NIFTY ACHIEVES 9350 TARGET; TRAIL STOP-LOSS TO 9210

NIFTY ACHIEVES 9350 TARGET; TRAIL STOP-LOSS TO 9210

WORLD MARKETS                             

After trading in green for better part of the day, US indices slipped in last hour or so to end flat to marginally lower after digesting Trump's highly-anticipated tax reform plans.

The plan proposed a cut in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15% and also said that there will be a "one-time tax" on the trillions of dollars held by corporations overseas. However, the plan left market with questions on whether the changes would increase the budget deficit.

PepsiCo, United Technologies, Procter & Gamble and Twitter all posted a better-than-expected profit.

WTI) fell 0.52 percent to trade at $49.36 a barrel while Brent crude futures fell 0.37 cents to trade at $51.63

European markets ended with modest gains.

AT HOME

Benchmark indices, after heightened volatility in the late noon trade, managed to end higher by half a percent, with both Nifty and Sensex closing at record high and Sensex closing above 30000 mark for the first time ever. Sensex soared 190 points to settle at 30133 while Nifty finished at 9352, up 45 points. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices however ended with cuts of 0.1% and 0.6% respectively. BSE FMCG and Auto indices gained 2% and 1% respectively, becoming top gainers among the sectoral indices while Realty index plunged 3%, becoming top loser, followed by 1.1% cut in Energy and IT indices.

FIIs net sold stocks worth Rs 493 cr but net bought index futures and stock futures worth Rs 241 cr and 1382 cr respectively. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 1011 cr.

Rupee appreciated 18 paise to end at 64.38/$.

Axis Bank fourth quarter net profit fell 43% y-o-y to Rs 1225 cr but surpassed street expectations due to higher-than-expected NII, other income and strong recoveries. NII rose 4% to Rs 4729 cr. Advances increased 10% to Rs 3.73 lakh cr. Net interest margin improved to 3.83% from 3.43% q-o-q. Gross NPA ratio improved 18 bpas to 5.04% and net NPA ratio fell 7 bps to 2.11%. Additions to gross NPA (gross slippages) were Rs 4811 cr against Rs 4560 in previous quarter whiel net slippages stood at Rs 2008 cr.

SEBI yesterday approved introduction of options trading in the commodities market and also approved proposals to grant unified licence to the commodity and equity brokers and regulations for monitoring funds up to Rs 500 crore raised via initial public offerings.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, Asian markets are trading with modest cuts and SGX Nifty is suggesting a flattish start for our market.

Readers would recall that we had given targets of 9273 followed by 9350 after Nifty took out immediate hurdle of 9200. The benchmark yesterday soared to 9367 before closing at 9352, achieving the 9350 target and vindicating our view.

Next level to eye on the upside is around 9470. Immediate support on the hourly chart has moved up to 9210, with the stop-loss of which trading longs can be held on to.

Maruti, Kotak Bank TVS Motor and Biocon will report their quarterly earnings today.

In the US Trump will be outlining his tax reform vision ahead of a potential government shutdown. Government funding will end Friday unless Congress can agree on at least a temporary funding resolution.