Indian equity benchmarks reversed
early gains and ended the day with marginal losses on Friday on late selling
pressure in Metal, Utilities & Telecom stocks. With this, the markets ended
lower for the sixth straight day despite upbeat global mood. Key gauges made
gap-up opening, as traders took support with the finance ministry stated that
measures taken by the RBI and government will squeeze the duration of high
inflation fuelled by global factors. It also said evidence on consumption
patterns further suggests that inflation in India has a lesser impact on
low-income strata than on high-income groups. Traders also found some solace
after commerce ministry said India's merchandise exports surged 30.7 per cent
to $40.19 billion in April on account of healthy performance by sectors like
petroleum products, electronic goods and chemicals, even as trade deficit
widened to $20.11 billion during the month. However, key indices came under
fag-end selling pressure to close in the red as risk-off sentiment prevailed
amid unabated selling by foreign institutional investors and concerns over
inflation. Traders also got anxious with data showing that India's retail
inflation surged to an eight-year high of 7.79 percent in April, raising the
prospect of another interest rate hike from the RBI in the next policy meeting
in June. Besides, Industrial production growth remained subdued at 1.9 per cent
in March compared to a year ago, mainly due to poor performance by the
manufacturing sector which showed staggered impact of the third wave of the
pandemic. Some concern also came as the country's foreign exchange reserves
declined by $28.05 billion to $607.31 billion at the end of March this year
from $635.36 billion at the end of September 2021. Sentiment was also weighed
down by higher oil prices, which pressure the trade and current account
deficits of India - the world's third-largest importer and consumer of oil.
Finally, the BSE Sensex fell 136.69 points or 0.26% to 52,793.62 and the CNX
Nifty was down by 25.85 points or 0.16% to 15,782.15.
The US markets ended sharply
higher on Friday as traders once again looked to go bargain hunting following
the sharp decline shown by the markets over the past month. The markets have
shrugged off a report from the University of Michigan showing consumer
sentiment has deteriorated by much more than expected in the month of May. The
report showed the consumer sentiment index tumbled to 59.1 in May from 65.2 in
April. Street had expected the index to edge down to 64.0. With the much bigger
than expected decrease, the consumer sentiment index slumped to its lowest
level since hitting 55.8 in August of 2011. A separate report released by the
Labor Department showed imports prices were unexpectedly unchanged in the month
of April. The Labor Department said import prices came in flat in April after
surging by an upwardly revised 2.9 percent in March. Street had expected import
prices to climb by 0.6 percent compared to the 2.6 percent jump originally
reported for the previous month. The report also showed the annual rate of
growth in imports prices slowed to 12.0 percent in April from an upwardly revised
13.0 percent in March. On the sectoral front, semiconductor stocks showed a
substantial move to the upside on the day, extending the modest rebound seen
over the course of the previous session. Significant strength was also visible
among airline stocks, as reflected by the 5 percent spike by the NYSE Arca
Airline Index. The index bounced off a two-month closing low. Oil service
stocks also turned in a strong performance on the day, moving sharply higher
along with the price of crude oil.
Crude oil futures closed
significantly higher on Friday as fears of supply shortage outweighed concerns
about a slowdown in global economic growth. Worries about supply in global oil
markets have increased following a reduction in flows of Russian refined
products such as diesel, fuel oil and naptha. Gasoline prices soared to record
highs, contributing significantly to the sharp jump in crude oil prices.
Following Russia's move to impose sanctions on more than 30 EU, US and
Singaporean energy companies, the necessity to secure alternative gas supplies
has now become the top priority. Benchmark crude oil futures for June delivery
surged $4.36 or 4.1% percent to settle at $110.49 a barrel on the New York
Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for July delivery rose $4.03 or 3.75 percent
to settle at $111.48 (Provisional) a barrel on London's Intercontinental
Exchange.
Indian rupee ended higher against
dollar on Friday, on persistent selling of the American currency by exporters.
Traders took some support with commerce ministry statement that India's
merchandise exports surged 30.7 per cent to $40.19 billion in April on account
of healthy performance by sectors like petroleum products, electronic goods and
chemicals, even as trade deficit widened to $20.11 billion during the month.
However, upside remain capped as India's retail inflation surged to an
eight-year high of 7.79 percent in April, raising the prospect of another
interest rate hike from the RBI in the next policy meeting in June. Besides,
Industrial production growth remained subdued at 1.9 per cent in March compared
to a year ago, mainly due to poor performance by the manufacturing sector which
showed staggered impact of the third wave of the pandemic. On the global front,
euro hovered near its weakest point since early 2017 on Friday after Russian
sanctions led to disruptions in gas supplies to Europe, renewing fears about an
economic slowdown in the euro zone. Finally, the rupee ended at 77.47
(Provisional), stronger by 3 paise from its previous close of 77.50 on
Thursday.
The FIIs as per Friday's data
were net sellers in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 5714.13 crore against gross selling of Rs 10524.02 crore,
while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 632.50 crore with gross
sales of Rs 972.92 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was
of Rs 55.56 crore against gross selling of Rs 57.34 crore.
The US markets ended higher on
Friday as relief at signs of peaking inflation vied with fears that policy
tightening by the Fed could tilt the world's largest economy into recession.
Asian markets are trading mixed on Monday after shockingly weak data from China
underlines the deep damage lockdowns were doing to the world's second largest
economy. Indian markets continued to fall for the sixth session in a row on
Friday, dragged by financial and metal stocks though FMCG, oil & gas and
auto shares limited the downside. Today, the markets are likely to get
flat-to-positive start amid mixed global cues. Traders will be taking
encouragement with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal's statement that
the comprehensive trade agreement between India and the UAE will help in
creating huge job opportunities and boost growth of the domestic economy. The
bilateral pact is expected to increase the bilateral trade in goods to over
$100 billion and trade in services to over $15 billion within five years. Some
support will come as data provided by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy
(CMIE) showed that in one of the largest expansions in the labour market since
the beginning of the pandemic, 8.8 million people joined the country's
workforce in April. However, some cautiousness may come as investors will be
closely monitoring the wholesale price index (WPI) reading for April to be
released later in the day, after retail inflation for the month came to an
eight-year high of 7.8 per cent. Traders may be concerns as Reserve Bank of
India (RBI) data showed that India's forex reserves declined by $1.774 billion
to $595.954 billion for the week ended May 6 on the back of a fall in the core
currency assets. Insurance industry stocks will be in focus as data from IRDAI
showed the gross premium income of non-life insurance companies grew nearly 24
per cent to Rs 21,326.58 crore in April. The non-life insurance companies had a
gross premium business worth Rs 17,251.10 crore in April 2021. There will be
some reaction in edible oil industry stocks as the Solvent Extractors'
Association of India (SEA) said imports of vegetable oils, comprising edible
and non-edible oils, fell 13 per cent to nearly 9.12 lakh tonnes during April
due to lower import of crude palm oil. It added import of vegetable oils stood
at 9,11,846 tonnes in April 2022 compared to 10,53,347 tonnes in April 2021.
There will be some important earnings announcements too to keep the markets buzzing.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
15,782.15
|
15,654.14
|
15,996.89
|
BSE
Sensex
|
52,793.62
|
52,370.43
|
53,501.25
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Tata Motors
|
714.25
|
404.00
|
387.55
|
419.90
|
State Bank of India
|
614.03
|
440.50
|
427.84
|
465.09
|
NTPC
|
229.13
|
144.50
|
142.00
|
148.50
|
Hindalco Industries
|
170.07
|
386.20
|
375.95
|
405.45
|
ICICI Bank
|
157.17
|
676.40
|
666.80
|
694.20
|
Tata Motors' consolidated net loss narrowed to Rs 992.05 crore for Q4FY22 as compared to net loss of Rs 7,585.34 crore for the same quarter in the previous year.
Larsen & Toubro's construction arm -- L&T construction has bagged contract for water & effluent treatment business.
Bharti Airtel has added 22,55,629 customers in March, 2022.
State Bank of India has reported 37.46% rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 9,993.76 crore for Q4FY22 as compared to Rs 7,270.25 crore for Q4FY21.