Market Today
The benchmark Sensex and Nifty indices are likely to open higher on February 13 as trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a positive start for the broader index with a gain of 52.50 points.
On February 12, the Indian market opened marginally higher but failed to build on the gains as the sell-off intensified, driving the Sensex and the Nifty to close near the day’s low ahead of the CPI inflation data announcement.
The Sensex, which sank to the day’s low of 70,922.57, narrowed losses to close 523 points, or 0.73 percent, lower at 71,073. The Nifty ended the day 166.50 points, or 0.76 percent, down at 21,616. During the day, it slipped to 21,575.
The Nifty Bank index came under intense pressure to sink to the day’s low of 44,633.85. It ended the day 1.65 percent lower at 44,882.25.
The pivot point calculator indicates that the Nifty is likely to take immediate support at 21,576, followed by 21,515 and 21,417 levels, while on the higher side, it may see immediate resistance at 21,772 followed by 21,833 and 21,931 levels.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms, which could impact Indian as well as international markets.
GIFT Nifty
Trends in the GIFT Nifty indicate a positive start for the broader index in India, with a gain of 52.50 points or 0.24 percent. The Nifty futures were trading around the 21,745 level.
Trade setup for today: Top 15 things to know before the opening bell
US Markets
The Nasdaq slipped on Monday afternoon after briefly surpassing its record closing high from November 2021, while the Dow rose modestly ahead of two US inflation reports this week that could influence Federal Reserve policy.
The benchmark S&P 500 closed slightly lower but remained just above the 5,000-point level it crossed on Friday.
Traders awaited January’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Producer Price Index (PPI) this week to gauge prospects for interest rate cuts. This week the market also gets data on industrial production, retail sales and preliminary University of Michigan consumer sentiment.
The S&P 500 lost 4.12 points, or 0.08 percent, to end at 5,022.49 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 42.74 points, or 0.27 percent, to 15,947.92. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 135.76 points, or 0.35 percent, to 38,807.45.
Asian Markets
Asian markets mostly rose as more markets return to trade from the Lunar New Year holiday, including South Korea and Singapore.
Japan’s corporate goods price index rose 0.2 percent in January, beating the 0.1 percent expected by economists polled by Reuters. That compares with the revised 0.2 percent growth rate for December.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 popped 1.82 percent on its open, crossing the 37,000 mark and pushing 34-year highs, while the Topix climbed 1.02 percent.
December IIP growth rises to 3.8%
Growth in India’s industrial output edged up to 3.8 percent in December 2023, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on February 12.
At 3.8 percent, the latest industrial growth figure as per the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is up from the November 2023 figure of 2.4 percent.
In December 2022, India’s industrial output had grown by 5.1 percent.
Meanwhile, for April-December 2023, industrial growth stood at 6.1 percent as against 5.5 percent in April-December 2022.
India’s January CPI inflation eases to 5.10%, core inflation drops to 3.6%
India’s headline retail inflation rate decelerated to a three-month low of 5.10 percent in January due to easing food prices, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on February 12.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation print in December 2023 was 5.69 percent. At 5.10 percent, the latest CPI inflation figure is as per expectations, with economists having predicted prices likely rose 5.09 percent year-on-year in the first month of 2024.
While headline retail inflation cooled in January, it has now spent 52 consecutive months above the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) medium-term target of 4 percent. However, inflation has now been within the tolerance range of 2 percent to 6 percent for the fifth month in a row.
Coal India Q3 profit soars 18% YoY to Rs 9,093.69 crore
Coal India reported a 17.8 percent rise in consolidated net profit to Rs 9,093.69 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The government-owned company had reported a net profit of Rs 7,719.11 crore in the year-ago period.
Revenue from operations increased nearly 2.7 percent to Rs 36,153.17 crore in the quarter under review. Moreover, CIL’s consolidated sales increased to Rs 38357.23 crore in the October-December period from Rs 36,754.29 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal year.
Dollar
The dollar rose modestly against major currencies on Monday, as investors braced for data on U.S. inflation and retail sales this week for clues on when the Federal Reserve may begin widely anticipated interest rate cuts.
Bitcoin hits $50,000 level for first time in more than two years
Bitcoin hit the $50,000 level for the first time in more than two years as the world’s largest cryptocurrency was buoyed by expectations of interest rate cuts later this year and last month’s regulatory nod for U.S. exchange-traded funds designed to track its price.
The cryptocurrency has risen 16.3 percent so far this year, on Monday touching its highest since Dec. 27, 2021. At 12:56pm EST (1756 GMT), bitcoin was up 4.96 percent on the day at $49,899, having oscillated around the $50,000 level.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net bought shares worth Rs 126.60 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) purchased Rs 1,711.75 crore worth of stocks on February 12, provisional data from the NSE showed.
Stocks under F&O ban on NSE
The NSE has added Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, and Bandhan Bank to the F&O ban list for February 13, while retaining Ashok Leyland, Aurobindo Pharma, Balrampur Chini Mills, Biocon, Delta Corp, Hindustan Copper, India Cements, Indus Towers, Punjab National Bank, SAIL and Zee Entertainment Enterprises to the said list. However, UPL was removed from the said list.
With inputs from Reuters and other agencies
