Markets to get a cautious but green start; Infosys numbers eyed

13 Jan 2017 Evaluate
The Indian markets strengthened further in last session on expectations surrounding Q3 earnings and the upcoming Union Budget that helped investors shrug off mixed global cues. Today, the start is likely to be in green and traders will be reacting positively to some positive macro data. The Index of Industrial Production rose to a 13-month high of 5.7% in November, belying expectations of an adverse impact from demonetization and against a contraction of 1.8% in October, mainly due to base effect. Also, the Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) eased to 3.41% in December versus 3.63% seen in November 2016, mainly due to softening of food prices. There will be some cautiousness too, especially in the IT sector as all eyes will be on Infosys numbers slated to be announced during the day. The IT bellwether is expected to scale down its full-year dollar revenue growth for the third time this year. Its third quarter earnings are expected to be subdued due to seasonal weakness and RBS’s contract cancellation. There will be some buzz in infra sector stocks, as the Industry body FICCI has said in the forthcoming Budget, the Centre should prioritise measures that will boost spending on infrastructure creation to shore up local demand. The Tata group stocks will keep buzzing, as Tata Sons has named Natarajan Chandrasekaran, the CEO and MD of TCS, as their new chairman.

The US markets closed modestly in red but were well off the days’ low. The decline was mainly due to profit taking, with traders cashing in on some of the strength seen in the last couple of days and also due to continued uncertainty about Trump’s policies following his highly-anticipated press conference. The Asian markets have once again made a mixed start and Investors awaited Chinese trade data; though the Japanese market has bounced back with yen weakening against dollar.

Back home, Thursday’s trading session was clearly of consolidation as the Indian frontline equity indices appeared a bit fatigued and remained in tight band throughout the day. However, the benchmarks managed to extend the winning momentum for the third consecutive day of trade as local sentiments continued to show signs of improvement. Sentiments remained up-beat with Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s statement that the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), coupled with a digitised economy ushered in by demonetization, will make India’s economy look much cleaner and bigger. Finance Minister reiterated that the Centre is still aiming to roll out the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime from April 1 if all pending issues are sorted out. Besides, appreciation in rupee value against the dollar also fuelled the domestic market sentiments. Some support also came with Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI’s) suggestion of uniform rate of withholding tax for overseas borrowings, irrespective of type and currency. If the government agrees, this could lower the cost of overseas borrowing for Indian companies. Simplifying the levy will improve the ability of Indian companies to raise money. Meanwhile, Footwear stocks rallied on the repot that government may announce package for leather sector in forthcoming Budget. The government is expected to announce an incentive package for labour intensive leather sector in the forthcoming Budget with a view to give a boost to the segment and generate jobs. On the other hand, Pharma stocks came under pressure after US president-elect Donald Trump attacked the pharmaceutical industry for high drug prices and for manufacturing overseas, saying he will create new procedures for bidding on drugs, reports AFP. On the global front, Asian markets ended mostly in red on Thursday, with Japanese shares coming under heavy selling pressure, after President-elect Donald Trump failed to provide clarity on future fiscal policies in a highly-awaited press briefing. Back home, finally, the BSE Sensex surged 106.75 points or 0.39% to 27247.16, while the CNX Nifty rose 26.55 points or 0.32% to 8,407.20.

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