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NSE Intra-day chart (17 March 2023)
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Market Commentary 20 March 2023
Benchmarks likely to get negative start on weak global cues

 

Indian equity benchmarks overcame bouts of volatility to settle in the green for the second straight session on Friday, backed by renewed buying interest in Realty, Metal and Banking stocks. Besides, a strengthening rupee and lower crude prices in the international markets also influenced sentiments. Markets made a gap-up opening amid a firm trend in global equities. Traders took a note of rating agency Crisil's statement that the India's economy is likely to log in 6 per cent growth next fiscal, in line with consensus estimates, driven by an increased capex by the private sector. It added the private sector capex is expected to deliver double-digit revenue growth for the second year on the trot. The economy is projected to grow 7 per cent this fiscal. Crisil further said it expects the corporate revenue to log in double-digit rise again next fiscal. However, markets reversed initial gains in afternoon deals amid volatility. Traders turned anxious amid reports that the RBI is likely to for one more rate hike in its next monetary policy committee meeting in April, as India's headline inflation continues to be sticky at around 6 percent and the central bank also keeping its eye on the rupee stability along with uncertainty in the US markets and Fed impending decision. Traders took a note of repot that Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran has said the global uncertainty has been rising after the recent developments in the United States and governments, businesses and individuals should keep margins of safety in fiscal, corporate and savings account planning. Besides, foreign institutional investors (FII) net sold shares worth Rs 282.06 crore on March 17, according to the provisional data available on the NSE. But, in the late afternoon deals, markets regained traction to close with handsome gains as positive cues from European markets lent some support to markets. Finally, the BSE Sensex rose 355.06 points or 0.62% to 57,989.90 and the CNX Nifty was up by 114.45 points or 0.67% to 17,100.05.

 

After previous session's rally, the US markets ended sharply lower on Friday. With the Nasdaq snapping a four-day winning streak, the all major averages showed notable moves to the downside on the day. Traders booked their profits after previous session's rally amid lingering concerns about turmoil in the financial sector. Shares of First Republic Bank (FRC) showed a significant pullback on the day, plummeting by 32.8 percent after surging by 10.0 percent on Thursday. The jump in the previous session came as a group of financial institutions agreed to deposit $30 billion in First Republic in an effort to express confidence in the banking system. Traders also continued to look ahead to the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement next Wednesday. On the economic data front, the Fed released a report showing U.S. industrial production was unexpectedly unchanged in the month of February. The Fed said industrial production was unchanged in February following a revised 0.3 percent increase in January. Street had expected industrial production to rise by 0.2 percent compared to the unchanged reading originally reported for the previous month. A separate report from the University of Michigan showed consumer sentiment in the U.S. fell for the first time in four months in March. The report said the consumer sentiment index slid to 63.4 in March from 67.0 in February. Street had expected the index to be unchanged. Meanwhile, the report showed decreases in both near-term and long-term inflation expectations, with year-ahead inflation expectations falling to the lowest level since April 2021.

 

Crude oil futures gave up early gains and ended significantly lower on Friday as rising concerns about the crisis in the banking sector continued to fuel worries about economic growth and the outlook for energy demand. With fall in Friday's session, oil prices booked their biggest weekly drop of 2023. Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak and Saudi Arabia's energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, met Thursday. They likely discussed ways to stabilize oil prices, Lambrecht said, while the recovery of Chinese oil demand after the lifting of COVID restrictions remains an important crutch. Benchmark crude oil futures for April delivery fell $1.61 or 2.4 percent to $66.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude for May delivery declined $1.73 or 2.3 percent to $72.97 a barrel on London's Intercontinental Exchange.

 

Indian rupee settled higher against dollar on last trading day of the week tracking positive sentiments in the domestic equity markets. Sentiments remained upbeat with rating agency Crisil's statement that the India's economy is likely to log in 6 per cent growth next fiscal, in line with consensus estimates, driven by an increased capex by the private sector. It added the private sector capex is expected to deliver double-digit revenue growth for the second year on the trot. Besides, the economy is projected to grow 7 per cent this fiscal (FY23). The agency also sees the economy averaging 6.8 per cent growth over the next five fiscals. It further said it expects the corporate revenue to log in double-digit rise again next fiscal. On the global front, dollar slipped on Friday after top U.S. power brokers including the government and banks threw a lifeline to a struggling regional lender to ease stress on the financial system, which returned some confidence to investors. Finally, the rupee ended at 82.58 (Provisional), stronger by 18 paise from its previous close of 82.76 on Thursday.

 

The FIIs as per Friday's data were net buyers in equity segment, while net sellers in debt segment. In equity segment, the gross buying was of Rs 8251.77 crore against gross selling of Rs 8085.07 crore, while in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 308.54 crore against gross selling of Rs 353.25 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was of Rs 5.17 crore against gross selling of Rs 6.54 crore.

 

The US markets ended lower on Friday as investors remained wary about a potential banking crisis even as the country's largest banks came to the rescue of troubled regional lender First Republic Bank. Asian markets are trading mostly in red on Monday following a lower close on Wall Street. Indian markets rose notably on Friday to extend gains from the previous session, largely led by gains in IT stocks, financials and metal shares. Today, markets are likely to start the week on pessimistic note amid lackluster cues from global peers. Traders will be concerned amid fears that the U.S. banking turmoil will lead to tighter lending standards that will cripple small businesses and eventually send the world's largest economy into a recession. There will be some cautiousness as the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) statistical supplement showed India's foreign exchange reserves fell to $560 billion as of the week ended March 10, their lowest since early-December. However, some respite may come later in the day as the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) revised upwards its growth estimate for India by 20 basis points to 5.9 per cent for FY24. Some support will come as Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India's economic and banking system are strong even amid the turmoil currently rocking global markets. Traders may take note of report that India and the European Union (EU) concluded the fourth round of talks for a comprehensive free trade agreement in Brussels, a move aimed at further strengthening economic ties between the two sides. There will be some buzz in power stocks as India's power consumption surged 10 per cent to 1375.57 billion units (BU) during April-February this fiscal year and has already surpassed the level of electricity supplied in entire 2021-22. Banking stocks will be in focus as the Reserve Bank governor Shaktikanta Das cautioned banks against any build-up of asset-liability mismatches, saying both are detrimental to financial stability and hinted that the ongoing crisis in the US banking system seems to have emanated from such mismatches. There will be some reaction in cement industry stocks with Crisil's report that the continuing demand for housing, accounting for 60-65 per cent of cement demand, and aggressive government investments in infrastructure will drive demand, nudging cement-makers to add 145-155 MT in fresh capacity at an investment of Rs 1.2 lakh crore by FY27.

 

                                Support and Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)

 

Index

Previous close

Support

Resistance

NSE Nifty

17,100.05

16,990.20

17,177.85

BSE Sensex

57,989.90

57,602.88

58,277.92

 

Nifty Top volumes

 

Stock

 

Volume

Previous close (Rs)

Support (Rs)

Resistance (Rs)

(in Lacs)

Tata Steel

489.62

107.15

105.65

108.00

ITC

489.04

376.45

369.06

384.41

NTPC

472.77

176.40

174.30

180.10

Power Grid Corporation of India

252.83

229.40

227.14

232.84

State Bank of India

187.87

531.00

523.54

535.04

 

  • GAIL (India) has signed a MoU with Shell Energy India to explore opportunities in different facets of energy value chain. 
  • Maruti Suzuki has launched the All New Brezza with S-CNG technology for today's cool new generation.
  • HDFC is planning to raise Rs 57,000 crore through issuance of unsecured redeemable NCDs, in various tranches, under a Shelf Placement Memorandum on a private placement basis. 
  • Mahindra & Mahindra has completed sale of its entire stake in Mahindra Consulting Engineers, a subsidiary of the Company.
News Analysis