Indian equity
benchmarks ended Tuesday's volatile session on a positive note with gains of
over half a percent each, following gains in index majors Ultratech Cement,
Indusind Bank and ICICI Bank despite a weak trend in global markets. The
benchmarks made positive start and stayed in green for most part of the day, as
traders took encouragement as FICCI's latest quarterly survey on manufacturing
assessed recovery of the sector for Q-3 (October-December 2020-21) and pointed
that it is expected to regain the lost momentum in the Q-4. However, key gauges
trimmed initial gains in late morning deals, as some cautiousness came with a
private report that the pandemic-induced shocks to the economy which have
already shaved off 15.7 per cent of the GDP from the previous year, will delay
the ambitious target of becoming the third largest economy by three years to
2031-32 now. Traders also took a note of the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI)
statement that the government has decided to cancel its Rs 20,000 crore
borrowing scheduled for March 26, 2021 on review of cash balance position. This
means, the government would be borrowing Rs 20,000 crore less than its target
of Rs 12.8 lakh crore announced in the Budget on February 1 for the current
fiscal. However, markets regained some traction in late afternoon deals, as
overall capacity utilization in manufacturing has witnessed a rise to 74 per
cent as compared to 65 per cent in previous quarter. The future investment
outlook, however, looks slightly better as 30 per cent respondents reported
plans for capacity additions for the next six months as compared to 18 per cent
in the previous quarter. Market participants overlooked a private report
stating that the 'second wave' of the pandemic is delaying business
normalization in the country, as coronavirus infections rise in Maharashtra and
other states. The Nomura India Business Resumption Index dipped to 95.1 for the
week to March 21 from 95.4 in the previous week as a result of the rising
infections. Meanwhile, former RBI Deputy Governor Rakesh Mohan pitched for
changing the central bank's inflation target band of 2-6 per cent, saying
inflation will not take off as long as the government is doing proper macroeconomic
management. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 280.15 points or 0.56% to 50,051.44,
while the CNX Nifty was up by 78.35 points or 0.53% to 14,814.75.
The US markets
ended in red on Tuesday amid concerns about extended coronavirus lockdowns in
Europe amid worries a new wave of infections. German leaders agreed to extend
the country's lockdown until April 18, raising concerns about demand from
Europe's largest economy. The news contributed to a steep drop by the price of
crude oil. Meanwhile, Traders also kept an eye on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's virtual testimony before the House
Financial Services Committee. In prepared remarks, Powell reiterated the Fed's
recent assessment that indicators of economic activity and employment have
turned up recently. Powell noted that the economic recovery is far from
complete, however, and stressed the Fed will continue to provide the support
that the economy needs for as long as it takes. On the economic data front, a
report released by the Commerce Department showed a nosedive by US new home
sales in the month of February. The Commerce Department said new home sales
plummeted by 18.2 percent to an annual rate of 775,000 in February after
jumping by 3.2 percent to an upwardly revised rate of 948,000 in January.
Street had expected new home sales to tumble by 5.2 percent to a rate of
875,000 from the 923,000 originally reported for the previous month. With the
much bigger than expected decrease, new home sales plunged to their lowest rate
since hitting 698,000 last May.
Crude oil futures ended deeply
lower on Tuesday amid rising concerns about the outlook for energy demand due
to the extension of lockdown measures in several parts of Europe and slow
vaccine rollouts. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and regional leaders of 16
federal states agreed late Monday to impose a hard lockdown during Easter amid
exponential growth in the number of coronavirus cases in the country in what is
being called a third wave. Besides, Reports said the number of coronavirus
cases is also rising in India. In the US, New Jersey is said to be considering
deferring its reopening plans as cases are once again surging in the state. Meanwhile, there was a setback of sorts for
AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine as the US National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases said AstraZeneca may have provided an incomplete view of
efficacy data on its vaccine from a large scale U.S. trial. Crude oil futures
for May fell $3.80 or 6.2 percent to settle at $57.76 barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude dropped $3.83 or 5.9 percent to settle at
$60.79 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Rupee ended weaker against dollar
on Tuesday on account of continued dollar demand from importers and banks.
Traders were cautious amid a private report stating that the second wave of the
pandemic is delaying business normalization in the country, as coronavirus
infections rise in Maharashtra and other states. However, downfall was capped
with private report that India is expected to be the third-largest economy in
the world by 2031. India should touch Japan's nominal GDP (in USD) in 2031, if
it grows at 9 per cent (and in 2030 if it grows at 10 percent). On the global
front, pound fell to a two-week low against the dollar on Tuesday amid talk of
the European Union banning vaccine exports to Britain, which relies heavily on
imports for its COVID-19 vaccination drive. Finally, the rupee ended 72.43,
weaker by 6 paise from its previous close of 72.37 on Monday.
The FIIs as per Tuesday's data
were net buyer in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 7465.87 crore against gross selling of Rs 7189.37 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 564.29 crore against gross
selling of Rs 185.02 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying
was of Rs 17.14 crore against gross selling of Rs 20.78 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Tuesday as concerns about the cost of infrastructure spending and potential tax
hikes to pay for President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief bill weighed on
investors. Asian markets are trading in red on Wednesday as concerns over the
world's recovery from the pandemic weighed on investor sentiment. Indian
markets ended higher on Tuesday following gains in index majors HDFC Bank,
ICICI Bank and Reliance Industries despite a weak trend in global markets.
Today, the benchmarks are likely to get negative start tracking weakness in
global peers coupled with rising coronavirus cases. India recorded 47,264 new
cases, taking to tally to 11,733,594, according to Worldometer. The death toll
from the deadly infection jumped to 160,477. India has the 7th highest number
of active cases globally. Maharashtra recorded 28,699 new Covid-19 cases and
132 deaths. However, some respite may come with Union Minister of State for
Finance and Corporate Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur's statement that steps taken
by the government during the pandemic have helped the economy recover, and the
country is expected to clock double-digit growth in the next fiscal.
Separately, he said increased economic activities have resulted in higher GST
collection which stood above Rs 1 lakh crore for five months in a row since
October 2020. Some support may come as survey by Nasscom stated that chief
executive officers (CEO) of Indian technology companies are most optimistic
about the global economy, with 97 per cent believing that 2021 will be better
than the difficult year of 2020. Oil and gas sector stocks will be in focus as
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she would be glad to discuss the
suggestion of bringing petrol and diesel under the ambit of the Goods and
Services Tax at the next meeting of the GST Council. There will be some
reaction in telecom stocks as India Ratings and Research said providing
services like broadband connectivity, cable TV, enterprise solutions, and
payment wallets is the need of the hour for telcos, and a second wave of
consolidation is upon the industry. Banking stocks will be in limelight with
report that non-performing assets of banks declined to Rs 5.70 lakh crore in
December 2020 and the recovered amount stood at Rs 2.74 lakh crore following a
slew of measures taken by the government. There will be some reaction in
aviation stocks as Indian aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA) said the coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled
international passenger flights has been extended till April 30. Meanwhile,
Anupam Rsayan India (ARIL) stocks will make their stock market debut on
Wednesday. The Rs 760-crore IPO was subscribed over 44 times and was sold in
the price band of Rs 553-555 per share. Besides, The Rs 453 crore IPO by
Barbeque Nation is set to open for subscription today. The IPO is priced
between Rs 498-500 per share.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
14,814.75
|
14,721.64
|
14,893.24
|
BSE
Sensex
|
50,051.44
|
49,720.69
|
50,323.42
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Motors
|
602.40
|
307.40
|
303.51
|
311.76
|
ITC
|
415.64
|
222.20
|
219.64
|
226.44
|
State
Bank of India
|
410.32
|
372.70
|
367.19
|
378.09
|
Adani
Ports And Special Economic Zone
|
306.12
|
738.55
|
725.44
|
753.34
|
ICICI
Bank
|
294.86
|
586.40
|
577.39
|
592.34
|
APSEZ is acquiring the 58.1% stake held by DVS Raju and family in Gangavaram Port.
Bharti Airtel has further agreed for acquisition of additional 2,914,100 equity shares, approximately 3.33 percent in Avaada MHBuldhan.
Tata Motors' wholly owned subsidiary -- Jaguar Land Rover has launched its fully electric SUV Jaguar I-PACE in India, with a price starting at Rs 1.05 crore (ex-showroom).
Hero MotoCorp has launched the new Destini 125 Platinum edition.