After remaining in the negative
territory for most part of the session, Indian equity benchmarks managed to
settle flat with a positive bias on Tuesday, led by gains in heavyweights Bajaj
Finance, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC and Tech Mahindra. The benchmarks opened lower as
sentiments remained down-beat with industry body CII stating that the current
agitation by farmers has led to supply chain disruptions, which will impact the
economy in the coming days and may impinge upon the ongoing recovery from the
economic contraction due to COVID-19. Trades overlooked the government data
showing that retail Inflation has eased marginally to 6.93% in November due to
considerable easing in vegetable prices. Retail inflation had remained above 7
per cent for two month in a row. Market participants also paid no heed towards
rating agency CRISIL's report in which it has projected a slower contraction of
7.7% for the Indian economy in the ongoing fiscal, compared to the 9% forecast
in September on the back of faster-than-expected recovery in the second
quarter, but called for more fiscal measures to sustain it. However, late
buying helped benchmarks erase all intraday losses. Traders found some solace
with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's statement that foreign
direct investments (FDIs) into India have been continuously growing as the
country has one of the most facilitative policies to attract overseas
investors. He said that during April-September 2020, FDI increased 13 per cent
to about $40 billion. Some support also came after the Finance Ministry
highlighted the economic reforms for growth and development of the country. It
said that from January 2021, taxpayers up to the turnover of Rs 5 crore will have
the option of filing a quarterly Goods and Service Tax Returns (GSTR) under
QRMP Scheme i.e. Quarterly Returns Monthly Payment Scheme. Finally, the BSE
Sensex rose 9.71 points or 0.02% to 46,263.17, while the CNX Nifty was up by
9.70 points or 0.07% to 13,567.85.
The US markets ended higher on
Tuesday amid unrelenting optimism lawmakers will eventually agree on a new
fiscal stimulus bill. Sentiments got boost following reports that House Speaker
Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a meeting with other congressional leaders to
discuss a relief package. Pelosi is due to meet with Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader
Kevin McCarthy, while Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin will participate by
phone. Pelosi's Deputy Chief of Staff Drew Hammill noted on Monday the Speaker
and the Treasury Secretary spoke by phone and discussed the urgency of the
committees finishing their work as soon as possible. On the economic data
front, partly reflecting a continued increase in manufacturing output, the
Federal Reserve released a report showing US industrial production rose by
slightly more than expected in the month of November. The report said
industrial production climbed by 0.4 percent in November following a downwardly
revised 0.9 percent advance in October. Street had expected industrial
production to rise by 0.3 percent compared to the 1.1 percent jump originally
reported for the previous month. The Fed said manufacturing output increased
for the seventh straight month, advancing by 0.8 percent in November amid a 5.3
percent spike in motor vehicles and parts production.
Crude oil futures ended higher on
Tuesday, extending their previous session's gains, amid easing concerns about
the outlook for energy demand following the rollout of a coronavirus vaccine.
Fairly buoyant economic data from China also helped ease worries about energy
demand. However, worries about surging coronavirus cases in several countries,
tighter lockdown restrictions in many places and a report from the
International Energy Agency that forecasts a slower than expected recovery in
global energy demand limited oil's advance. Crude oil futures for January
gained $0.63 or 1.3 percent to settle at $47.62 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. February Brent crude rose $0.44 or 0.88 percent to settle
at $50.73 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Reversing previous session gains,
Indian rupee ended lower against dollar on Tuesday, on increased demand for the
greenback from importers and banks. Sentiments remained down-beat with industry
body CII stating that the current agitation by farmers has led to supply chain
disruptions, which will impact the economy in the coming days and may impinge
upon the ongoing recovery from the economic contraction due to COVID-19.
Traders failed to get any sense of relief as retail inflation based on the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased to 6.93 per cent in November on the back of
softer food prices, though it remained above the comfort level of the Reserve
Bank of India (RBI). On the global front, pound stabilised on Tuesday after
Monday's sharp rebound as market participants grew more optimistic about the
chances of a Brexit deal, but implied volatility gauges pointed to further
price swings ahead as the December 31 Brexit deadline approaches. Finally, the
rupee ended at 73.63, 8 paise weaker from its previous close of 73.55 on
Monday.
The FIIs as per Tuesday's data
were net buyer in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 8751.31 crore against gross selling of Rs 5274.04 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 2393.53 crore with gross
sales of Rs 711.25 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was
of Rs 11.39 crore against gross selling of Rs 8.92 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Tuesday as optimism grew over the prospect of more stimulus. Asian markets are
trading in green on Wednesday as hopes of effective coronavirus vaccines and
the growing prospect of more US fiscal stimulus cheered investors ahead of the
Christmas holiday season. Indian markets trimmed losses and ended flat on
Tuesday led by gains in heavyweights like Bajaj and HDFC twins. Today, the
markets are likely to make optimistic start following firm global cues. Traders
will be taking encouragement as S&P Global Ratings raised India's growth
projection for the current fiscal to (-) 7.7 percent from (-) 9 percent
estimated earlier on rising demand and falling COVID infection rates. It said
rising demand and falling infection rates have tempered its expectation of
COVID's hit on the Indian economy. Some support will come as Finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman asserted that the Budget for FY22 will be vibrant enough to
sustain economic revival in the aftermath of Covid-19 disruption. However,
traders may be concerned with the government data showing that the country's
exports dipped 8.74 per cent to $23.52 billion in November on account of
contraction in shipments of key sectors like petroleum, engineering, chemicals
and gems and jewellery. Besides, trade deficit during the month narrowed to $9.87
billion as imports too declined by 13.32 per cent to $33.39 billion. There may
be some cautiousness as India reported 26,401 fresh Covid-19 cases. With this,
its case tally now stands at 9,932,908. The country's death toll has mounted to
144,130. With 1,886,807 cases, Maharashtra has the highest number of
coronavirus cases, followed by Karnataka 903,425, Andhra Pradesh 876,000, Tamil
Nadu 801,161, and Kerala 677,000. Meanwhile, the government has extended the
deadline till March 31, 2021 for completing GST anti-profiteering
investigations, which were to be completed by November this year. Besides,
sugar stocks may be in focus as the Union Cabinet may consider a proposal to
provide export subsidy worth Rs 3,600 crore to sugar mills for the marketing
year 2020-21 in today's meeting. Auto stocks will be in focus as parliamentary
panel on industry recommends a 10% GST reduction for the auto sector to boost
demand. The panel has expressed concern about the slowdown in the auto sector
that has led to a loss of 3.45 lakh jobs and a loss of 2300 crore per day
during the COVID-19 lockdown. There will be some reaction in Chemical industry
stocks with Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister D V Sadananda Gowda's statement
that the demand for chemicals and petrochemicals is expected to rise 9 per cent
annually, and the size of the industry is likely to grow to $300 billion by
2025.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
13,567.85
|
13,480.05
|
13,622.65
|
BSE
Sensex
|
46,263.17
|
45,953.12
|
46,461.75
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
NTPC
|
522.16
|
105.85
|
103.66
|
107.21
|
Tata
Motors
|
411.90
|
178.90
|
174.86
|
181.31
|
State
Bank of India
|
348.91
|
270.65
|
267.85
|
273.75
|
Oil
& Natural Gas Corporation
|
335.53
|
100.45
|
98.94
|
102.24
|
ICICI
Bank
|
269.69
|
518.05
|
512.69
|
523.84
|
TCS has expanded its strategic partnership with Star Alliance to provide predictive and real-time business analytics, improve its customers' overall experience and accelerate its digital transformation journey.
Bajaj Finserv, through its lending and investment arm Bajaj Finance, is offering customers pre-approved personal loans, which can be obtained in just 3 steps.
Tech Mahindra has extended its partnership with SAP SE to deliver intelligent enterprise for customers globally.
Tata Motors' wholly owned subsidiary -- JLR has commenced bookings for plug-in hybrid version of the new Defender with deliveries expected to start in the first quarter of next fiscal.