Indian equity
benchmarks ended Thursday's volatile session by over half percent higher each,
with energy, oil and gas and metal stocks accounting for most of the gains,
amid strong cues from global peers. The benchmarks staged a gap up opening, as
traders took encouragement with a private report that India's economy is likely
to have returned to growth in the December quarter due to the easing of
restrictions on movement after the first wave of the coronavirus epidemic
peaked. Some support also came in as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced
yet another round of Open Market Operations (OMO) or simultaneous purchase and
sale of gilts on March 4. Under this, the RBI will buy Rs 15,000 crore worth
bonds in four different papers and sell Rs 150,000 crore worth bonds in two
different securities. However, the benchmarks came off intraday highs due to
monthly expiry of February futures and option contracts. Some concern also came
with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the
central bank is concerned over the impact of cryptocurrencies may have on the
financial stability in the economy and has conveyed the same to the government.
He said we have certain major concerns about cryptocurrencies. But key indices
managed to end session with over half percent gains each, as Moody's projected
India's growth for the next financial year beginning April 1, to 13.7 percent,
from 10.8 percent estimated earlier, on the back of normalisation of activity
and growing confidence in the market with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine. Some
optimism also remained among traders with S&P Global Ratings' statement
that an improvement in macroeconomic conditions is likely to alleviate stress
for India's banking sector. It said the Indian government's strong efforts to
shield banks from the COVID-19 pandemic have largely been successful, but a hit
from the pandemic is inevitable. Traders also took a note of private report
stated that the number of ultra-high networth individuals (UHNWIs), with wealth
of $30 million or more, is expected to rise 63 percent over the next five years
to 11,198 in India, the second fastest growth in the world. Finally, the BSE
Sensex rose 257.62 points or 0.51% to 51,039.31, while the CNX Nifty was up by
115.35 points or 0.77% to 15,097.35..
The US markets
ended lower on Thursday amid a continued increase in treasury yields, which led
to renewed concerns about interest rates despite Federal Reserve Chair Jerome
Powell's assurances of ultra-easy monetary policy for the foreseeable future.
The yields on ten-year notes and thirty-year bonds once again rose to their
highest levels in a year, with the ten-year yield briefly spiking above 1.6
percent in intraday trading. The increase in yields came following the release
of a batch of largely upbeat US economic data, including a report from the
Labor Department showing a steep drop in first-time claims for US unemployment
benefits in the week ended February 20th. The Labor Department said initial
jobless claims tumbled to 730,000, a decrease of 111,000 from the previous
week's revised level of 841,000. Street had expected jobless claims to drop to
838,000 from the 861,000 originally reported for the previous week. The
Commerce Department also released a report showing new orders for US
manufactured durable goods spiked by much more than expected in the month of
January. The report said durable goods orders soared by 3.4 percent in January
after jumping by an upwardly revised 1.2 percent in December. Street had
expected durable goods orders to surge up by 1.1 percent compared to the 0.5
percent increase that had been reported for the previous month.
Crude oil futures ended higher
for fourth straight session on Thursday amid hopes global energy demand will
see a significant rise and hit pre-Covid-19 levels by the end of this year. It
is widely expected that global oil demand will reach 100 million barrels per
day by the end of the year thanks to the faster momentum in coronavirus vaccine
rollouts across the world. Lower crude production in the US, and the Federal
Reserve's pledge to keep interest rates at near-zero levels for the foreseeable
future also contributed to the rise in crude oil prices in recent sessions. The
Energy Information Administration in a report said a rare winter storm in Texas
caused US crude production to drop by more than 10%, or 1 million barrels per
day (bpd), last week. Crude oil futures for April surged $0.31 or 0.5 percent
to settle at $63.53 barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. However, April
Brent crude fell $0.16 or 0.2 percent to settle at $66.88 a barrel on London's
Intercontinental Exchange.
Snapping its four-day gaining
streak Indian rupee depreciated against dollar on Thursday due to demand for
American currency from banks and importers. Traders were worried with Reserve
Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das' statement that the central bank
is concerned over the impact of cryptocurrencies may have on the financial
stability in the economy and has conveyed the same to the government. However,
downfall remain capped as Moody's projected India's growth for the next
financial year beginning April 1, to 13.7 percent, from 10.8 percent estimated
earlier, on the back of normalisation of activity and growing confidence in the
market with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccine. On the global front, rally in risk
currencies on Thursday helped Britain's pound steady near $1.41, a day after it
hit its highest levels in nearly three years. Finally, the rupee ended at
72.43, 8 paise weaker from its previous close of 72.35 on Wednesday.
The FIIs as per Thursday's data
were net seller in both equity and debt segment. In equity segment, the gross
buying was of Rs 6018.79 crore against gross selling of Rs 6319.26 crore, while
in the debt segment, the gross purchase was of Rs 1048.81 crore with gross
sales of Rs 2778.91 crore. Besides, in the hybrid segment, the gross buying was
of Rs 0.64 crore against gross selling of Rs 37.32 crore.
The US markets closed in red on
Thursday as technology-related stocks remained under pressure following a rise
in US bond yields. Asian markets are trading lower on Friday tracking fall on
Wall Street overnight. Indian markets ended higher but off day's high on
Thursday led by energy and metal stocks. Today, the markets are likely to make
gap-down start of session following sell-off in the global peers. All eyes will
be on the Q3 gross domestic product (GDP) data, to be released later in the
day, which will shed light on whether the economy continued to be in recession
in the third quarter of FY21 or it ended with the second quarter only. However,
some respite may come later in the day as India Inc said privatisation except
in strategic sectors would unleash exciting opportunities, boost investments in
infrastructure and create jobs. Some support may come as Union Finance Minister
Nirmala Sitharaman said this year's budget has negated the notion that welfare
state is a socialist prerogative, and added that it has given a directional
change to the Indian economy, wherein the government trusts wealth creators and
citizens. Meanwhile, a nationwide bandh call has been given by the
Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) to protest against rising fuel
prices, the E-Way Bill, and the complex structure of the Goods and Services Tax
(GST). Marketplaces across India are likely to remain shut on Friday as over
40,000 trader associations have responded to the cause. Metal stocks will be in
focus as industry body Indian Steel Association (ISA) said there is an urgent
need to increase and improve the logistics arrangement for the domestic steel
sector. There will be some reaction in auto component industry stocks as
industry body Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA)
said the domestic auto component industry is expected to log in double-digit
growth next fiscal, as demand picks up month on month after a prolonged period
of downturn. There will be some buzz in pharma stocks as Union Minister for
Chemicals & Fertilisers D V Sadananda Gowda said the government is
continuously working to reduce regulatory compliance burden on the pharma
industry in a bid to improve ease of doing business in the country. Besides,
RailTel's shares will make their stock market debut today. The Rs 819 crore
initial public offering (IPO) from the Ministry of Railways, its second public
issue of 2021, had earlier this month garnered a subscription tally of 42.39
times.
Support and
Resistance: NSE (Nifty) and BSE (Sensex)
Index
|
Previous close
|
Support
|
Resistance
|
NSE
Nifty
|
15,097.35
|
15,049.64
|
15,160.79
|
BSE
Sensex
|
51,039.31
|
50,892.00
|
51,286.36
|
Nifty Top volumes
Stock
|
Volume
|
Previous close (Rs)
|
Support (Rs)
|
Resistance (Rs)
|
(in Lacs)
|
Coal
India
|
855.80
|
156.10
|
148.66
|
160.61
|
NTPC
|
683.61
|
108.00
|
103.94
|
111.14
|
Tata
Motors
|
645.14
|
333.15
|
326.04
|
337.49
|
Indian
Oil Corporation
|
627.50
|
100.90
|
99.19
|
102.29
|
Oil
& Natural Gas Corporation
|
620.38
|
119.05
|
116.10
|
121.25
|
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