A few cues from the market in India and abroad that could help you with your trade today.
Sensex and Nifty registered new all-time highs of 39,364.3 and 11,810.95, respectively. The rally in private banks, auto and FMCG stocks along with positive Asian cues lifted market sentiment.
The BSE Sensex climbed 369.80 or 0.95 percent to 39,275.64 while the Nifty 50 rallied 96.80 points or 0.83 percent to 11,787.15 and formed bullish candle on daily charts.
According to the Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 11,742.13, followed by 11,697.07. If the index starts moving upward, key resistance levels to watch out are 11,821.63 and 11,856.07.
The Nifty Bank index closed at 30,531.35, up 427.10 points on April 16. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 30,309.37, followed by 30,087.43. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 30,672.07, followed by 30,812.84.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines from across news agencies.
Wall Street slips, weighed down by healthcare plunge
US stocks ended slightly lower on Wednesday as a drop in healthcare shares overshadowed a string of positive corporate earnings and upbeat economic data from the United States and China. All three major US stock indexes ended the session in negative territory, with the S&P 500 remaining just within a percent below its record high reached in September.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 3.12 points, or 0.01 percent, to 26,449.54, the S&P 500 lost 6.61 points, or 0.23 percent, to 2,900.45 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 4.15 points, or 0.05 percent, to 7,996.08.
Asian shares edge up to 9-month high
Asian shares were subdued on Thursday after a negative performance on Wall Street, with caution ahead of business surveys in Europe and Japan, and the Good Friday and Easter holidays keeping investors on the sidelines.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.08 percent, trading just below its highest since late July 2018 brushed on Wednesday. Australian shares advanced a quarter of a percent while Japan’s Nikkei was a shade lower.
SGX Nifty
Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a flat to positive opening for the broader index in India, a rise of 4 points or 0.03 percent. Nifty futures were trading around 11,853-level on the Singaporean Exchange.
Oil prices extend losses despite surprise drop in US
Oil prices edged down on Thursday despite a surprise decline in US inventories, with international benchmark Brent retreating from a five-month high touched in the previous session. Brent crude futures were at USD 71.51 a barrel at 0056 GMT, down 11 cents, or 0.2 percent, from their last close.
US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at USD 63.67 per barrel, down 9 cents, or 0.1 percent, from their previous settlement. WTI closed the last session down 0.5 percent.
Rupee slips 18 paise to 69.60 against dollar
The Indian rupee on April 16 lost another 18 paise to close at 69.60 against the US dollar, marking its third straight session of decline owing to sustained demand for the greenback from importers and rising global crude oil prices. The local currency has depreciated by 68 paise in the last three days.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (forex) market, the rupee opened lower at 69.55 and fell further to touch the day's low of 69.69. It finally ended at 69.60 per dollar, down by 18 paise against its previous close.
Rural slump to slow down FMCG growth to 11-12% in 2019: Report
The fast-moving consumer goods industry is likely to grow at a slower pace of 11-12 percent in 2019, almost 2 percentage points lower than in 2018, primarily driven by the steeply falling rural demand due to the lingering farm distress, says a report. The industry is also expected to grow at 12-13 percent in the June quarter, market research agency Nielsen said in a report Wednesday.
The sector grew at 13.6 percent in the first quarter. But there is a softening of volume growth to the tune of 100- 200 basis points, still helping to grown in double-digits in the first half. More importantly, the second half will see more strain leading to high single-digit growth, it said.
Steel demand in India expected to grow above 7% in 2019 & 2020: World Steel Association
Steel demand in India is expected to grow above 7 percent in the current as well as next year, according to the World Steel Association. The global steel body in its report, titled 'Short Range Outlook April 2019', said it forecasts that global steel demand may reach 1,735 million tonne (MT) in 2019, a rise of 1.3 percent over 2018.
In 2020, the demand is projected to grow 1 percent to 1,752 MT, it said. "In developed economies, steel demand grew by 1.8 percent in 2018 following aresilient 3.1 percent growth in 2017. We expect demand to further decelerate to 0.3 percent in 2019 and 0.7 percent in 2020, reflecting a deteriorating trade environment," the body said.
Issuance of Govt bonds jump to Rs 64K-cr in FY19: Report
The issuances of government-fully serviced bonds (GoI-FSBs) rose to Rs 64,192 crore in the year-ended March 2019 as compared to Rs 15,095 crore during the last fiscal, says a report. This borrowings are estimated to have accounted for 0.34 percent of GDP for FY19 as compared to 0.09 percent of GDP for FY18.
The total outstanding value of these GoI-FSBs stood at Rs 88,454 crore at the end of FY19, according to Icra. The purpose of these borrowings has been to meet the expenditure towards various schemes of government by raising extra-budgetary resources (EBR) by various public sector entities (PSEs).
Jet Airways halts ops: CEO Vinay Dube tells employees to keep chin up
Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube on April 17 wrote an emotional letter to the employees of his airline after the management decided to temporarily suspend operations.
After a board meeting on April 16, the management had authorised Dube to make one last appeal to the lenders for an emergency funding of Rs 400 crore and take a final call on the future of the airline if they refused.
M&A activities sluggish in Jan-March; 33% decline in deal value to $12.5 bn: Report
The first quarter of 2019 recorded 110 merger and acquisition deals worth USD 12.5 billion (about Rs 86,500 crore), a 33 percent fall in value terms as against the year-ago period, due to factors such as global economic conditions and uncertainty around Brexit, according to a report.
As per Grant Thornton's quarterly deal tracker report released on April 17, "This drop (in value) can be attributed to delays in execution of deals, growing complexity in deal structures and macro-economic factors like upcoming elections, global economic conditions, and uncertainty around Brexit dampening investor sentiment."
Investments through P-notes jump to Rs 78,110 cr till March-end
Investments through participatory notes in domestic capital market rose to Rs 78,110 crore at the end of March, amid positive market sentiments. Participatory notes (P-notes) are issued by registered foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) to overseas investors who wish to be a part of the Indian stock market without registering themselves directly after going through a due diligence process.
As per the latest Sebi data, the total value of P-note investments in Indian markets - equity, debt, and derivatives -- stood at Rs 78,110 crore till March-end. At the end of February, the same was at Rs 73,428 crore.
Over 5 million jobs lost between 2016-18: Report
Employment opportunities declined and five million men lost their jobs between 2016 and 2018, according to a report released by the city-based Azim Premji University. The decline in job opportunities coincided with demonetisation in November 2016, although no direct causal relationship can be established based only on these trends, the State of Working India-2019 (SWI) report said.
"Accounting for the increase in working-age population, the decline in the workforce participation rate (WPR) amounts to a net loss of 5 million jobs during this period (2016-2018)."
Reliance Industries Q4 results today
Reliance Industries, which will declare its March quarter results on April 18, is expected to deliver marginal increase in consolidated profit driven by retail and Jio businesses. However, weak refining segment & lower throughput and stronger rupee may drag standalone earnings.
According to Motilal Oswal, refining throughput may decline 7 percent and gross refining margin may fall to USD 8 a barrel against USD 8.8 a barrel in Q3FY19.
Emkay expects RIL's GRM to be USD 8.2 a barrel, down 7 percent QoQ while petchem earnings should see a 4-5 percent fall QoQ on weaker margins.
Sterling and Wilson files paper for Rs 4,500-cr IPO
Sterling and Wilson, a solar engineering, procurement and construction firm promoted by Shapoorji Pallonji and Company has filed draft papers with markets regulator Sebi to raise about Rs 4,500 crore through an initial public offer. The IPO will be an offer for sale by the company's chairman Khurshed Yazdi Daruvala and Shapoorji Pallonji and Company, according to the Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP).
ICICI Securities, Axis Capital, Credit Suisse Securities (India), Deutsche Equities India, IIFL Holdings, SBI Capital Markets are the global coordinators and book running lead managers. IndusInd Bank and YES Securities (India) are the book running lead managers to the issue.
Five stocks under ban period on NSE
Securities in ban period for the next day's trade under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.
For April 18, IDBI Bank, Idea Cellular, Jet Airways, PC Jeweller and Reliance Power are present in this list.
Out of F&O ban: DHFL, Wockhardt
Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.
With inputs from Reuters & other agencies
