11564 BELOW 11624; 11856 ABOVE 11796

11564 BELOW 11624; 11856 ABOVE 11796

WORLD MARKETS

Dow fell 0.5%, S & P 500 ended flat while Nasdaq rose 0.2% as a sharp decline in 3M shares weighed on the Dow while Facebook and Microsoft jumped on strong quarterly numbers.

3M plunged 12.9%, suffering its worst fall in more than 30 years, after the company reported earnings that were much lower than expected. The company also slashed its full-year outlook and announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs worldwide. Facebook shares rose 5.5% after its first-quarter numbers showed promising growth in Stories and ads. Microsoft climbed more than 3% as its better-than-expected earnings were driven by a 41% surge in its commercial cloud revenue business.

US crude settled 68 cents lower at $65.21 per barrel and Brent fell 22 cents to $74.35

Main European markets saw cuts of 0.2%-0.5% amidst weak earnings from Nokia and Barclays. Data from Sapin showed the unemployment rate rose to 14.7% in the three-month period to March, up from 14.45% in the final three months of 2018.

AT HOME

After rising about half a percent in the morning session, benchmark indices in the noon trade to end with cuts of about three fourth of a percent. Sensex settled at 38730, down 323 points while Nifty lost 84 points to finish at 11641. BSE mid-cap index fell 0.6% while small-cap index ended flat. BSE Telecom and Metal indices tumbled 2.3% and 1.9% respectively, becoming top losers among the sectoral indices while Basic Material index was the top gainer, up 0.3%, followed by 0.1% higher Oil & Gas and Realty indices.

FIIs net bought stocks, index futures and stock futures worth Rs 3786 cr, 152 cr and 579 cr respectively. DIIs were net sellers to the tune of Rs 4070 cr.

Rupee depreciated 38 paise to end at 70.25/$, its lowest level since March 6.

Maruti reported better-than-expected revenue, in-line with expected bottom-line but operational performance was a miss. Revenue rose 1.4% y-o-y to Rs 21459, EBITDA fell 24.9% to Rs 2263 cr, margins contracted 360 bps to 10.6% and net profit fell 4.6% to Rs 1796 cr. Company guided for a single digit growth in Fy20.

Axis Bank's NII grew at the fastest pace in eleven quarters and slippage ratio came in at the lowest in three quarters and asset quality improved. The bank reported a profit of Rs 1505 cr as against loss of Rs 2189 cr in the same quarter last year. NII rose 20.6% to Rs 5705 cr. Gross NPA ratio improved 49 bps q-o-q to 5.26% while net NPA ratio improved 30 bps to 2.06%.

Tata Steel’s Consolidated net profit fell 76% y-o-y to Rs 2353 cr. However, adjusted for extraordinary gain of Rs 11376 cr, profit was down 29%. Revenue grew 25.9% to Rs 42423 cr, EBITDA grew 17.4% to Rs 7513 cr and margin fell to 17.7% from 19%. Operationally, India business was stable while European business was a positive surprise.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, Asian markets are trading with cuts of 0.1%-0.7% and SGX Nifty is suggesting a flattish start for our market.

After Nifty crossed the immediate hurdle of 11700, we had given 11856, the top made last week, as the next target.

Yesterday, Nifty, after touching a high of 11796, plunged sharply to 11624 before closing at 11641 and is set to open flat today.

11624, the low made yesterday, also coincides with a trendline support on hourly chart and hence is the immediate support to eye. If 11624 breaks, 11564, the low made on Tuesday, would be the next important support to eye.

11796, the top made yesterday, is the immediate hurdle, upon crossover of which 11856, the top made last week, would be the next target.

Yes Bank and Hero Motocorp will report their quarterly earnings today.