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.