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NSE Intra-day chart (29 April 2021)
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Market Commentary 30 April 2021
Markets likely to get weak start amid unabated rise in Covid cases

 

Indian equity benchmarks managed to end the Thursday's session tad above their neutral lines as traders took support from firm earnings reports from top Indian companies. Markets started the session on optimistic note as traders took some support with report that the Finance Ministry has waived permissions required from any government departments for customs clearance of COVID-related relief material imported by the Indian Red Cross Society. However, markets soon shaved off all of their gains to enter into red terrain as traders turned cautious amid report that India reported a massive surge of 379,459 cases and 3,647 deaths, thus marking the biggest single-day spike ever, Worldometer showed. Also, there was some cautiousness with ICRA's report that the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 will dampen the pace of recovery for corporate India and the contact-intensive sectors will be hit the most. Also, traders remain concerned after domestic rating agency -- Icra in its latest report has said the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 will dampen the pace of recovery for corporate India and the contact-intensive sectors will be hit the most. However, it stated the impact of the second wave on many sectors is set to be lower than the first because the lockdowns are less widespread and stringent as of now as against the strong nationwide lockdown last year which brought all economic activities to a grinding halt. Markets traded cautiously throughout the day but in green as traders took note of report that the Reserve Bank announced the launch of the latest round of households' surveys to capture inflation expectations and consumer confidence, which provides useful inputs for its monetary policy. The central bank has been regularly conducting these surveys. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 32.10 points or 0.06% to 49,765.94, while the CNX Nifty was up by 30.35 points or 0.20% to 14,894.90.   

 

The US markets ended higher on Thursday after the Labor Department released a report showing first-time claims for US unemployment benefits dropped to a new pandemic-era low in the week ended April 24th. The report said initial jobless claims dipped to 553,000, a decrease of 13,000 from the previous week's revised level of 566,000. Street had expected jobless claims to inch up to 549,000 from the 547,000 originally reported for the previous week. Jobless claims fell for the third straight week, once again sliding to their lowest level since hitting 256,000 in the week ended March 14, 2020. Meanwhile, preliminary data released by the Commerce Department showed an acceleration in the pace of US economic growth in the first three months of 2021. The report said real gross domestic product surged up by 6.4 percent in the first quarter after jumping by 4.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2020. Street had expected GDP to increase by 6.5 percent. Besides, support also came in following the release of upbeat earnings reports from tech giants like Apple and Facebook. Shares of Apple jumped as much as 2.6 percent in early trading to reach a nearly three-month intraday high but pulled back near the unchanged line over the course of the session. The company reported fiscal second quarter earnings that far exceeded street estimates and increased its stock buyback and dividend. Social media giant Facebook climbed to a new record closing high after reporting much better than expected first quarter earnings.

 

Magnifying previous sessions' gains, Crude oil futures ended higher on Thursday amid optimism about the outlook for energy demand. A drop in US petroleum product supplies, signs of stronger demand for oil in the US and some other big countries amid an improved outlook for Covid vaccinations supported oil prices. However, rising COVID-19 cases in Brazil and India could hit local demand if stricter lockdowns are reimposed. Crude oil futures for June rose $1.15 or 1.8 percent to settle at $65.01 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. June Brent crude gained $1.33 or 2 percent to settle at $68.11 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

 

Indian rupee ended significantly higher against dollar on Thursday, on persistent selling of the American currency by exporters. This was the fourth consecutive session when the rupee was traded higher against dollar. Investors' ignored ICRA's report said that the ongoing second wave of COVID-19 will dampen the pace of recovery for corporate India and the contact-intensive sectors will be hit the most. However, the impact of the second wave on many sectors is set to be lower than the first because the lockdowns are less widespread and stringent as of now as against the strong nationwide lockdown last year which brought all economic activities to a grinding halt. On the global front, pound rose on Thursday, having been boosted overnight after the Fed's dovish outlook prompted a weaker dollar. Finally, the rupee ended 74.07, stronger by 29 paise from its previous close of 74.36 on Wednesday.

 

The FIIs as per Thursday's data were net buyer in equity segment, while net seller in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 7888.85 crore against gross selling of Rs 6975.81 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 211.69 crore with gross sales of Rs 478.41 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 14.33 crore against gross selling of Rs 26.88 crore.

 

The US markets ended higher on Thursday as investors digested the latest batch of corporate earnings and data that showed the American economy gained steam in the first three months of the year. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday as China's crackdown on technology firms dented sentiment. Indian markets reversed its opening gains to end flat with a positive bias on Thursday amid high volatility on the monthly F&O expiry day. Today, the start of session is likely to be weak tracking muted cues from Asian peers coupled with unabated rise in Covid cases and hiccups in vaccination drive. Breaking all records, India reported a massive surge of 386,888 cases, Worldometer showed. The cumulative caseload stands at 18,754,984 and the death toll from the virus has reached 208,313. India now has nearly 3.2 million active cases. India has been reporting over 300,000 cases daily for over a week now. Besides, Mumbai for instance announced halting vaccination programme for three days due to the non-availability of vaccine stock. Such instances may impact on the market participants who are banking on the vaccination drive to pull India out of the Covid crisis. There will be some cautiousness with the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy's statement that the unemployment rate in India has shot up in the first two weeks of April and the monthly unemployment rate is likely to be close to 8% compared to 6.5% in March with lower absorption of labour in the market. However, some support may come later in the day as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said it will be simultaneously buying and selling Rs 10,000 crore of secondary market bonds under its special open market operations programme. This is the first such Operation Twist this fiscal in which the RBI will purchase long-term bonds and sell-short term bonds maturing this year. Meanwhile, exit poll outcome may also hold sway over market mood. Pollsters have given an edge to the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, a clean sweep for the DMK-led alliance and CPI(M)-led LDF in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, respectively. BJP is likely to retain Assam and Puducherry. Votes will be counted on May 2. Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) stocks will be in focus as Care Ratings said in the report said NBFCs are likely to witness higher credit cost during the current financial year due to the disruptions on account of the second wave of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech has announced a price of Rs 400 per dose for COVID vaccine supplies to state governments. The company had priced Covaxin at Rs 600 per dose for states and Rs 1,200 per dose for private hospitals. Traders will also be eyeing some important earnings announcement including that of Reliance Industries.

 

Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

 

Index

Previous close

Support

Resistance

NSE Nifty

14,894.90

14,791.45

15,021.35

BSE Sensex

49,765.94

49,409.35

50,249.14

 

Nifty Top volumes

 

Stock

 

Volume

Previous close (Rs)

Support  (Rs)

Resistance (Rs)

(in Lacs)

State Bank of India

636.92

359.40

353.29

367.74

JSW Steel

568.16

726.50

686.74

747.59

Tata Steel

447.18

1,031.35

997.25

1,051.20

Tata Motors

366.47

301.90

298.76

307.51

ICICI Bank

345.37

621.45

610.81

630.26

 

  • Reliance Industries is going to set up a 1,000-bed Covid-19 hospital with oxygen facility at Jamnagar in Gujarat's Saurashtra region. 
  • Hero MotoCorp has partnered with the RMSK at Haridwar (Uttarakhand) for strengthening their healthcare system and response to Covid-19.
  • Tata Steel has further increased its daily oxygen supply limit to 800 tonnes a day to health centres for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. 
  • Hindustan Unilever has reported a rise of 44.29% in its consolidated net profit attributed to the owners at Rs 2186 crore for Q4FY21 as compared to Rs 1515 crore for Q4FY20.
News Analysis