Friday turned out to be a dismal
day of trade for Indian equity benchmarks with frontline gauges breaching their
crucial 17,000 (Nifty) and 57,050 (Sensex) levels. After making cautious start,
Indian equities extended their decline in morning deals, amid weak global cues
coupled with uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant. India reported 14
fresh Omicron cases on Thursday, taking the tally of patients contracting the
highly infections coronavirus variant in the country to 87. Traders remain
concerned with the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy's statement that the
consumer sentiment index in November is far below the pre-pandemic levels
though better than November last year, suggesting the economic recovery is
excruciatingly slow and uninspiring. Besides, continued foreign fund outflow
dented sentiments in the markets. As per provisional data available on the NSE,
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 1,468.71 crore.
Selling got accelerated in second half of trade, as some anxiety remained among
traders with a private report stating that India's growth recovery has been led
by capital expenditure push by the government so far, but fiscal constraints
might prove to be a challenge going forward in terms of driving investments.
Traders failed to get any sense of relief with a private report that advance
tax collections in the third quarter of the fiscal year almost doubled from the
year-earlier period, underscoring hopes of a sustained economic recovery amid
the threat from the Omicron Covid-19 variant. Market participants also
overlooked the Ministry of Commerce and Industry in its latest report has said
that India registered the highest ever annual FDI Inflow of $ 81.97 billion
(provisional) in the financial year 2020-21. The Ministry of Commerce and
Industry noted that FDI inflow in the last 7 financial years (2014-21) is $
440.27 billion, which is nearly 58% of the total FDI inflow in last 21
financial years (2000-21: $ 763.83 billion).
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 889.40 points or 1.54% to 57,011.74 and the
CNX Nifty was down by 263.20 points or 1.53% to 16,985.20.
The US markets closed a volatile
session in red on Friday with notable losses on account of a quadruple witching
day, with stock options, index options, stock futures and index futures all
expiring. A lack of major US economic data may also have contributed to the
choppy trading, as traders look ahead to next week's reports on consumer
confidence, personal income and spending, durable goods orders and new and
existing home sales.Traders also seem to be expressing conflicting reactions to
the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday. The markets
initially seemed relieved the Fed's move to accelerate the reduction in its
asset purchases to $30 billion per month was not as aggressive as some had
feared. The Fed's forecast for three interest rates hikes next year also
eliminated some uncertainty, although traders now seem to be grappling with the
reality of sooner-than-expected rate hikes. Concerns about the impact of the
Omicron variant of the coronavirus also weighed on the markets along with
worries about ongoing supply chain issues. On the sectoral front, banking
stocks showed a substantial move to the downside on the day, dragging the KBW
Bank Index down by 2.8 percent. Early in the session, the index hit its lowest
intraday level in almost three months. Considerable weakness was also visible
among oil stocks, as reflected by the 2.1 percent slump by the NYSE Arca Oil
Index. The sell-off by oil stocks came amid a step drop by the price of crude
oil, with crude for January delivery tumbling $1.52 to $70.86 a barrel.
Pharmaceutical, housing and chemical stocks also saw significant weakness on the
day, while notable strength was visible among biotechnology, airline and
networking stocks.
Crude oil futures ended
significantly lower on Friday amid worries about the spread of the omicron
variant and its potential impact on fuel demand. France on Thursday imposed
fresh restrictions on travelers from the U.K. in response to the spread of the
omicron variant. The U.S. is reporting more than 120,000 new cases of COVID-19
a day, up more than 40% from two weeks ago. According to a report from Baker
Hughes, the number of active drilling rigs in the United States rose by 3 this
week. The report said the total rig count increased to 579, up 233 from a year
ago. Rigs drilling for oil rose by 4 to 475 while gas rigs fell by 1 to 104. Benchmark
crude oil futures for January delivery rose $1.52 or 2.1 percent to settle at
$70.86 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for February
delivery gained $1.50 or 2 percent to settle at $73.52 a barrel on London's
Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian Rupee ended stronger
against dollar on Friday due to fresh selling of the American currency by banks
and exporters. Traders got some support as Ministry of Commerce and Industry in
its latest report has said that India registered the highest ever annual FDI
Inflow of $81.97 billion (provisional) in the financial year 2020-21. However,
upside remain capped amid acceleration of bond-buying programmes by various
central banks to fight off inflation and suck excess liquidity out of the
system. After the US Fed, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan have
decided to hasten the asset purchase programmes. Besides, losses in local
equity market also hit the rupee sentiment. On the global front, dollar
remained under pressure at the end of a week in which major central banks laid
out plans to unwind pandemic-era stimulus, with the Bank of England surprising
markets with a rate hike. Finally, the rupee ended 76.06 (Provisional),
stronger by 3 paise from its previous close of 76.09 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net sellers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 8013.36 crore against gross selling of Rs 8496.88 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 179.38 crore with gross sales
of Rs 790.57 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs
1.84 crore against gross selling of Rs 14.05 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Friday amid rising worries about the economic impact of the Omicron variant of
COVID-19. Asian markets are trading in red on Monday as surging Omicron cases
triggered tighter restrictions in Europe and threatened to drag on the global
economy into the new year. Indian markets tumbled 1.5 percent to more than
one-week closing lows on Friday, dragged by losses across sectors barring IT
stocks. Today, the markets are likely to make negative start as global
sentiment remains cautious amid rising Omircon coronavirus cases worldwide.
India's Omicron COVID count rose to 151 on Sunday after Maharashtra reported
six more cases. Traders will be concerned with continues foreign fun outflow.
Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pulled out Rs 17,696 crore from the
Indian markets in December so far amid uncertainty due to a new coronavirus
strain, Omicron, and expectations of faster tapering by the US Federal Reserve.
There will be some cautiousness as a private report estimated 6.3 per cent real
GDP expansion in FY23, among the lowest within the analyst community and stated
that there is uncertainty on the growth trajectory. Also, RBI data showed
declining for the third consecutive week, India's forex reserves dipped by $77
million to reach $635.828 billion for the week ended December 10. However, some
respite may come later in the day with a report that after staging a strong
recovery from COVID-induced slowdown in 2021, India's exports are likely to extend
the growth story to the New Year also on increased demand in the global
markets, boost in domestic manufacturing due to production-linked incentive
schemes and implementation of some interim trade pacts. Some support may come
with report that aided by revival of economic activities and better compliance,
the Union government's advance direct tax collections from companies, LLPs and
individuals rose 50% on year to about Rs 2.1 lakh crore in Q3FY22, even as a
favouarble base effect waned. Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has
exuded confidence that negotiations for a free trade agreement between India
and the UK would be launched next month and with Canada by March-April. There
will be some buzz in the textile industry stocks as Trade body Cotton Association
of India (CAI) estimated cotton arrival for the month of November at 77 lakh
bales. Sugar stocks will be in focus as Food Secretary Sudhanshu Pandey ruled
out hike in the minimum selling price of sugar from current Rs 31 per kg as
domestic rates are higher and expressed confidence that exports will touch
50-60 lakh tonnes in the current marketing year starting October. Coal industry
stocks will be in limelight with a private report that India's coal import
registered a decline of 26.8 per cent to 15.75 million tonnes (MT) in October
over the same month a year ago. Besides, Shares of Shriram Properties will list
on the stock exchanges today.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE Nifty
|
16,985.20
|
16,868.39
|
17,200.09
|
BSE Sensex
|
57,011.74
|
56,621.06
|
57,732.36
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Wipro
|
523.00
|
674.75
|
657.64
|
684.34
|
ITC
|
296.83
|
218.10
|
215.61
|
221.71
|
Tata
Motors
|
273.41
|
470.20
|
462.65
|
483.30
|
Infosys
|
188.87
|
1823.00
|
1,805.84
|
1,841.09
|
Oil
& Natural Gas Corporation
|
176.67
|
139.70
|
137.10
|
143.70
|
NTPC is all set to raise Rs 1175 crore, through unsecured NCDs on private placement basis at coupon of 6.74% p.a. with a door to door maturity of 10 years 3 months 25 days on April 14, 2032.
Bharti Airtel is all set to acquire additional upto 2.86% stake in Vahan Inc.
ICICI Bank has on-boarded 70 leading companies on CorpConnect, the digital platform that it launched last year to enable corporates to undertake instant payments and collections to/from their channel partners.
HDFC has sold 26,80,000 shares representing 4.51% of the paid-up share capital of Ansal Housing, which includes sale of 21,50,000 shares representing 3.62% of the paid-up share capital of Ansal done on December 15, 2021.