Indian equity benchmarks ended
trading session with modest losses amid lacklustre moves post the Budget FY25
proposals announced by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Markets made a
positive start, as traders took support with provisional data from the NSE
showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs
1,660.72 crore on January 31. Some optimism also came as Goods and services tax
(GST) collections hit the second highest monthly figure ever at over Rs 1.72
trillion in January, growing by 10.4 per cent over Rs 1.56 trillion from the
same month in the previous year. These GST figures were till 5 pm of January
31, and final collection for the month would be higher. However, volatility
struck over the bourses in late morning deals, as markets erased all of their
initial gains and turned negative to settle with marginal losses. Traders got
anxious with data showing that India's core sector output growth hit a 14-month
low of 3.8 per cent year-on-year in December on the back of a high base and a
moderation in the growth of six constituent sectors. Traders failed to draw any
sense of relief from interim budget 2024-25. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
kept Income Tax rates unchanged in the Interim Budget. Besides, Finance
Minister increased the infrastructure capital expenditure in the interim budget
for FY 2025 by 11.1% to Rs 11.1 lakh crore. The budget also witnessed biggest
sectoral allocation awarded to Defence at Rs 6.2 lakh crore. In 2023 budget,
the sector received nearly Rs 6 lakh crore. Traders also overlooked India's
final manufacturing PMI showing that manufacturing activity accelerated in
January. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers'
Index (PMI) recovered from an 18-month low of 54.9 in December to 56.5 in
January. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell
106.81 points or 0.15% to 71,645.30 and the CNX Nifty was down by 28.25 points
or 0.13% to 21,697.45.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday as some traders saw the sell-off on Wednesday as a buying opportunity
amid optimism the markets will resume the upward trend seen throughout much of
January. A continued decrease by treasury yields have also contributed to the
buying interest, with the yield on the benchmark ten-year note falling to its
lowest levels in over a month. On the sectoral front, Gold stocks showed a
substantial move to the upside on the day, driving the NYSE Arca Gold Bugs
Index up by 3.8 percent. The rally by gold stocks came amid a modest increase
by the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery inching up
$3.70 to $2,071.10 an ounce. Considerable strength was also visible among
computer hardware stocks, as reflected by the 2.7 percent gain posted by the
NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index. On the economic data front, the Labor
Department released a report showing first-time claims for U.S. unemployment
benefits unexpectedly saw a modest increase in the week ended January 27th. The
Labor Department said initial jobless claims rose to 224,000, an increase of
9,000 from the previous week's revised level of 215,000. Street had expected
jobless claims to edge down to 212,000 from the 214,000 originally reported for
the previous week. Meanwhile, a reading on U.S. manufacturing activity unexpectedly
increased in the month of January but continues to indicate contraction,
according to a report released by the Institute for Supply Management. The ISM
said its manufacturing PMI rose to 49.1 in January from a downwardly revised
47.1 in December. While a reading below 50 still indicates contraction, street
had expected the index to edge down to 47.0 from the 47.4 originally reported
for the previous month.
Crude oil futures ended deeply
lower on Thursday with traders following the developments regarding negotiations
of a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war. Meanwhile, EIA said in a report that
global oil demand will likely increase by 2 million barrels per day in 2024,
substantially higher than a previous forecast of a rise of 1.24 million bpd. Benchmark
crude oil futures for March delivery dropped $2.03 or 2.7% to settle at $73.82
a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for March delivery
fell $1.85 or 2.3% to $78.70 per barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee appreciated against
the US dollar on Thursday amid interim Budget. Traders got encouragement as
India's final manufacturing PMI showed that manufacturing activity accelerated
in January. The seasonally adjusted HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing
Managers' Index (PMI) recovered from an 18-month low of 54.9 in December to
56.5 in January. Besides, goods and services tax (GST) collections hit the
second highest monthly figure ever at over Rs 1.72 trillion in January, growing
by 10.4 per cent over Rs 1.56 trillion from the same month in the previous
year. These GST figures were till 5 pm of January 31, and final collection for
the month would be higher. On the global
front, the euro hit a seven-week low on Thursday as the dollar rose after
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pushed back against bets of a U.S. rate cut
as soon as March, and as traders processed market jitters about U.S. regional
lenders. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.97 (Provisional), stronger by 7 paise
from its previous close of 83.04 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 25952.76 crore against gross selling of Rs 24212.61 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 3363.41 crore with
gross sales of Rs 770.82 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 47.09 crore against gross selling of Rs 31.82 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday as traders shifted their focus from a likely lack of rate cut in March
to corporate earnings. Asian markets are trading in green on Friday following
the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. Indian markets ended with
minor losses on Thursday after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented
the inline Interim Budget with no big announcements. Today, start of the
session is likely to be optimistic mirroring firm cues from Wall Street
overnight as well as higher opening in Asian counterparts. Fall in the 10-year
US Treasury bond yield also likely to aid domestic sentiments. Overnight sharp
fall in crude oil prices may support Indian markets. Sentiments will get a
boost as Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said India has sustained
its export growth notwithstanding the global challenges emerging due to issues
like the Israel-Hamas war and the Budget has laid out a strong foundation to
push the economic growth. Some support will come as Managing Director of
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Kristalina Georgieva said that the economic
success of India is grounded in the pursuit of reforms over the last years and
exuded confidence that it would achieve its goal of being a developed nation by
2047 by staying the course. There will be some buzz in automobile industry
stocks with a private report that the Indian auto industry posted its highest
ever monthly domestic passenger vehicle (PV) wholesales in January 2024 at
394,571 units, on the back of rising demand for sport utility vehicles (SUVs)
and removal of supply constraints. Insurance industry stocks will be in focus
as the insurance regulator asked general insurers to put Ayurveda, Yoga,
Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha, and Homeopathy (AYUSH) at par with other medical
treatments in their health insurance policies, citing increased popularity.
There will be some reaction in dairy and fisheries sectors stocks after Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the dairy sector will soon get a
comprehensive programme to boost milk production, while implementation of the
Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY) will be stepped up to benefit the
fisheries sector. Meanwhile, individual stocks - Bank of India, Delhivery,
IndiGo, LIC Housing Finance, Medplus Health Services, Mahindra Holidays, NIIT,
RateGain Travel Technologies, Sundaram Fasteners, Tata Motors, Titagarh Rail
Systems, Torrent Pharma, TTK Healthcare, UPL and Whirlpool are likely to be in
focus as these companies announce Q3 results today.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
21,697.45
|
21,626.49
|
21,800.69
|
BSE
Sensex
|
71,645.30
|
71,429.78
|
72,005.91
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata
Steel
|
317.02
|
134.90
|
134.01
|
136.26
|
Power
Grid
|
299.29
|
266.25
|
259.39
|
272.04
|
ONGC
|
297.58
|
247.90
|
244.01
|
253.21
|
State Bank of India
|
265.88
|
648.50
|
636.85
|
656.55
|
NTPC
|
240.21
|
321.50
|
316.75
|
326.60
|
- Tech Mahindra has entered into a
strategic partnership with Competera, headquartered in the US. Competera is a
pioneer in AI-powered pricing technologies that enables retailers to set and
maintain optimal pricing in real-time.
- Bajaj Auto is developing a
portfolio of CNG motorcycles, and the first such bike will hit the market next
fiscal (FY25) under a new brand.
- Adani Ports and Special Economic
Zone has reported 65.22% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 2,208.21
crore for Q3FY24 as compared to Rs 1,336.51 crore for the same quarter in the
previous year.
- Mahindra & Mahindra has
reported a 15 per cent growth in total automotive sales at 73,944 units in
January 2024, as compared to the same month a year ago.