The stock markets opened on a positive note. The Sensex was up 63.69 points or 0.11 percent at 57039.68. Nifty was up 23.90 points or 0.14 percent at 17,093. About 1,502 shares have advanced, 486 shares declined, and 107 shares are unchanged.
On Monday (May 2), the Sensex was down 84.88 points or 0.15 percent at 56,975.99. The Nifty was down 33.40 points or 0.20 percent at 17,069.10.
Among major gainers on the Nifty were Britannia Industries, ONGC, Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto and Power Grid Corp. Among laggards were Hindalco Industries, Apollo Hospitals, Bharti Airtel, Shree Cements and HDFC Life.
Consumer durables firm Voltas was trading 3.00 percent down at Rs 1194.70. Titan slumped 2.08 percent to Rs 2337. Havells slipped 1.73 percent to Rs 1267.05.
Healthcare stocks also witnessed selling pressure. NGL Fine-Chem Limited slumped 12.01 percent to Rs 1,997.35. Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited slipped 6.15 percent to Rs 738.45.
Apollo Hospitals also plunged 3.59 points to Rs 4149.90, while Metropolis was down by 3.43 percent to Rs 2213.30. Dr Reddy's stock also slipped 2.72 percent to Rs 4,010.
Six of the 30 scrips that are part of the benchmark Sensex were trading in the positive. Power Grid Corporation, Infosys, State Bank of India, and Wipro were among the major Sensex gainers.
Asian stocks up
Asian stocks edged up Wednesday as investors braced for the biggest Federal Reserve interest rate-hike since 2000 and awaited more clues on how aggressively it plans to tackle inflation.
US stocks close higher
Major US stock indexes ended higher Tuesday after choppy trade on the eve of what’s expected to be the most aggressive Federal Reserve monetary policy tightening in two decades. The market is divided between those who think the Federal Reserve will have to tighten a lot and kill the economy” versus those who believe the Fed won’t have to do as much as what’s already “priced in” for this year.
MSCI's all-country world index rose 0.4 percent and the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed up 0.53percent after surviving a "flash crash" in Nordic markets on Monday caused by a Citigroup sell order trade. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.17 percent, the S&P 500 gained 0.48% percentand the Nasdaq Composite added 0.16 .percent
The Federal Open Market Committee on Tuesday kicked off a two-day meeting that is expected to end with its first half percentage point rate hike since 2000, as well as a plan to reduce the size of its balance sheet. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference Wednesday afternoon.
Economic data released Friday underlined a tight labor market. US job openings climbed to a record 11.5 million in March, while the number of people quitting also hit an all-time high. Meanwhile, orders for US manufactured goods rose by a stronger-than-expected 2.2 percent in April.
Australia’s central bank raises interest rates
Overnight in Asia, Australia's central bank raised its key rate by a bigger-than-expected 25 basis points. The Bank of England is expected to raise rates on Thursday for the fourth time in a row.
India’s April exports decline
India's merchandise exports stood at $38.19 billion in April (up 24.2 percent YoY), down from $42.22 billion a month back. Imports, however, did not fall by the same magnitude, coming in at $58.26 billion (up 26.6 percent YoY) as against $60.74 billion in March. As such, the merchandise trade deficit widened to $20.07 billion (up 31.2 percent YoY) from $18.51 billion during the period.
Crude oil prices to be under pressure
On Tuesday, crude oil settled on a weaker note in the international markets as WTI crude settled at $102.58 per barrel and Brent crude settled at $104.97 per barrel. In the domestic market, oil settled on a weaker note at Rs7,892 per barrel, down by 2.07 percent. China Covid lockdowns continued and investors weighed a potential ban on Russian oil from the EU against a weakening demand backdrop to exert downward pressure on benchmarks. The EU firmed up plans to tighten sanctions against Russia, with Germany saying it was willing to support an immediate embargo on Russian oil. Similar data came from China, with the world's second-largest economy reporting that factory activity contracted for a second straight month to its lowest level since February 2020 amid renewed coronavirus-induced lockdowns.
Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd. said, "We expect crude oil prices to remain volatile and trade under pressure in today’s session. Crude oil is having support at $100.20-$98.40 and resistance is at $104.50–106.10, In INR terms crude oil has support at Rs 7,720-7,580; while resistance is at Rs 8,050–8,174".
Petrol, diesel prices remain unchanged
Petrol and diesel prices remained stagnant for the 28th consecutive day on Wednesday. Since the end of a four-and-a-half-month long hiatus in rate revision on March 22, rates of petrol and diesel have increased by Rs 10 per litre each via 14 revisions. Fuel prices were last hiked on April 6 by 80 paise a litre each.
Accordingly, in Delhi, the price of petrol and diesel remains Rs 105.41 per litre and Rs 96.67 per litre respectively. In Mumbai, the price of petrol was held unchanged at an all-time high of Rs 120.51 per litre. Diesel price also continues to be at Rs 104.77 a litre, the highest among metros. In Chennai, petrol costs Rs 110.85 per litre and diesel Rs 100.94 per litre. In Kolkata, petrol is at Rs 115.12 per litre and diesel Rs 99.83 per litre.
Petrol and diesel prices were last hiked by 80 paise a litre each on April 6, taking the total increase in rates in 16 days to Rs 10 per litre.
Bullion prices to remain volatile
On Tuesday, gold & silver prices were firm after Monday's relentlessly selling which dragged both the precious metals to 2.5 month lows. Gold and silver prices are firmer due to short covering by the shorter-term futures traders. The bulls are trying to stop the bleeding in down-trending markets that have been punished by a strong US dollar and rising bond yields. In international markets, gold closed at $1,868.12 and silver at $22.58 an ounce. In the domestic market, gold closed marginally higher by 0.29 percent at Rs 50,808 while Silver ended up by 0.33 percent at Rs 63132. However, weakness in the US bond yields, prolonged lockdowns in China and possible drawdown in global economic growth are supporting precious metals.
Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd. said, Today, bullion prices will remain volatile ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meetings outcome. Gold has support at $1850-1838, while resistance at $1882-1895. Silver has support at $22.10-21.80, while resistance is at $22.94-23.22. In INR terms gold has support at Rs 50,550–50,320, while resistance is at Rs 52,110–52,350. Silver has support at Rs 62,650-62,215, while resistance is at Rs63,830–64,210.
USD-INR outlook
USDINR 27May futures contract showed high volatility last week and showed profit taking at higher levels. On the weekly technical chart, a pair is trading above its resistance level of 76.3500. As per the daily technical chart, we observed that a pair formed double top pattern on the weekly technical chart. We expect a pair only cross the levels of 77.20 could show further strength in the upcoming sessions else it could test its support level of 76.35 again. Looking at the technical set-up, a pair only cross the levels of 77.20 could show further strength in the upcoming sessions else it could test its support level of 76.35 again.
Rahul Kalantri, VP Commodities, Mehta Equities Ltd. said, Today USD-INR will remain volatile ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy meetings outcome. We suggest closely watching the levels of 76.3500-77.2000 for taking any fresh positions in the pair.
Results today
The following companies will announce their quarterly earnings today: Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consumer Products, ABB India, Adani Green Energy, CarTrade Tech, Adani Total Gas, Equitas Small Finance Bank, Havells India, Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company, Deepak Nitrite, Laxmi Organic Industries, Mahindra EPC Irrigation, Satin Creditcare Network, SIS, Oracle Financial Services Software, Rain Industries, EIH, IIFL Wealth Management, Aptech, Cigniti Technologies, and MAS Financial Services.
(With inputs from Reuters, Agencies)
