Indian equity
benchmarks ended deep in red for the second day straight on Thursday, dragged
by losses in index majors Maruti Suzuki, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel and
Bajaj Auto amid foreign fund outflow and a weak trend in global markets.
Uncertainty in the markets continues with increasing risk arising from rising
covid-19 infections in India in the context of a third wave in parts of Europe.
India has registered 53,419 fresh cases of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours,
taking to tally to 11,787,013, according to Worldometer. The death toll from
the deadly infection jumped to 160,726. India has the 7th highest number of
active cases globally. However, benchmarks trimmed some of their losses in late
afternoon session, as traders found some support with Fitch Ratings in its
latest report has revised India's Gross domestic product (GDP) growth estimate
to 12.8 percent for the next fiscal year beginning April 1 from its previous
estimate of 11 percent. It also said that India's recovery from the depths of
the lockdown-induced recession in 2020 (calendar year) has been swifter than
expected. Some support also came with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
stating that India enjoys an investment grade rating and she does not see a
rating downgrade because of higher spending. She cited low inflation, higher
GDP growth, record foreign investment and lower fiscal deficit to defend her
government's handling of the economy. However, the selling pressure intensified
in the last leg of sessions, as futures and option contracts for the month of
March expired. Traders also were cautious, after India Ratings and Research
said that privatisation of two public sector banks can impact their ratings as
the government support to the two entities will disappear. The rating agency
said the budget proposal to privatise the as yet unidentified PSBs could lead
to material negative migration of the long-term issuer ratings (mapped to
senior instruments such as infrastructure bonds) and the ratings on Tier 2
instruments of the identified banks. Market participants overlooked central
bank chief stating that India's revival of economic activity is expected to be
unabated, despite a rise in coronavirus infections in many areas and 2022
growth projections might not need to be cut. Sector wise, health sector
remained in focus, as new regulator for the health sector, styled on the Real
Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), is expected to be set up soon, with Chief
Economic Advisor K V Subramanian scheduled to make a presentation on the
outlines of the proposal to the NITI Aayog next week. Meanwhile, the
Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) made a case for setting up a
definite time-frame for roll out of simplified GST return forms as frequent
deferments are resulting in delay in stabilisation of return filing system.
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 740.19 points or 1.51% to 48,440.12, while the CNX
Nifty was down by 224.50 points or 1.54% to 14,324.90.
The US markets
ended higher on Thursday on optimism about the US economy reopening after
President Joe Biden announced a new goal of administering 200 million
coronavirus vaccinations within his first 100 days in office. The new goal is
double the 100 million shots in 100 days that Biden initially pledged and was
reached before his 60th day in office. According to the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, 133 million Covid vaccines have been administered, with
more than 14 percent of the population fully vaccinated. Meanwhile, Federal
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said accelerated coronavirus vaccine distribution
combined with support from Congress will enable the US to reopen the economy
sooner than might have been expected. Powell also said the Fed plans to
gradually roll back its asset purchases as the economy makes substantial
progress towards the Fed's goals of maximum employment and price stability. On
the economic data front, the Labor Department released a report showing initial
jobless claims fell to their lowest level since the early days of the pandemic.
The report said initial jobless claims slid to 684,000 in the week ended March
20th, a decrease of 97,000 from the previous week's revised level of 781,000.
Street had expected jobless claims to decline to 730,000 from the 770,000
originally reported for the previous week. With the much bigger than expected
decrease, jobless claims dropped to their lowest level since hitting 282,000 in
the week ended March 14, 2020. A separate report from the Commerce Department
showed economic activity in the US unexpectedly grew faster than previously
estimated in the fourth quarter of 2020. The report showed real gross domestic
product surged up by 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the
previously reported 4.1 percent jump. Street had expected the pace of GDP
growth to be unrevised.
Crude oil futures ended sharply
lower on Thursday weighed down by worries about the outlook for energy demand
due to the extension of lockdown measures in several countries. Several
countries in Europe, including Germany, France and Italy, are seeing spikes in
coronavirus cases and are reportedly extending lockdown measures. Also, there
are growing concerns about vaccine delays causing a dent in fuel demand.
Traders largely shrugged off the Suez Canal disruptions and signs of stronger
gasoline demand in the US. At least 150 vessels were said to be waiting to use
the Suez Canal after a skyscraper-sized cargo ship wedged across the vital
waterway, according to canal service provider Leth Agencies. Crude oil futures
for May fell $2.62 or 4.3 percent to settle at $58.56 barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. May Brent crude dropped $2.68 or 4.2 percent to settle at
$61.73 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ends lower against
dollar on Thursday on emergence of demand for the greenback from importers.
Besides, losses in local equity market also hit the rupee sentiment. Traders
mood were dented on increasing risk arising from rising covid-19 infections in
India in the context of a third wave in parts of Europe. Investors' took note
of report in which Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das provided a
glimpse of the challenges the central bank has been facing in creating the
digital version of the rupee, and the implications it may have for financial
stability going ahead. The government has proposed a bill that will allow the
central bank to create its own central bank digital currency (CBDC), while
banning all private cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. On the global
front, dollar edged up as European markets opened on Thursday, having hit a
four-month high against the euro during the Asian session, as market
participants focused on divergent recovery outlooks for the United States and
Europe, and risk appetite waned. Finally, the rupee ended 72.62, weaker by 7
paise from its previous close of 72.55 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net seller equity segment, while net buyer in debt segment. In equity
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5889.26 crore against gross selling of Rs
7499.03 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 2408.17
crore with gross sales of Rs 393.49 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the
gross buying was of Rs 35.49 crore against gross selling of Rs 36.38 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday as investors bought stocks likely to do well in the recovery after US
President Joe Biden doubled his target for administering Covid-19 vaccines.
Asian markets are trading in green on Friday tracking overnight gains on Wall
Street. Indian markets fell sharply for a second straight session on Thursday
as selling intensified across most sectors on concerns over the possibility of
fresh restrictions to curb the spread of coronavirus cases. Today, the start of
session is likely to be optimistic following firm global cues. Traders will be
taking encouragement with CARE Ratings' report that Indian economy will grow in
the range of 11-11.2 per cent in the coming financial year. It said the high
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in FY22 will be on the back of low base
effect in FY21 and broad-based recovery across the economy. Some support will
come as the International Monetary Fund has said India's economy is on the path
of gradual recovery, ahead of its next month's spring meeting with the World
Bank. Also, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das expressed
confidence that the second wave of Covid infections will not derail India's
economic journey. He maintained the RBI's recent 10.5-per cent growth forecast
for the coming fiscal year (2021-22, or FY22). However, there may be some
cautiousness as India has registered 59,069 fresh cases of Covid-19 in the past
24 hours (highest daily cases since October 18, 2020), taking to tally to
11,846,082, according to Worldometer. The death toll from the deadly infection
jumped to 160,983. India has the 7th highest number of active cases globally.
Maharashtra today recorded the highest single-day spike of 35,952 coronavirus
cases; Mumbai also recorded the highest daily count of 5,504 cases. Besides,
ICRA said the rising number of COVID-19 infections in recent weeks have
reignited uncertainties related to the near-term outlook. Coal stocks will be
in focus amid report that The Centre has launched the second tranche of
commercial coal auction after 19 mines were awarded in the first round in
November 2020. Continuing the flurry of stock market debuts, today Suryoday
Small Finance Bank and Kalyan Jewellers will join the stock exchanges. Suryoday
SFB's Rs 582 crore IPO was subscribed 2.37 times by investors earlier last
week, with Qualified Institutional Buyers, Non-Institutional Investors, and
Retail investors, all oversubscribing their quota of the issue. The issue was
priced at Rs 303-305 per share. The company is listing on the bourses to abide
by the Reserve Bank of India's guidelines. Kalyan Jewellers' Rs 1,175 crore
issue will also make its market debut today after having been subscribed 2.61
times by investors earlier this month. Meanwhile, investors will also track the
Supreme Court judgement today on the cross appeals filed by Tata Sons Pvt Ltd
and Cyrus Investments Pvt Ltd against the NCLAT order which had restored Cyrus
Mistry as the executive chairman of the over $100 billion salt-to-software Tata
conglomerate.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
14,324.90
|
14,201.00
|
14,512.20
|
BSE
Sensex
|
48,440.12
|
48,034.99
|
49,046.59
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Motors
|
845.28
|
285.55
|
280.54
|
292.29
|
State
Bank of India
|
574.95
|
355.20
|
346.65
|
362.30
|
ITC
|
406.81
|
211.60
|
208.45
|
215.35
|
Oil
& Natural Gas Corporation
|
372.95
|
102.00
|
99.64
|
106.04
|
Tata
Steel
|
367.22
|
723.15
|
697.44
|
739.79
|
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HDFC Bank has launched Future Skills Initiative for youth in Pune, Maharashtra under Parivartan - bank's umbrella brand for all social initiatives.
TCS has declared that SGSS has successfully deployed TCS BaNCS as its next-generation, multi-entity asset servicing platform in Germany, UK, France, Ireland and Luxembourg.