Indian equity
benchmarks closed in the red for second straight day on Friday dragged by heavy
selling across the board. Indices opened a day with a strong gap down on weak
global cues. The mood on the street remained cautious with the labour
ministry's statement that retail inflation for farm workers and rural labourers
rise marginally to 3.92 per cent and 4.09 per cent in July, as compared to the
previous month. The numbers in June had stood at 3.83 per cent and 4 per cent,
respectively. Traders were also worried, after industry body FIEO said that
bilateral trade with Afghanistan has been impacted and Indian exporters are
concerned about their payments as banking services and remittances may face
restrictions due to the ongoing situation in that country. Sentiments remained
fragile in late afternoon session, even as rating agency ICRA's report stated
that India's Gross domestic product (GDP) growth is estimated to come at the
deceptively high level of 20 percent and the gross value added (GVA) will
register a growth of 17 percent for the April-June 2021 quarter (Q1FY22) but is
far below the same in the pre-COVID times. Besides, India Ratings and Research
(Ind-Ra) has revised upwards its 2021-22 (FY22) GDP growth forecast to 9.4 per
cent, considering the surprisingly faster recovery after the second wave of
COVID, higher exports and sufficient rainfall. Traders failed to take some
support with Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's statement that
exports have reached nearly $15 billion for the first half of August, after
posting the highest-ever monthly performance in July at $35 billion. He said It will be a record-breaking year for exports. Exports are engaging with new
products, new services, new markets and the world is looking at India as a
trusted partner. Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 300.17 points or 0.54% to
55,329.32, while the CNX Nifty was down by 118.35 points or 0.71% to 16,450.50.
The US markets ended higher on Friday,
with notable gains, driven by strength in tech stocks, although concerns over a
slowing economic recovery and the possible tapering of stimulus capped upside.
With the upward move on the day, stocks did regain ground following the sharp
pullback seen during trading on Tuesday and Wednesday. The major averages fell
to their lowest levels in almost a month amid concerns about the outlook for
monetary policy following the release of the minutes of the latest Federal
Reserve meeting. The Fed minutes indicated most officials were in favor of
beginning to scale back the central bank's asset purchase program later this
year. Uncertainty about the outlook for monetary policy may lead traders to
keep a close eye on upcoming economic data ahead of the Fed's next meeting in
September. Technology stocks helped to lead the way higher during trading on
Friday, as reflected by the notable advance by the tech-heavy Nasdaq.
Significant strength was visible among biotechnology stocks, as reflected by
the 1.9 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Biotechnology Index. Software stocks also
showed a substantial move to the upside, driving the Dow Jones U.S. Software
Index up by 1.9 percent to a record closing high. Computer hardware, housing
and brokerage stocks also saw notable strength on the day, moving higher along
with most of the other major sectors. Meanwhile, traders are looking ahead to
the reports on new and existing home sales, durable goods orders and personal
income and spending.
Extending their losing streak for
seventh straight session, crude oil futures settled lower on Friday amid
worries about outlook for energy demand due to spikes in coronavirus cases and
possible fresh restrictions on movements in several countries. A stronger
dollar amid China's crackdown on the once high-flying technology firms and
rising prospects of tighter monetary measures from the Federal Reserve also
weighed on crude oil prices. According to a report released by Baker Hughes,
the total count of U.S. active drilling rigs increased by three to 503 this
week. Drilling rigs targeting crude oil rose by 8 to 405 after rising by 10 in
the previous week. Gas rigs fell by 5 to 97 this week. The total count is
roughly double the 254 rigs actively drilling a year ago. Crude oil futures for
September fell $1.37 or 2.2 percent to settle $62.32 barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. October Brent crude dropped $1.37 or 2.07 percent to
settle at $65.08 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Indian rupee ended weaker against
dollar on Friday due to increased demand for American currency from importers
and banks. Also, pressure in domestic equity markets impacted traders' moods.
Sentiments were fragile as US Federal Reserve could rein in vast stimulus
measures this year, coupled with the rapid spread of the coronavirus Delta
variant, signs of faltering Chinese economic growth, and the Taliban's takeover
of Afghanistan. Traders were also concerned after industry body FIEO said that
bilateral trade with Afghanistan has been impacted and Indian exporters are
concerned about their payments as banking services and remittances may face
restrictions due to the ongoing situation in that country. On the global front,
dollar hit a new 9-1/2-month high against major peers on Friday, buoyed by
fears that the Delta coronavirus variant could delay the global economic
recovery just as central banks begin to reverse pandemic-era stimulus. Finally,
the rupee ended 74.39, weaker by 15 paise from its previous close of 74.24 on
Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net buyer in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 9953.54 crore against gross selling of Rs 8850.85 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 436.05 crore with gross sales
of Rs 190.71 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs
2.34 crore against gross selling of Rs 32.87 crore.
The US markets ended in green on
Friday despite concerns about economic growth amid rising COVID-19 cases. Asian
markets are trading higher on Monday as traders sought to take advantage of
last week's selloff while weighing risks from the delta virus strain and
China's regulatory curbs. Indian equity indices, Sensex and Nifty ended sharply
lower on Friday dragged by heavy selling across the board amid weak global
cues. Today, the markets are likely to get gap-up opening tracking gains in
global peers. Traders will be taking encouragement with a private report that
the government said that the country's agri-exports are estimated to grow 15%
in FY22, adding that export of products like rice, meat, cereals and dairy
items rose 44.3% on-year to $4.81 billion during April-June 2021. Their exports
were $3.33 billion in the year ago period. Some support will come as
investments in the Indian capital markets through participatory notes (P-notes)
rose to Rs 1.02 lakh crore till July-end, making it the highest level in last
40 months. This also marks the fourth consecutive monthly growth. Fall in
coronavirus cases also likely to aid domestic markets. India recorded 25,420
new Covid-19 cases and 385 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking its tally to
32,448,969 and the death toll to 434,784. However, traders may be concerned as
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das the resurgence in inflation in May and June above
the upper threshold has reignited the debate on the appropriate monetary policy
response, according to MPC minutes. There may be some cautiousness as RBI data
showed India's foreign exchange reserves decreased by $2.099 billion to stand
at $619.365 billion for the week ended August 13 due to a fall in core currency
assets and gold. Meanwhile, the government said it has set up an eight-member
committee to suggest a roadmap for doubling production and quadrupling exports
of handlooms in three years. The committee, chaired by Fashion Design Council
of India (FDCI) Chairman Sunil Sethi, would submit its final report within 45
days. There will be some buzz in the metal stocks as Icra in its report said
that with demand uptick stemming from the government's thrust on
infrastructure, mainly in the rural markets, capacity utilisation for medium
and small long steel product manufacturers is expected to improve in the coming
quarters. There will be some reaction in oil & gas industry stocks as
Petrol and diesel prices were cut by 20 paise per litre each on Sunday - the
first reduction in petrol rate in over a month, and the fourth in case of
diesel in less than a week. Besides, Nuvoco Vistas will make its Dalal Street
debut today. The Rs 5,000 crore IPO of the company subscribed 1.71 times
earlier this month in the price band of Rs 560-570 per share.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
16,450.50
|
16,381.19
|
16,514.69
|
BSE
Sensex
|
55,329.32
|
55,119.10
|
55,434.44
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Motors
|
325.78
|
289.50
|
283.44
|
293.14
|
Tata Steel
|
273.40
|
1375.60
|
1,343.26
|
1,427.46
|
State Bank of India
|
255.41
|
406.70
|
402.11
|
414.31
|
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
|
238.78
|
110.20
|
108.55
|
111.80
|
Hindalco Industries
|
233.09
|
403.65
|
407.76
|
407.76
|
TCS is expanding its strategic partnership with Google Cloud with the launch of Google Garages at its TCS Pace Port coinnovation and advanced research centers in Amsterdam, New York and Tokyo.
ONGC has invited bids from private companies for handing over operations of 43 small and marginal oil and gas fields to raise production.
JSW Steel has set a target of achieving CO2 emissions of 1.95 tCO2e per tonne of steel by Fiscal 2030, which is a 23% reduction from FY20 and 42% reduction from the base year of 2005.
Tata Steel is planning to pay total of Rs 270.28 crore as annual bonus for the accounting year 2020-2021 to its eligible employees of all applicable division /units of the company.