Dalal Street
started the first day of the new financial year (FY23) on a strong note, as
both Sensex and Nifty ended Friday's trading session with gains of over a
percent. The markets opened flat with a negative bias on weak global cues but
recovered to trade in the positive area throughout the session. Sentiments got
a boost with data showing that the output in eight key core sectors rose to a
four-month high in February propped up by the low base effect and strong
performance in steel, cement, coal, natural gas, refinery products and
electricity segments. Sentiments remained positive with Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman's statement that India's digital economy is likely to
witness exponential growth to $800 billion by 2030. Investor sentiment was also
supported as foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs
3,088.73 crore on March 31. Key gauges have enlarged their gains in late
afternoon session, taking support from report that the Maharashtra government
decided to lift all curbs and restrictions imposed in the state in the wake of
Covid 19 from April 2. Traders also got some relief with a labour ministry's
statement that retail inflation for industrial workers eased to 5.04 per cent
in February from 5.84 per cent in January this year mainly due to lower prices
of certain food items. The street took a note of the finance ministry's
statement that the Union government is looking to raise Rs 8.45 lakh crore
through borrowings in the first half of 2022-23 to fund the revenue gap for
reviving the economy. Out of the gross market borrowing of Rs 14.31 lakh crore
estimated for the next financial year, Rs 8.45 lakh crore is planned to be
borrowed in the first half or April-September period. Meanwhile, the data
released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) has indicated that the
Centre's fiscal deficit at the end of February stood at 82.7 per cent of the
full year budget target, mainly on account of higher expenditure. In the last
financial year, the fiscal deficit or gap between the expenditure and revenue
was 76 per cent of the Revised Estimate (RE) of 2020-21. Finally, the BSE
Sensex rose 708.18 points or 1.21% to 59,276.69 and the CNX Nifty was up by
205.70 points or 1.18% to 17,670.45.
The US markets ended choppy
trading session in green on Friday as traders expressed some uncertainty about
the outlook for the markets after the major averages experienced their first
negative quarter since the first quarter of 2020. For the first three months of
2022, the Nasdaq plummeted by 9.1 percent and the S&P 500 and Dow dove by
4.9 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively, although the major averages regained
some ground in March. Traders were also digesting the Labor Department's
closely watched monthly jobs report, which showed employment increased by less
than expected in March but the unemployment rate still fell to a new
pandemic-era low. The report showed non-farm payroll employment jumped by
431,000 jobs in March after surging by an upwardly revised 750,000 jobs in
February. Street had expected employment to spike by 490,000 jobs compared to
the addition of 678,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month. While
the job growth in March fell short of estimates, revisions to data for the two
previous months showed employment increased by 95,000 more jobs than previously
reported. The strong job growth still contributed to a drop in the unemployment
rate, which dipped to 3.6 percent in March from 3.8 percent in February. The
unemployment rate was expected to edge down to 3.7 percent. With the bigger
than expected decrease, the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since
hitting 3.5 percent in February of 2020. A separate report from the Institute
for Supply Management unexpectedly showed a modest slowdown in the pace of
growth in U.S. manufacturing activity in the month of March.
Extending their previous
session's losses, crude oil futures settled lower on Friday as the
International Energy Agency (IEA) said its members have agreed to release oil
from strategic reserve to stabilize global energy markets. Details of the new
emergency stock release will be made public early next week. Besides, a report
released by Baker Hughes said U.S. energy firms added oil and natural gas rigs
for a second week in a row. The rig count rose by three to 673 this week, the
highest level since March 2020. The total rig count increased by 243 or 57%
over this time last year. Oil rigs increased by two to 533 this week, while gas
rigs rose one to 138. Benchmark crude oil futures for May delivery fell $1.01
or 1 percent to settle at $99.27 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude for June delivery dropped 32 cents or 0.3 percent to settle at
$104.39 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian Money market remained closed on Friday on account of
Annual Bank Closing.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 10725.27 crore against gross selling of Rs 8341.86 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1102.67 crore with
gross sales of Rs 1024.60 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 19.45 crore against gross selling of Rs 5.08 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Friday despite March's lower than expected employment report. Asian markets are
trading mixed on Monday amid talk of yet more sanctions against Russia over its
invasion of Ukraine. Indian markets rose to two-month closing highs on Friday,
after a day's breather, boosted by strength across most sectors. Today, the
markets are likely to get cautious start amid mixed Asian cues. Investors will
be eyeing Manufacturing PMI data to be out later in the day. Traders will be
concerned as fuel prices go further up with petrol and diesel rates increased
by 40 paise per litre each on April 4. With this fresh round of hike, there is
a net increase of Rs 8.40 per litre in 14 days. However, sentiments may get a
boost as Niti Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said India is on the cusp of a
major economic recovery and talks of possible stagflation are overhyped as a
strong economic foundation is being laid with the reforms carried out by the
government over the last seven years. Traders may take encouragement, as the
Finance Ministry said Gross GST collection in March touched an all-time high of
over Rs 1.42 trillion. The gross GST revenue collected in March 2022 is Rs 1.42
trillion, of which CGST is Rs 25,830 crore, SGST is Rs 32,378 crore, IGST is Rs
74,470 crore (including Rs 39,131 crore collected on import of goods) and cess
is Rs 9,417 crore (including Rs 981 crore collected on import of goods). Some
support will come as the Commerce and Industry Ministry said India's
merchandise exports spurt to a record high of $418 billion in the 2021-22
fiscal on higher shipments of petroleum products, engineering goods, gem and
jewellery and chemicals. Traders may take note of a survey by the Federation of
Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) stating that India's annual
median GDP growth forecast stood at 7.4 percent for 2022-23. Additionally,
investments in the Indian capital market through participatory notes (P-notes)
rose to Rs 89,143 crore till the end of February, with experts saying the
positive trend is likely continue in the coming months on expectations of
strong corporate earnings by India Inc which will enthuse foreign investors.
Also, according to CMIE data, unemployment rate in the country is decreasing
with the economy slowly returning to normal. Fertiliser stocks will be in focus
as Fertiliser companies have started passing on a portion of rising input costs
to the farmers. There will be some reaction in public sector banks (PSBs) as
ICRA said that the government-owned banks that received capital through
recapitalisation (recap) bonds may have to take a hit of around Rs 13,000 crore
following the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) directive to recognise these
bonds at market value.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
17,670.45
|
17,494.20
|
17,775.20
|
BSE
Sensex
|
59,276.69
|
58,685.62
|
59,632.20
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
NTPC
|
325.89
|
142.80
|
138.59
|
145.24
|
Power Grid Corporation of India
|
297.47
|
225.45
|
219.11
|
228.76
|
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
|
283.35
|
167.70
|
164.75
|
169.45
|
Tata Motors
|
193.80
|
440.90
|
433.75
|
445.15
|
State Bank of India
|
185.27
|
508.00
|
496.09
|
514.84
|
NTPC has commenced Commercial Operation of first part capacity of 22 MW out of 92 MW Kayamkulam Floating Solar PV Project at Kayamkulam, Kerala with effect from March 31, 2022.
IOC's subsidiary company -- Lanka IOC is planning to release 6,000 metric tonnes of diesel to Sri Lanka as it pitches in to mitigate the spike in power cuts in the island nation.
Hero MotoCorp has launched its new Hero Destini 125 XTEC scooter with price starting at Rs 69,900 (ex-showroom Delhi).
Coal India's coal production has decreased marginally by 1.1% to 80.3 million tonnes in March 2022 as against 81.1 MT in March 2021.