Indian equity benchmarks reversed
intraday losses and ended marginally higher on Friday, led by gains in Auto,
Banking and Financial Services stocks. Markets made a negative start as traders
remained on sidelines ahead of macro-economic data -- consumer price index
(CPI) and Index of Industrial Production (IIP) -- due to be released later in
the day. There are expectations that April retail inflation to have cooled as
rises in food and fuel prices moderated. However, key indices trimmed most of
their initial losses in morning deals, taking support from CRISIL Rating's
statement that India's vulnerability to global shocks is expected to reduce in
FY24 as the Current Account Deficit (CAD) improves amid challenging external
financing conditions. CAD is India's major short-term external liability,
affecting the exchange rate and investor sentiment. After peaking at 3.7 per
cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the second quarter of the previous
fiscal (FY22), CAD shrank significantly to 2.2 per cent in the third quarter of
FY23. This decline was driven by falling oil imports, boost from services
exports, and rising remittances. Buying activity witnessed in the second half
of the session pulled benchmark indices to the positive zone. Traders found
support with provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showing that
foreign institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 837.21 crore on
May 11, 2023. Traders were taking a note of private report that the commerce
ministry has stepped in to cut India's ballooning trade deficit with Russia,
asking all Export Promotion Councils (EPCs) to identify additional products
India can sell to Russia to expand its own exports. Meanwhile, another private
report showed that Indian-owned companies operating in the UK have hit a record
high of 954 this year, registering a significant increase over the previous
year. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 123.38 points or 0.20% to 62,027.90 and the
CNX Nifty was up by 17.80 points or 0.10% to 18,314.80.
The US markets trimmed most of
their losses but failed to enter green terrain and ended lower with marginal
cut on Friday. Initially, there was some concern following the release of a
report from the University of Michigan showing U.S. consumer sentiment
deteriorated by much more than anticipated in the month of May. The report said
the consumer sentiment index tumbled to 57.7 in May from 63.5 in April, while
street had expected the index to edge down to 63.0. With the much bigger than
expected decrease, the consumer sentiment index slumped to its lowest level
since hitting 56.8 last November. Meanwhile, long-run inflation expectations
rose to 3.2 percent in May from 3.0 percent in April, reaching their highest
reading since 2011. Worries about the debt ceiling crisis also continued to
hang over the markets, with the postponement of a meeting between President Joe
Biden and top lawmakers adding to jitters about a potential default. On the
sectoral front, most of the major sectors ended the day showing only modest
moves, contributing to the relatively lackluster close by the broader markets.
Airline and banking stocks saw some weakness on the day, while natural gas
stocks moved notably higher along with the price of the commodity. Meanwhile,
investors will be looking ahead to the latest U.S. economic data, including
reports on retail sales, industrial production, housing starts and existing
home sales.
Crude oil futures ended lower on
Friday amid the dollar's strength and worries about the outlook for energy
demand. Fears of the U.S. falling into a recession and the impasse in debt
ceiling talks boosted dollar's safe-haven appeal and hurt oil prices.
Meanwhile, according to a report from Baker Hughes, the total number of total active
drilling rigs in the United States fell by 17 this week after falling by 7 last
week. It is the largest single-week drop in the number of oil and gas rigs in
the United States since June 2020. The total rig count fell to 731 this week,
just 17 rigs higher than the rig count this time in 2022. Benchmark crude oil
futures for June delivery fell $0.83 or about 1.2 percent to settle at $70.04 a
barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July delivery
declined $0.72 or 0.95 percent to settle at $74.26 a barrel on London's
Intercontinental Exchange.
Rupee settled lower against
dollar on Friday as a strong greenback overseas weighed on investor sentiments.
Traders were cautious amid worries about economic slowdown and renewed concerns
about the turmoil in the US banking sector. Traders ignored private report
showed that Indian-owned companies operating in the UK have hit a record high
of 954 this year, registering a significant increase over the previous year. On
the global front, pound steadied on Friday after data showed the UK economy
avoided recession in the first quarter, recovering from its biggest one-day
drop since mid-April the previous day. U.S. dollar was little changed on Friday
but was heading for its biggest weekly gain since February. Finally, the rupee
ended at 82.16 (Provisional), weaker by 7 paise from its previous close of
82.09 on Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net buyers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 7947.13 crore against gross selling of Rs 6956.78 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1480.75 crore against gross
selling of Rs 468.66 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying
was of Rs 10.10 crore against gross selling of Rs 19.21 crore.
The US markets ended lower on
Friday led by weaker megacap shares following their recent rally, as data
showed U.S. consumer sentiment dropped to a six-month low. Asian markets are
trading mixed on Monday as investors braced for a China policy rate decision
and economic data this week, while awaiting a host of U.S. Federal Reserve
officials to speak to vindicate market pricing of rate cuts this year. Indian
markets reversed early losses to end modestly higher on Friday despite many
uncertainties on the global front. Today, start of the new week is likely to be
pessimistic amid muted global sentiment due to rising worries over a possible
US debt default. Investors will be also keeping eye on the WPI data for April
to be out later in the day. Traders also will be analyzing the Congress party's
sweeping win in the Karnataka Assembly elections. Traders will be concerned as
India's industrial production growth fell to a five-month low of 1.1% in March
2023. The poor performance of the power and manufacturing sectors was primarily
responsible for this decline, with the manufacturing sector growing only 0.5%
compared to 1.4% a year ago. Power generation declined by 1.6% in March 2023,
compared to a growth of 6.1% last year. However, some respite may come with
easing inflation. India's retail inflation rate in April fell to an 18-month
low on the back of a high base and easing price pressures across categories,
giving the central bank elbow room to maintain an extended pause on policy
rates. Foreign fund inflows likely to aid domestic sentiments. Foreign
institutional investors (FII) bought shares worth Rs 1,014.06 crore on May 12,
provisional data from the National Stock Exchange showed. Also, India's foreign
exchange reserves rose by U$7.196 billion to $595.976 billion in the week that
ended on May 5, data released by the Reserve Bank of India showed. Meanwhile,
Capital markets watchdog Sebi has floated a consultation paper for regulating
all web-based platforms offering fractional ownership of real estate assets to
protect small investors. There will be some reaction in defence industry stocks
with report that, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Sunday promulgated a list of
928 strategically important spares and components that would face curbs on
their import, With the aim of promoting aatmanirbharta (self-reliance) in
weaponry and defence equipment and minimise imports by defence public sector
undertakings (DPSUs). Auto industry stocks will be in focus with Passenger
vehicle sales continued to be on a double-digit growth trajectory even as the
country transitioned to BS VI phase II emission norms from April. In fact,
domestic sales (wholesales) of passenger vehicles this April was the highest
recorded in any April, said the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers
(SIAM). Moreover, Tube Investments, Astral, Coromandel International, Pfizer,
PVR Inox and a slew of other companies will announce their quarterly results
later in the day.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
18,314.80
|
18,225.31
|
18,373.51
|
BSE
Sensex
|
62,027.90
|
61,700.39
|
62,233.17
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Steel
|
367.95
|
106.85
|
106.14
|
107.99
|
Tata Motors
|
197.67
|
513.80
|
509.24
|
519.44
|
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
|
163.74
|
165.65
|
164.10
|
168.10
|
ICICI Bank
|
138.73
|
943.50
|
936.40
|
949.30
|
State Bank of India
|
113.19
|
578.10
|
572.85
|
582.05
|
Tata Motors has reported consolidated net profit of Rs 5496.04 crore for fourth quarter ended March 31, 2023 as compared to net loss of Rs 992.05 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.
Bajaj Finserv has slashed home loan interest rate to 8.50% p.a. onwards.
Cipla has reported 40.68% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 521.51 crore for fourth quarter ended March 31, 2023 as compared to Rs 370.70 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.
Bharti Airtel is planning to offer content from FanCode to its subscribers. Airtel Xstream now offers content from 19 OTT platforms.