Mirroring positive moves in Asia,
Indian equity benchmarks snapped their six-day losing run and ended with gains
of over a percent on Friday. Better than expected quarterly financial results
of corporates also boosted investor sentiments even as uncertainties persisted
over the escalating tensions in the Middle East. Key gauges made a gap up
opening and continued to inch higher throughout the day, as traders took
support with India's G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant's statement that the country is
poised to become a $5 trillion economy. He added that the government has pushed
the limit on infrastructure. Some encouragement also came as a report from the
Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) showed that
replacing natural gas consumption with biogas and biomethane incrementally to
20 per cent by 2030 can help India cut liquefied natural gas import bills by
$29 billion between financial years 2025 and 2030. Sentiments remained up-beat
in late afternoon deals with the Ministry of Finance stating that the span of
nine years, that is Assessment Year (AY) 2013-2014 and 2021-2022, saw an
increase of 90 per cent in filing of Income Tax Returns (ITR) by individual tax
payers. The number of ITRs filed increased from 3.36 crore in AY 2013-14 to
6.37 crore in AY 2021-22. Traders overlooked exchange data showing that Foreign
Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 7,702.53 crore on
Thursday. Traders also paid no heed towards a private report that fundraising
through corporate bonds fell in October due to the rising cost of borrowing
through these instruments. Meanwhile, China was the top exporter of finished
steel to India in the first six months of the fiscal year that began in April.
Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 634.65 points or 1.01% to 63,782.80 and the CNX
Nifty was up by 190.00 points or 1.01% to 19,047.25.
The US markets ended mostly in
red on Friday after moving sharply lower over the two previous sessions. While
the Dow and the S&P 500 extended the recent downward move, the tech-heavy
Nasdaq managed to regain some ground. The rebound by the Nasdaq partly
reflected a positive reaction to earnings news from Amazon (AMZN), with the
online retail giant spiking by 6.8 percent after reporting better than expected
third quarter results. Semiconductor giant Intel (INTC) also soared by 9.3
percent after reporting third quarter results that exceeded street estimates
and providing upbeat guidance. However, a steep drop by shares of Chevron (CVX)
weighed on the Dow, as the energy giant plunged by 6.7 percent after reporting
third quarter earnings that missed street estimates. On the sectoral front,
Pharmaceutical stocks showed a substantial move to the downside, dragging the
NYSE Arca Pharmaceutical Index down by 3.2 percent to its lowest closing level in
over three months. On the economic data front, revised data released by the
University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. deteriorated by
slightly less than previously estimated in the month of October. The report
said the consumer sentiment index for October was upwardly revised to 63.8 from
the preliminary estimate of 63.0. The upward revision surprised participants,
who had expected the reading to be unrevised, although the index is still down
sharply from 67.9 in September. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department released its
monthly report on personal income and spending, which includes readings on
inflation said to be preferred by the Federal Reserve. The Commerce Department
said its reading on consumer prices rose by 0.4 percent in September, matching
the increase in August. Street had expected prices to rise by 0.3 percent.
Crude oil futures ended sharply
higher with gains of over two percent on Friday as tensions in the Middle East
escalated with Israeli ground forces expanding operations in Gaza. With the war
intensifying, it is feared tensions could spread into a wider conflict and
disrupt global crude supplies. Further, crude oil prices rose after US
airstrikes targeted Iranian targets in Syria. The attack by the US was in
response to a flurry of recent rocket and drone assaults against American
soldiers in Iraq and Syria. Benchmark crude oil futures for December delivery
rose $2.33 or 2.33 percent to settle at $85.54 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for December delivery surged $2.55 or 2.9
percent to settle at $90.48 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Rupee ended flat on Friday and
snapped its three-day downward move amid positive domestic equities. Sentiments
were upbeat, as expressing optimism over India's economic growth, India's G20
Sherpa Amitabh Kant has said that the country is poised to become a $5 trillion
economy. He added that the government has pushed the limit on infrastructure.
On the global front, dollar rose on Friday and is set for a third monthly gain
after solid U.S. growth figures argued for interest rates to remain high for
longer, while the yen struggled around the 150 level ahead of the Bank of
Japan's policy meeting next week. Besides, sterling was headed for weekly
declines against the dollar and the euro on Friday after struggling amid a
nervous tone in markets that has boosted the dollar, as eyes start to turn to
the Bank of England's meeting next week. Finally, the rupee ended flat with its
previous close of 83.13 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net sellers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 11829.51 crore against gross selling of Rs 18225.91 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 362.88 crore with gross
sales of Rs 559.36 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was
of Rs 5.52 crore against gross selling of Rs 43.82 crore.
The US markets ended mostly in
red on Friday after data suggested that the inflation is likely to remain high
but in line with expectations. Asian markets are trading mostly lower on Monday
as Israel's push into Gaza stirred fears of a wider conflict ahead of central
bank meetings in the United States, Britain and Japan, the latter of which
might see a policy tightening. Indian markets regained some lost ground on
Friday as they snapped their six-day losing run, tracking positive cues from
Asian counterparts. Today, markets are likely to start new week on a cautious
note amid mixed global cues. During the week, focus will be on the US Federal
Reserve's and Bank of Japan policies, as well as the geopolitical landscape at
the beginning of November. Traders are also likely to keep a wary eye on the
situation in the Middle East after Israel expanded military operations in Gaza
over the weekend, raising concerns about global economic instability. Foreign
fund outflows likely to dent domestic sentiments, Foreign Portfolio Investors
(FPIs) have pulled out over Rs 20,300 crore from Indian equities this month so
far, primarily due to a sharp surge in the US treasury yield, and the uncertain
environment resulting from the Israel-Hamas conflict. Traders will be concerned
as according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data, India's forex reserves
declined by $2.36 billion to $583.53 billion during the week ended October 20.
In the previous reporting week, the overall reserves had increased by $1.153
billion to $585.895 billion. Besides, India and the UK have reviewed the
progress of negotiations of the proposed free trade agreement (FTA), talks for
which have reached the final stage. Traders may take note of a private report
that the RBI may conduct an open market operation (OMO) auction in the first
week of November as the banking system liquidity is expected to ease on the
back of government spending and maturity of bonds. There will be some reaction
in insurance industry stocks as a report noted that the Insurance Regulatory
and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has constituted a committee of 12
members to simplify insurance policy wording. Investors will keep eye on
earnings of India Inc for more cues. Adani Green, Castrol, Daawat, DLF, TVS
Motor, UPL, GMR Infra, and Blue Star, among others to report result later in
the day. Meanwhile, Cello World IPO opens for subscription today in the price
band of Rs 617 - Rs 648 per share.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
19,047.25
|
18,957.21
|
19,106.71
|
BSE
Sensex
|
63,782.80
|
63,479.73
|
63,999.49
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Steel
|
284.24
|
120.00
|
119.06
|
121.36
|
HDFC
Bank
|
159.70
|
1472.55
|
1466.96
|
1478.06
|
Axis
Bank
|
134.43
|
999.90
|
980.55
|
1012.00
|
ITC
|
131.32
|
433.90
|
431.80
|
436.40
|
NTPC
|
105.19
|
237.10
|
233.25
|
239.70
|
Reliance Industries' telecom arm -- Jio has successfully demonstrated India's first satellite-based giga fiber service to provide high speed broadband services to previously inaccessible geographies within India.
Dr. Reddy's Laboratories has reported 33.03% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1482.20 crore for Q2FY24 as compared to Rs 1114.20 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.
Bajaj Finserv's insurance subsidiary -- Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company has launched its Sarvatra Bima initiative.
Cipla has reported 44.89% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 1155.37 crore for Q2FY24 as compared to Rs 797.41 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.