Rising for the
third consecutive day, Indian equity benchmarks closed Thursday's volatile
session in the positive territory, led by gains in PSU, Oil & Gas and
Utilities stocks amid a rebound in global peers. Markets made a positive start
but soon turned volatile as traders were cautious with the provisional data
from the NSE showing that foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold
shares worth Rs 3,929.60 crore on February 14. Some concern also came as the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor, Shaktikanta Das stated that there is no
scope for any complacency and banks should continue to maintain their vigil
around build-up of risks, if any. In the meeting with banks' MDs & CEOs,
Das highlighted the issues relating to Business Model viability; outlier growth
in personal loans; adherence to co-lending guidelines; Bank exposure to NBFC
sector; Liquidity Risk Management; IT and Cyber security preparedness,
operational resilience, digital frauds; and strengthening of the internal rating
framework. However, markets managed to keep their heads above water in
afternoon deals, as traders took support with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
data stating that India's services trade surplus shot up to a record $44.9
billion in the October-December quarter (third quarter, or Q3) of 2023-24
(FY24), growing 16 per cent year-on-year, showing resilience amid strong global
headwinds. This is likely to reduce the current account deficit (CAD) in Q3.
Markets added gains in late afternoon deals, taking support from a private
report stating that India's merchandise trade deficit narrowed to $17.49
billion in January as exports edged up by 3.1 percent year-on-year despite the
ongoing crisis in the Red Sea disrupting trade as commercial vessels traversing
through the Suez Canal face attacks from Yemen-backed Houthi rebels. The
merchandise trade deficit stood at $19.80 billion in December 2023. Meanwhile,
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to review the state of the
economy amid global challenges at a meeting of the Financial Stability and
Development Council (FSDC) on February 21. This would be the first meeting of
the FSDC after the passage of the Rs 47.6 lakh crore Budget for 2024-25,
focusing on capital expenditure with an outlay of Rs 11.11 lakh crore. Finally,
the BSE Sensex rose 227.55 points or 0.32% to 72,050.38 and the CNX Nifty was
up by 70.70 points or 0.32% to 21,910.75.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday with Dow Jones Industrial Average settling with gains of over 0.90
percent as a Commerce Department report showing a much bigger than expected decrease
in U.S. retail sales in the month of January led to renewed optimism about the
outlook for interest rates. The Commerce Department said retail sales slid by
0.8 percent in January after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.4 percent in
December. Street had expected retail sales to edge down by 0.1 percent compared
to the 0.6 percent increase originally reported for the previous month.
Excluding sales by motor vehicle and parts dealers, retail sales fell by 0.6
percent in January after rising by 0.4 percent in December. Ex-auto sales were
expected to rise by 0.2 percent. The lower-than-forecast retail sales number
could be viewed as a positive for those looking for an early rate cut. Meanwhile,
the Labor Department released a report showing an unexpected decline in
first-time claims for unemployment benefits in the week ended February 10th.
The report said initial jobless claims fell to 212,000, a decrease of 8,000
from the previous week's revised level of 220,000. Street had expected initial
jobless claims to inch up to 220,000 from the 218,000 originally reported for
the previous week. on the sectoral front, Gold stocks turned in some of the
market's best performances on the day, resulting in a 3.4 percent spike by the
NYSE Arca Gold Bugs Index. The rally by gold stocks came amid an increase by
the price of the precious metal, with gold for April delivery climbing $10.60
to $2,014.90 an ounce.
Crude oil futures ended higher on
Thursday as the dollar weakened with weak economic data raising hopes of a rate
cut by the Federal Reserve in June. The dollar index dropped to 104.18 after
data from the Commerce Department showed retail sales in the U.S. slid in the
month of January. The Commerce Department report said retail sales slid by 0.8%
in January after climbing by a downwardly revised 0.4% in December. Street had
expected retail sales to edge down by 0.1% compared to the 0.6% increase
originally reported for the previous month. Benchmark crude oil futures for
March delivery rose $1.39 or about 1.8% to settle at $78.03 a barrel on the New
York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for April delivery gained $1.26 or about
1.54% to $83.86 per barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Rupee ended lower on Thursday
tracking a strong American currency and elevated crude oil prices in the
international market. Besides, foreign fund outflows weighed on the rupee.
Traders were cautious after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor,
Shaktikanta Das has said that there is no scope for any complacency and banks
should continue to maintain their vigil around build-up of risks, if any. In
the meeting with banks' MDs & CEOs, Das highlighted the issues relating to
Business Model viability; outlier growth in personal loans; adherence to
co-lending guidelines; Bank exposure to NBFC sector; Liquidity Risk Management;
IT and Cyber security preparedness, operational resilience, digital frauds; and
strengthening of the internal rating framework. On the global front, U.S.
dollar traded in a tight range on Thursday, as market players tried to gauge
when the Federal Reserve will likely begin cutting interest rates as Fed
officials weighed in on Tuesday's inflation data. Finally, the rupee ended at
83.04 (Provisional), weaker by 2 paise from its previous close of 83.02 on
Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net sellers in both equity and debt segments. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 12399.02 crore against gross selling of Rs 15027.28 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 951.31 crore with gross
sales of Rs 1064.85 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was
of Rs 5804.15 crore against gross selling of Rs 13.97 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Thursday as retail sales data declined more than expected, feeding hopes the
Federal Reserve will soon start cutting interest rates in coming months. Asian
markets are trading mostly in green on Friday following the positive trend on
Wall Street, despite the worse-than-expected U.S. retail sales data. Indian
markets, in yet another volatile session, ended higher and extended the winning
run for the third consecutive session on Thursday. Today, markets are likely to
get positive start tracking gains in global markets. Traders will be taking
encouragement as the government data showed India's exports rose to a three-month
high of 3.12 per cent to $36.92 billion in January despite global uncertainties
including the Red Sea crisis, while the trade deficit narrowed to a nine-month
low of $17.49 billion. After recording negative growth for two months in a row,
imports grew by about 3 per cent to $54.41 billion in January. The previous low
in trade deficit -- the difference between imports and exports -- was recorded
in April 2023 at $15.24 billion. In January 2023, it was $17.03 billion.
Traders may take note of a report by the Centre for Economics and Business
Research (CEBR) stating that it has been a remarkable year for equities with
the Nifty 50 rallying 22 percent in 2023 and the Sensex gaining 20 percent in
the same period. Besides, India is
currently a $3.7 trillion economy and is expected to grow to about $6 trillion
by 2030 and $10 trillion by 2035. It also said as the Indian economy is poised
for strong growth, and companies grow in size and scale, there is optimism that
the capital markets will continue to boom over the next few years. However,
foreign fund outflows likely to dent sentiments. Foreign institutional
investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 3,064.15 crore on February 15,
provisional data from the NSE showed. Banking stocks will be in focus as S&P
Global Ratings said challenges in mobilising deposits to meet loan demand may
hit bank credit growth in India in the next financial year (FY25). It added
credit growth may slip to 14 per cent year-on-year (YoY) in FY25 compared to 16
per cent till December 2023. There will be some reaction in oil & gas
sector stocks as the government revised its windfall gains tax on crude
petroleum with effect from February 15. As per the revisions, Special
Additional Excise Duty (SAED) on crude petroleum will increase to Rs 3,300 per
tonne, from Rs 3,200 per tonne earlier; while tax on diesel will increase to Rs
1.50 a litre from zero. Further, SAED on petrol and aviation turbine fuel (ATF)
will continue to be nil. Microfinance institutions stocks will be in limelight
as a report noted that the listed microfinance institutions (MFIs) and MFI
subsidiaries of the listed finance companies posted 80 per cent year on year
(Y-o-Y) growth in net profit at Rs 1,105 crore in the December quarter of the
current financial year (FY24). It also said the buoyant interest income of
51.88 per cent Y-o-Y and credit offtake helped non-banking finance companies
(NBFCs)-MFIs report a healthy bottom line. Meanwhile, Entero Healthcare
Solutions will make its market debut.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
21,910.75
|
21,819.09
|
21,978.14
|
BSE
Sensex
|
72,050.38
|
71,741.55
|
72,262.08
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
State
Bank of India
|
339.41
|
760.40
|
746.70
|
769.05
|
ONGC
|
328.31
|
276.45
|
270.35
|
281.20
|
Tata
Steel
|
315.87
|
141.10
|
140.25
|
142.70
|
BPCL
|
256.23
|
650.95
|
630.39
|
664.24
|
Power
Grid
|
254.76
|
281.45
|
274.09
|
286.09
|
- Asian Paints has acquired 51% of
the equity share capital of Harind Chemicals and Pharmaceuticals from Aapex
Power and Industries for a consideration of Rs 14.28 crore.
- Adani Enterprises' step-down
subsidiary -- Mumbai Travel Retail has completed the incorporation process of a
wholly owned subsidiary - OSPREE INTERNATIONAL FZCO in UAE.
- Coal India has signed a MoU with
Haryana Power Purchase Centre which expressed interest of HPPC to purchase 800
MW of power from Mahanadi Basin Power.
- Bharti Airtel has launched two
new, next-gen Company owned stores in the city of Jabalpur.