Indian equity
benchmarks ended over half a percent lower on Wednesday as investors booked
profits at higher levels. Broader markets, midcap and smallcap indices also
declined. Key indices opened in the green but soon shed all gains, as some
cautiousness prevailed in the markets as a day after reporting less than 50,000
fresh cases, India has now recorded 54,393 in the last 24 hours, taking the
country's total coronavirus caseload past 30-million mark. India also recorded
a spike in new deaths with 1,129 fatalities being reported yesterday. The death
toll now stands at 390,691. Additionally, India's gene-sequencing consortia has
classified the new Delta-plus mutation of coronavirus as a variant of concern,
following 22 cases being reported across three states - Maharashtra, Kerala,
and Madhya Pradesh. Traders took a note of Care Ratings' report that
notwithstanding the Rs 10,000-crore liquidity infusion through the G-Sap route
by the RBI last week and fewer states tapping the bond markets, their cost of
borrowing has been heading north, as the coupon hit the highest level since
mid-March at 7 percent. At 7 percent, the weighted average yield of state debt
has risen by a whopping 44 bps since the first auction of the fiscal on April
8. Benchmarks added losses in late afternoon session after Moody's Investors
Service slashed India's growth projection to 9.6 per cent for 2021 calendar
year, from its earlier estimate of 13.9 per cent, and said faster vaccination
progress will be paramount in restricting economic losses to June quarter.
Earlier this month, Moody's had projected India to clock a 9.3 per cent growth
in the current fiscal ending March 2022, but severe second COVID wave has
increased risks to India's credit profile and rated entities. Traders were also
worried amid reports that the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic's second wave
has left young Indian professionals and working women increasingly vulnerable
to the economic uncertainty. However, downfall remain capped with report
stating that Indian companies' market capitalization has grown at the fastest
pace last year among major economies despite contraction in GDP. Further, it
said retail investors have shown higher interest in markets and their numbers
have increased by 1.42 crore in FY21 and another 44 lakh in April and May,
wondering if this will be a lasting behavioural change or is transitory.
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 282.63 points or 0.54% to 52,306.08, while the CNX
Nifty was down by 85.80 points or 0.54% to 15,686.95.
The US markets ended mostly lower
on Wednesday. The lackluster performance on markets came as traders seemed
reluctant to make significant moves amid uncertainty about the near-term
outlook for the markets following recent volatility. Further, weakness prevailed in markets after
a report released by the Commerce Department unexpectedly showed another steep
drop in new home sales in the US in the month of May. The Commerce Department
said new home sales tumbled by 5.9 percent to an annual rate of 769,000 in May
after plunging by 7.8 percent to a downwardly revised rate of 817,000 in April.
The continued decrease surprised participants, who had expected new home sales
to climb 0.8 percent to a rate of 870,000 from the 863,000 originally reported
for the previous month. Besides, Most of the major sectors ended the day
showing only modest moves, contributing to the lackluster close by the broader
markets. Utilities stocks showed a notable move to the downside, however, with
the Dow Jones Utility Average falling by 1.2 percent to its lowest closing
level in well over two months. Gold and chemical stocks also saw some weakness
on the day, while strength was visible among brokerage and natural gas stocks.
Crude oil futures ended higher on
Wednesday after official data showed a larger than expected decline in US crude
inventories in the week ended June 18. Data released by Energy Information
Administration (EIA) showed crude inventories in the US fell by 7.614 million
barrels last week, declining for a fifth straight week. Street had expected
crude inventories to drop by about 3.9 million barrels in the week. Distillate
stockpiles rose by 1.75 million barrels last week, much more than an expected
increase of about 1.08 million barrels, while gasoline inventories dropped by
2.93 million barrels versus expectations for a build of about 833,000 barrels. Crude
oil futures for August rose $0.23 or 0.3 percent to settle at $73.08 barrel on
the New York Mercantile Exchange. August Brent crude gained $0.38 or 0.5
percent to settle at $75.19 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.
Erasing previous session
drubbing, Indian rupee ended higher against dollar on Wednesday, on persistent
selling of the American currency by exporters. Traders were getting support
with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's statement that the US central bank
will not raise interest rates too quickly. However, upside remain capped as
Moody's Investors Service slashed India's growth projection to 9.6 per cent for
2021 calendar year, from its earlier estimate of 13.9 per cent, and said faster
vaccination progress will be paramount in restricting economic losses to June
quarter. On the global front, sterling hit a 2-1/2 month high against the euro
on Wednesday and gained for a third straight session against the dollar,
continuing a recovery after it fell in the wake of last week's Federal Reserve
meeting. Finally, the rupee ended 74.27, stronger by 10 paise from its previous
close of 74.37 on Tuesday.
The FIIs as per Wednesday's data
were net seller in equity segment and net buyer in debt segment. In equity
segment, the gross buying was of Rs 6786.10 crore against gross selling of Rs
7465.67 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 251.51
crore with gross sales of Rs 45.45 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the
gross buying was of Rs 4.65 crore against gross selling of Rs 8.62 crore.
The US markets ended mostly lower
on Wednesday even as investors cheered data that showed a record peak for US
factory activity in June. Asian markets are trading mostly higher on Thursday
amid the S&P 500 on Wall Street snapped its two-day winning streak
overnight. Indian markets failed to hold on the recovery and ended lower on
Wednesday as losses in IT and metal stocks outweighed gains in auto stocks.
Today, the markets are likely to make slightly positive start ahead of expiry
of the monthly futures & options (F&O) contracts scheduled for later in
the day. Investors will be eyeing the index heavyweight Reliance Industries'
(RIL) 44th AGM, slated to kick off at 2 pm. Some support will come as data
released by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT)
showed that India had attracted a total foreign direct investments (FDI) inflow
of $6.24 billion in April, up by 38 per cent year-on-year. Traders may take
note of report that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman made a case for
re-thinking financing and development priorities for inclusive, sustainable and
resilient infrastructure aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
However, there may be some cautiousness as India has recorded 54,319 cases in
the last 24 hours, taking the country's total coronavirus caseload to
30,082,169. India also recorded a spike in new deaths with 978 fatalities being
reported yesterday. The death toll now stands at 392,014. Meanwhile, an
umbrella body for micro, small and medium enterprises AICA sought immediate
intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on rising prices of raw materials
such as steel, iron ore, aluminum, copper, plastics and paper. There will be
some buzz in the real estate industry stocks as the housing sales during the
April-June 2021 period stood at around 24,570 units across the top 7 cities,
increasing by 93 percent annually but dropping by 58 percent QoQ. Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO) industry stocks will be in focus with report that to make
India a favourable destination for expansion of voice-related Business Process
Outsourcing (BPO), the Centre has liberalised the guidelines for Other Service
Providers (OSPs), removing the distinction between domestic and international
OSP. There will be some reaction in tours and travel industry stocks as ratings
agency Crisil said the tours and travel industry, which was beginning to
recover before the second wave of Covid-19 infections began, will now see
revenue this fiscal reaching only 35%-40% of the pre-pandemic levels.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
15,686.95
|
15,619.61
|
15,808.61
|
BSE
Sensex
|
52,306.08
|
52,076.01
|
52,724.24
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Adani
Ports and Special Economic Zone
|
311.68
|
718.70
|
703.80
|
745.30
|
State
Bank of India
|
275.64
|
418.85
|
414.31
|
424.06
|
Tata
Motors
|
257.40
|
335.25
|
331.95
|
340.90
|
Oil
& Natural Gas Corporation
|
219.77
|
123.35
|
121.94
|
124.59
|
Hindalco
Industries
|
142.95
|
368.10
|
364.64
|
374.29
|
HDFC Bank has offloaded leading depository Central Depository Services' (India) shares worth a little over Rs 185 crore through an open market transaction.
Hero MotoCorp is planning to make an upward revision in the ex-showroom prices of its motorcycles and scooters, with effect from July 1, 2021.
Cipla has received final approval for its ANDA for Arformoterol Tartrate Inhalation Solution 15 mcg / 2 mL from the USFDA.
HDFC Life Insurance Company has declared bonus of Rs 2,180 crore to its policyholders subscribing to participating insurance plans.