NIFTY MOVES CLOSER TO 10950 TARGET; TRAIL STOP-LOSS TO 10780

NIFTY MOVES CLOSER TO 10950 TARGET; TRAIL STOP-LOSS TO 10780

WORLD MARKETS

US indices gained 0.2%-0.6% on Friday, shrugging off worries about a possible government shutdown and hitting fresh record highs.

US 10-year yield hit its highest level since 2014, reaching 2.642%.

European markets added 0.4%-1.2% with DAX on the top. Basic resources were among the gainers following strong demand figures for metal in China. Euro zone current account surplus rose to 32.5 billion euros ($39.92 billion) in November from 30.3 billion euros in October.

For the week, US indices gained 0.9%-1%. In Europe, FTSE lost 0.6% but DAX and CAC gained 1.4% and 0.2% respectively. In Asia, Hang Seng and Shanghai surged 2.7% and 1.7% respectively while Nikkei was up 0.6%.

Back in the US, Congress failed in its last-minute efforts to pass a spending bill before a midnight deadline on Friday, which resulted in a temporary government "Shut Down". While shutdown continued for a second day, there were some signs of progress on Sunday, with Republicans appearing unified over plans to end the impasse with a temporary solution. Democrats, however, want an immigration agreement in place before they support a spending plan

AT HOME

Benchmark indices soared seven tenth of a percent to scale fresh record highs. Sensex settled at 35511, up 251 points while Nifty added 77 points to finish at 10894. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices gained 0.8% and 0.9% respectively. All the BSE sectoral indices ended in green with Bankex leading the tally, up 1.5%, followed by 1.3% higher Finance and Realty indices.

FIIs net bought stocks and stock futures worth Rs 988 cr and 1310 cr respectively but net sold index futures worth Rs 26 cr. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 210 cr.

Rupee appreciated 1 paise to end at 63.85/$.

For the week, Sensex and Nifty gained 2.6% and 2% respectively, extending the winning streak to seventh straight week.

ONGC would acquire government's entire 51.11% stake in HPCL for about Rs 37,000 crore in an all-cash deal that would close by month-end. This is at a premium of around 14% to HPCL's closing price on Friday. The share sale will help government exceed its divestment target of Rs 72,500 crore in 2017-18. The government has already raised Rs 54,337 crore so far this year.

Reliance Industries’ Q3 profit rose 25% to Rs9,423 crore on the back of higher refining margins and its telecom arm Reliance Jio logging profit. Revenue rose to Rs1.1 trillion, an increase of 30.5%, thanks to doubling of sales in retail operations and the addition of Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd’s numbers. Jio, the company’s telecom unit, reported a net profit of Rs 504 crore in just its second quarter of operations.

Wipro disappointed with flat dollar revenue growth at $2013 mb. In constant currency terms growth stood at 0.9%, which was in-line with estimates. Margin fell 250 bps to 14.8%, but stripped of exceptional loss, they stood at 17.1%. The company guided for 1-3% dollar revenue growth for Jan-March quarter.

HDFC Bank posted 20% y-o-y growth in net profit at Rs 4643 cr. NII rose 24% to Rs 10314 cr. Gross NPA ratio rose to 1.29% from 1.26% q-o-q and net NPA ratio rose to 0.44% from 0.43%.

ITC reported 17% y-o-y growth in net profit at Rs 3090 cr. Revenue from operations increased 5.7% to Rs 9772 cr. EBIDTA grew 10.1% to Rs 3904 cr and margins expanded 170 bps to 40%.

Kotak Mahindra Bank's standalone net profit rose 20% y-o-y to Rs 1053 cr. NII rose 17% to Rs 2394 cr. Gross NPA ratio improved to 2.31% from 2.47% q-o-q and net NPA ratio fell to 1.09% from 1.26%.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, Asian markets are trading with cuts of 0.2%-0.5% and SGX Nifty is suggesting a flattish start for our market.

Nifty on Friday surged 77 points to settle at 10894 and is very close to 10950 target we had given after 10490 hurdle was taken out on 22nd December. Readers would also recall that in our special report published in early April 2017, we had given major target of 11000. Hence 10950 followed by 11000 continue to be upside targets to eye.

Immediate support on the hourly chart has moved up to 10780, with the stop-loss of which, trading longs should be held on to.

Asian Paints and Axis Bank will report their quarterly earnings today.