Indian equity benchmarks buckled
under selling pressure on Monday after nine-session rally, as massive sell-off
in IT, tech and telecom counters unnerved investors. Markets started the week
on a subdued note and remained under the bears' grip for whole day, as traders
got anxious with data showing that investment in the Indian capital markets
through participatory notes dropped to Rs 88,398 crore month-on-month in
February amid higher valuation of domestic markets. This was the third
consecutive monthly decline in the investment level. Some concern also came
with report by credit rating agency Crisil stating that India Inc is likely to
report a halving of revenue growth in the fourth quarter of FY23, as companies
start reporting their financials. It said the revenue growth will come down to
10-12 per cent as against 22.8 per cent for the January-March period in the
year-ago. Some pessimism also came as Moody's Investors Service said higher
interest rates have increased repayment amounts and limited refinancing options
for SME borrowers who have availed loans against property, heightening default
risk for these loans. However, during the late afternoon session, the markets
witnessed some recovery which helped them to come off their intraday lows, as
traders found some solace with data indicating that India's inflation based on
wholesale price index (WPI) declined further to 1.34% (Provisional) for the
month of March 2023 as against 3.85% recorded in February 2023, due to fall in
prices of non-food articles, mineral oils and electricity. Some support also
came with Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member
Sanjeev Sanyal's statement that Indian economy will grow at around 6.5 per cent
in the current fiscal and will continue to be the fastest-growing major economy
in the world, notwithstanding a modest cut in growth projections by
multilateral lending agencies. Sanyal further said that given the uncertainties
in the global economy, India's performance is clearly far ahead of any other
comparable economy. But, markets failed to erase all of their losses and
settled in red as some pessimism remained among traders with commerce ministry
in its latest data showing that India's merchandise exports fell 13.89 per cent
to $38.38 billion in March 2023 as compared to $44.57 billion in March 2022.
Imports too declined to $58.11 billion in the month under review from $63
billion a year ago. The trade deficit during March stood at $19.73 billion.
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 520.25 points or 0.86% to 59,910.75 and the CNX
Nifty was down by 121.15 points or 0.68% to 17,706.85.
The US markets ended higher with
gains over quarter percent on Monday as a report from the National Association
of Home Builders said the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market index in the US increased
to 45 in April of 2023, rising for a fourth month in a row. This is a fresh
high since September of 2022. Some support also came in on hopes that major
banks and top ranking companies will come out with fairly encouraging earnings
updates this week. Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley are scheduled
to announce their quarterly earnings during the course of this week. Results
are also due from Netflix, J&J and Tesla this week. However, markets were
largely subdued for most part of the session amid concerns about economic
slowdown and uncertainty about the outlook for interest rates. Meanwhile, the
President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond Thomas Barkin said
that he wants to see more evidence of inflation settling back to target. Barkin
also said that he feels reassured by what he is seeing in the banking sector.
in the stock specific developments, Prometheus Biosciences soared 70 percent
after Merck announced that it would acquire the biosciences company for
approximately $10.8 billion. Shares of Charles Schwab Corporation surged about
4 percent after the company reported stronger than expected first-quarter
earnings. However, Alphabet shares ended 2.6% down on reports Samsung is
considering replacing Google with Microsoft's Bing as the default search engine
on its devices.
Crude oil futures ended deeply in
red on Monday as the U.S. dollar strengthened. The U.S. dollar has been
strengthening alongside interest rate hikes, making dollar-denominated oil more
expensive for holders of other currencies. The dollar index gained around 0.5%
on Monday. Further, weakness also prevailed in oil prices on concerns about the
outlook for energy demand due to a potential recession in the U.S. later this
year. Meanwhile, a report from the Energy Information Administration showed
U.S. shale crude production in the seven biggest shale basins in the country is
expected to rise by 49,000 barrels per day in May to 9.33 million barrels per
day. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery fell $1.69 or 2.1 percent to
settle at $80.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for
June delivery dropped $1.55 or 1.8 percent to settle at $84.76 a barrel on
London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian Rupee depreciated against
the US dollar on Monday amid buying in the American currency by banks and
importers. Investor sentiments remained fragile with the commerce ministry in
its latest data showing that India's merchandise exports fell 13.89 per cent to
$38.38 billion in March 2023 as compared to $44.57 billion in March 2022.
Imports too declined to $58.11 billion in the month under review from $63
billion a year ago. The trade deficit during March stood at $19.73 billion. A
negative trade in domestic equities along with strengthening of the American
currency in the overseas market also weighed on the local unit. However, losses
remained capped as some support came with data showing that India's inflation
based on wholesale price index (WPI) declined further to 1.34% (Provisional)
for the month of March 2023 as against 3.85% recorded in February 2023, due to
fall in prices of non-food articles, mineral oils and electricity. On the
global front, the dollar bounced from a one-year low on Monday as resilience in
core U.S. retail sales, a rise in short-term inflation expectations and
impressive Wall Street bank earnings raised market expectations for an interest
rate hike in May. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.01 (Provisional), weaker by 16
paise from its previous close of 81.85 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Monday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 8431.65 crore against gross selling of Rs 7627.30 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1480.26 crore against gross
selling of Rs 717.18 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying
was of Rs 5.21 crore against gross selling of Rs 1.35 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Monday after the major averages rose to kick off a stacked week of corporate
earnings. Asian markets are trading mixed on Tuesday as Wall Street's earnings
season continues and investors await a slew of economic data out of China, most
notably, its first quarter gross domestic product. Indian markets snapped
nine-day winning streak on Monday following a rout in information technology
(IT) stocks, with heavyweight Infosys sinking nearly 15% during the day on
lower-than-expected earnings and a dismal revenue outlook. Today, markets are
likely to get cautious start as investors turn wary of the Information
Technology pack. Besides, weakness in Asian peers may impact the trading
sentiments. Investors on Dalal Street await more of corporate earnings reports
from India Inc for cues as the Q4 results season gathers steam. Foreign fund
outflows likely to dent sentiments in the markets. National Stock Exchange's
provisional data showed foreign institutional investors (FII) sold shares worth
Rs 533.20 crore on April 17. Traders will be concerned as rating agency Moody's
said defaults on loans to small and medium enterprises (SME) by finance
companies in India are expected to rise in the coming quarters since hardening
interest rates are increasing the repayment burden. Rising interest rates,
increasing costs amid high inflation and a muted operations environment for
small businesses have weighed on SME borrowers' ability to meet debt repayments
over the past year. Meanwhile, the government has procured 41 lakh tonne wheat
at the minimum support price directly from farmers so far in the ongoing
2023-24 marketing year (April-March), down 18 per cent from the year-ago
period. Oil & gas industry stocks will be in focus as Union Minister for
Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri said the government has set a
target to increase the share of natural gas in the country's energy mix to up
to 15 percent by the year 2030. There will be some reaction in road logistics
sector stocks as ICRA said the Indian road logistics industry is expected to
clock a high single-digit growth this fiscal on an elevated base of the previous
year. The credit ratings agency also expects the demand momentum to continue in
FY24, aided by stable domestic consumption and investment demand. Meanwhile,
Shares of Avalon Technologies are set to debut on Dalal Street today. The issue
price has been fixed as Rs 436 apiece -- the upper band of the offer.
Support
and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
17,706.85
|
17,566.26
|
17,855.21
|
BSE
Sensex
|
59,910.75
|
59,432.86
|
60,398.25
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Infosys
|
531.72
|
1259.00
|
1209.15
|
1285.00
|
State
Bank of India
|
324.77
|
544.40
|
533.26
|
550.26
|
ICICI
Bank
|
299.58
|
899.60
|
889.40
|
913.55
|
Tata
Steel
|
246.42
|
107.20
|
106.54
|
108.09
|
Axis
Bank
|
225.77
|
864.00
|
856.00
|
877.00
|
State Bank of India has re-launched its retail term deposit scheme Amrit Kalash.
HDFC Bank has received an approval for the issuance of Perpetual Debt Instruments, Tier II Capital Bonds and Long-Term Bonds up to total amount of Rs 50,000 crore over the period of next twelve months through private placement mode.
Maruti Suzuki India has launched its upgraded Light Commercial Vehicle - Super Carry.
TCS has extended its partnership with the Canberra Times Marathon Festival, consolidating the company's role as the Presenting and Official App Partner until 2026.