Indian equity
benchmarks were back to their winning ways on Thursday, the day of weekly
F&O expiry, amid solid buying in utilities, power and industrials stocks.
Markets made positive start and stayed in green throughout the session, as
traders took encouragement with Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam's statement
that the country's merchandise exports are expected to touch $1 trillion by
2027-28 and the government has laid down a road map, including district as an
export hub scheme, to achieve that number. Additional optimism also came as
Department of Investment and Public Asset Management Secretary Tuhin Kanta
Pandey said that disinvestment of public sector companies is back on track
after the COVID-induced setbacks, and DIPAM is aiming to conclude a host of
transactions by March-end. Sentiments remained positive with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's statement that the country's economic growth is picking up pace
again and the domestic industry needs to enhance its risk-taking appetite.
Noting the recent reforms taken by the government, he said that bringing
reforms is a matter of conviction for his government, which is ready to take
all risks in the national interest. Benchmarks added more gains in late
afternoon session, taking support from report that free vaccination drive
rolled out by the government is likely to create a positive impact on the job
market and on the overall economy as most respondents believed that it will
help them in providing a safe work ecosystem to their employees with steady
work opportunities. Traders also took note of Commerce and Industry Secretary
BVR Subrahmanyam's statement that India will fast-track free trade agreements
(FTAs) with at least six nations - including the UAE, the UK, Australia,
Canada, and the EU - over the next few months, in line with its revamped
foreign trade strategy. However, gains remain capped as market participants
awaited macro-economic data -- Industrial production for June and CPI inflation
for August to be released later in the day. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 318.05
points or 0.58% to 54,843.98, while the CNX Nifty was up by 82.15 points or
0.50% to 16,364.40.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 to fresh
records during an otherwise tame session. Data showing an acceleration in
producer prices and a drop in jobless claims suggested the economy is well and
truly on the recovery track. The Labor Department said initial jobless claims
edged down to 375,000 in the week ended August 7th, a decrease of 12,000 from
the previous week's revised level of 387,000. Street had expected jobless
claims to dip to 375,000 from the 385,000 originally reported for the previous
week. The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week moving average
crept up to 396,250, an increase of 1,750 from the previous week's revised
average of 394,500. Meanwhile, the Labor Department released a separate report
showing US producer prices increased more than expected in the month of July.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand surged up
by 1.0 percent in July, matching the jump seen in the previous month. Street
had expected producer prices to climb by 0.6 percent. With the bigger than
expected monthly increase, the annual rate of growth in producer prices
accelerated to 7.8 percent in July from 7.3 percent in June. The year-over-year
spike in producer prices reflected the largest advance since 12-month data were
first calculated in November 2010.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
Thursday on concerns about outlook for energy demand after a report from the
International Energy Agency (IEA) said oil demand growth will likely slowdown
in the second half of the year. The IEA said in its report that it sees a
significant drop in global oil demand for the rest of this year due to
imposition of new coronavirus restrictions in several major oil consumer
countries, particularly in Asia. It said we now estimate that demand fell in
July as the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant undermined deliveries in
China, Indonesia and other parts of Asia. Crude oil futures for September fell
$0.16 or 0.2 percent to settle $69.09 barrel on the New York Mercantile
Exchange. October Brent crude dropped $0.13 or 0.2 percent to settle at $71.31
a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Erasing prevision session losses,
Indian Rupee ended fairly higher against US dollar on Thursday, on the back of
selling of the American currency by exporters. Besides, gains in domestic
equity markets also provided support to the rupee. Sentiments were buoyant with
Commerce Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam's statement that the country's merchandise
exports are expected to touch $1 trillion by 2027-28 and the government has
laid down a road map, including district as an export hub scheme, to achieve
that number. Adding more optimism, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's stated that
the country's economic growth is picking up pace again and the domestic
industry needs to enhance its risk-taking appetite. On the global front, dollar
stood just below a four-month peak against major peers on Thursday as currency
traders digested data from the previous day showing U.S. inflation may be
coming off the boil. Finally, the rupee ended 74.25, stronger by 19 paise from
its previous close of 74.44 on Wednesday.
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 7348.18 crore against gross selling of Rs 7051.06 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 844.88 crore with gross sales
of Rs 553.06 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs
2.84 crore against gross selling of Rs 15.29 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday as investors warmed to jobs data showing a steady U.S. economic
recovery. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Friday as the spread of
the delta Covid-19 variant and China's regulatory curbs restrained sentiment.
Indian markets darted up to fresh all-time highs on Thursday as investors
lapped up power, IT and banking stocks amid mixed global cues. Today, start of
session is likely to be pessimistic following weakness in Asian peers. Traders
will be concerned as India recorded 40,078 new Covid-19 cases and 583 deaths in
the past 24 hours, taking its tally to 32,117,052 and the death toll to
430,285. Kerala reported 21,445 new infections, Maharashtra 6,388, followed by
Andhra Pradesh (1,859), Tamil Nadu (1,964), Karnataka (1,857), West Bengal
(747) and Delhi (49). There will be some cautiousness with a private report
that monsoon rains in India in the week through Wednesday were below average
for the second straight week, the weather office said, raising concerns over
production of summer-sown crops such as cotton, soybean, corn and rice.
However, promising inflation and industrial production data may limit the
downside. Some respite may come as Industrial output for the month of June rose
13.6 per cent, in a sign that the low base effect of the last year is waning.
Factory output, measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) had contracted
16.6 per cent in the same month of last year and rose by 29.3 per cent in May.
Industrial production surged mainly due to a low-base effect and good
performance by manufacturing, mining and power sectors but the output remained
below the pre-pandemic level. Some support may come as retail price inflation
rate fell to a three-month low of 5.59 per cent in July from 6.26 per cent the
previous month, due to a slower price rise in food items, particularly
vegetables. Also, fuel inflation remained elevated in July despite some
moderation from the previous month. Traders may take note of report that
expressing the government's commitment to continue with reforms, Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has assured India Inc that it is ready to do
everything required to revive and support economic growth hit by the COVID-19
pandemic. There will be some buzz in aviation stocks as the civil aviation
ministry hiked the maximum and minimum limit on domestic airfares by 12.5
percent. The government has also allowed domestic airlines to deploy more
capacity as the demand in the domestic market has started improving owing to
better consumer sentiment. Auto stocks will be in focus as auto industry body
SIAM said passenger vehicle wholesales in India increased by 45 per cent to
2,64,442 units in July against 1,82,779 units in the same month last year.
Besides, Niti Aayog has released a handbook to help state governments and local
bodies in framing policies for setting up charging networks for electric
vehicles. There will be some reaction in sugar industry stocks as trade body
AISTA said sugar mills have exported 5.11 million tonnes of the sweetener so
far in the ongoing 2020-21 marketing year ending September, with maximum
shipments to Indonesia.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
16,364.40
|
16,309.04
|
16,397.64
|
BSE
Sensex
|
54,843.98
|
54,629.06
|
54,966.51
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Power Grid Corporation of India
|
435.80
|
187.00
|
179.64
|
191.04
|
Tata Motors
|
336.52
|
306.00
|
299.74
|
309.84
|
ITC
|
276.92
|
208.90
|
206.76
|
212.61
|
State Bank of India
|
168.47
|
427.15
|
424.61
|
430.06
|
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
|
135.19
|
116.25
|
115.06
|
117.66
|
Cipla has received final approval for its ANDA for Difluprednate Ophthalmic Emulsion 0.05% from the USFDA.
Wipro has entered into partnership with IP Infusion, a leader in disaggregated network solutions, to jointly develop offerings that enable faster innovation in IP and optical networks.
Power Grid Corporation has received approval to infuse fresh equity up to Rs 425 crore in Energy Efficiency Services, a Joint Venture Company of Power Grid, NTPC, PFC and REC.
IndusInd Bank has launched its mega Currency Chest at Chandigarh.