crude oil futures settled sharply
lower on Wednesday after data showed a sharp increase in U.S. crude stockpiles
and a significant jump in crude production. According to the data released by
the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), crude stockpiles in the U.S.
increased by 17.5 million barrels in the last two weeks. Crude stocks rose by
3.6 million barrels last week to 421.9 million barrels, twice the expected
increase. The EIA data also showed U.S. crude production was at a record 13.2
million barrels per day. Meanwhile, gasoline stocks dropped by 1.5 million
barrels to 215.7 million barrels, while distillate stockpiles decreased 1.4
million barrels to 106.6 million barrels. Benchmark crude oil futures for
December delivery fell $1.60 or 2 percent to settle at $76.66 a barrel on the
New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for January delivery dropped $1.29 or
1.56 percent to settle at $81.18 a barrel on London's Intercontinental
Exchange.
Indian Rupee ended higher against
the US dollar on Wednesday as the American currency retreated from its elevated
levels after the US inflation came lower than expected. A firm trend in
domestic equity markets and risk-on sentiment also supported the local unit.
Traders took encouragement after India's consumer price index (CPI)-based
retail inflation rate declined for the second consecutive month to a five-month
low in October. Besides, wholesale price inflation remained in the negative
territory for the seventh month in a row in October at (-) 0.52 per cent on
easing prices of food items. Some support also came as India's exports rose by
6.21 per cent to $33.57 billion in October this year, as against $31.6 billion
a year-ago. On the global front, dollar edged up on Wednesday after its biggest
drop in a year the day before when cooler U.S. inflation data added to investor
conviction that the Federal Reserve may not raise rates again, while the pound
fell after slower UK inflation figures. Finally, the rupee ended at 83.10
(Provisional), stronger by 23 paise from its previous close of 83.33 on Monday.
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 6330.34 crore against gross
selling of Rs 7268.38 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was
of Rs 438.43 crore with gross sales of Rs 16.29 crore. Besides, in the hybrid
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 4.28 crore against gross selling of Rs 6.14
crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Wednesday with dovish Fed bets and an upbeat forecast from retailer Target
helping underpin sentiment. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Thursday
as investors booked profit after hefty gains on Wednesday, and amid Biden-Xi
bilateral meeting. Indian markets ended on a positive note on Wednesday on account
of value buying amid softer-than-expected inflation readings from India and the
US. Today, markets are likely to continue previous session's rally with
positive start tracking overnight gains on Wall Street coupled with sharp fall
in crude oil prices. Foreign fund inflows likely to aid domestic sentiments.
Provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed that foreign
institutional investors net bought shares worth Rs 550.19 crore on November 15.
Traders will be taking encouragement as CBDT (Central Board of Direct Taxes)
Chairman Nitin Gupta said the government will exceed the Rs 18.23 lakh crore
direct tax collection target set for the current fiscal. As per government
data, the net direct tax collection between April 1 and November 9 this fiscal
has swelled 22 per cent to Rs 10.60 lakh crore. Traders may take note of
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that India is expected to
overtake Japan and Germany to emerge as the third largest economy in the world
by 2027. However, there may be some cautiousness as the commerce ministry said
India's merchandise trade deficit rose to a record high in October, propelled
by a 95 percent increase in gold imports. Insurance industry stocks will be in
focus with private report that the Insurance Regulatory and Development
Authority of India (Irdai) has released an exposure draft on the Expenses of
Management (EoM) including a commission for both life and non-life insurance
companies, based on the recommendation from the Regulation Review Committee (RRC).
There will be some reaction in aviation industry stocks as the rating firm ICRA
said domestic air passenger traffic is expected to rise 11 per cent
year-on-year (YoY) in October, reaching 126.4 lakh compared to around 114 lakh
in October 2022. On a sequential basis,
domestic air passenger traffic growth is expected up 3.2 per cent compared to
122.5 lakh in September 2023 and 3 per cent higher than pre-Covid levels of 123
lakh in October 2019.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
19,675.45
|
19,605.66
|
19,719.21
|
BSE
Sensex
|
65,675.93
|
65,450.41
|
65,824.56
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Steel
|
383.44
|
124.10
|
122.26
|
125.16
|
Coal
India
|
350.92
|
351.15
|
346.84
|
357.24
|
HDFC
Bank
|
206.23
|
1504.80
|
1499.91
|
1510.31
|
ONGC
|
197.69
|
199.30
|
196.96
|
202.31
|
ICICI
Bank
|
194.92
|
942.00
|
939.04
|
944.69
|
- Cipla's wholly owned subsidiaries
-- Cipla (EU), UK and Meditab Holdings, Mauritius, have completed the sale of
entire 51.18% stake held in Cipla Quality Chemical Industries, Uganda.
- Asian Paints has increased
original installed production capacity at Khandala plant to 4,00,000 KL per
annum in order to meet the medium-term capacity requirements of the Company.
- TCS has partnered with the Munch
Museum in Oslo to create immersive and interactive drawing experiences for
local visitors and global audiences.
- Grasim Industries has reported
34.11% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,024.05 crore for Q2FY24 as
compared to Rs 1,509.19 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.