10800 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE HURDLE; 10583 IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

10800 CONTINUES TO BE IMMEDIATE HURDLE; 10583 IMMEDIATE SUPPORT

WORLD MARKETS

US indices soared 1.6%-2.2% after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged and said it will be "patient" with raising rates moving forward. Strong earnings from Boeing and Apple also boosted the sentiment.

In a statement, the central bank said: "The Committee will be patient as it determines what future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate may be appropriate." The statement also dropped the word "gradual." In a separate statement, Fed said it "is prepared to adjust any of the details for completing balance sheet normalization in light of economic and financial developments."

In a news conference, Fed Chair Powell said that the case for hiking rates "has weakened," noting he would "need to see a need for further rate hikes."

Boeing shares jumped 6% after its quarterly earnings easily beat expectations and it gave strong earnings guidance for 2019. Apple climbed 7% after reporting a quarterly profit that barely beat estimates. AMD shares surged 20% after releasing earnings that matched expectations.

Data from ADP and Moody's Analytics showed U.S. private payrolls grew by 213,000 in January, beating expected gain of 178,000.

US oil rose 92 cents or 1.7% to $54.23 a barrel, its highest level in 2 months while Brent rose 43 cents to $61.75.

In Europe, FTSE and CAC climbed 1.6% and 1% respectively but DAX fell 0.3%. Data from European Commission showed economic sentiment in the euro zone slipped to 106.2 points in January, down from 107.4 in December.

AT HOME

Benchmark indices ended absolutely flat after a choppy session. Sensex settled at 35591, down 1 point while Nifty was unchanged at 10651. BSE mid-cap and small-cap indices however managed to gain 0.2% and 0.8% respectively. BSE Metal index and Bankex climbed 1.9% and 1.4% respectively, becoming top gainers among the sectoral indices while Telecom index was the top loser, down 1.3%, followed by 1% lower Energy and FMCG indices.

FIIs net bought stocks and stock futures worth Rs 130 cr and 864 cr respectively but net sold index futures worth Rs 1667 cr. DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 502 cr.

Rupee depreciated 1 paise to end at 71.12/$.

ICICI Bank's net profit came below expectation but NII was a beat and asset quality improved. Net profit fell 2.7% to Rs 1605 cr while NII rose 20.5% to Rs 6875 cr.

Slippages, at Rs. 2019 cr, were at 14 quarter low.

Bajaj Auto reported better-than-expected net profit but operational performance was a miss. Revenue rose 16% to Rs 7409 cr, EBITDA was down 7.5% at Rs 1156 cr, margin dipped 400 bps to 15.6% and net profit rose 15.7% to Rs 1102 cr.

OUTLOOK

Today morning, Asian markets are trading with gains of 0.2%-0.9% and SGX Nifty is suggesting about 50 points higher start for our market.

After achieving downside target of 10612 on Tuesday, yesterday was a day of consolidation as Nifty, after a choppy session, ended absolutely flat at 10652.

The benchmark is slated to open around 10700 today. 10800 continues to be immediate hurdle on the way up, upon crossover of which 10987, the top made last week, would be the bigger resistance to eye.

10583, the bottom made on Tuesday, continues to be immediate support. 

Bharti Airtel, Indiabulls Housing, Hero Motocorp, UPL, Powergrid and VEDL will report their quarterly earnings today.