On Friday, Indian equity indices closed a bumpy day slightly down, extending losses for the second day in a row. The benchmark indices began quietly and remained turbulent throughout the day, with a gloomy tone. Traders were wary in the aftermath of a private report claiming that the Finance Ministry’s internal predictions for real GDP growth in FY23 are lower than the 8-8.5% put forth in the 2021-22 Economic Survey.

The Nifty50 has formed a small negative candle on the daily chart with minor upper and lower shadows, according to Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.

“The lack of sharp follow-through weakness on Friday could be a good sign for the bulls to make a comeback. The Nifty sustaining above 17,450 on Monday could bring a pullback rally in the market,” he said.

Indian Indices

Sensex fell 143.20 points or 0.24% to 58,644.82 and Nifty was down by 43.90 points or 0.25% to 17,516.30 in the previous session. Sensex touched high and low of 58,943.62 and 58,446.95, respectively. There were 11 stocks advancing against 19 stocks declining on the index while Nifty traded in a range of 17,617.80 and 17,462.55 and there were 16 stocks advancing against 34 stocks declining on the index.

Broader Indices

The broader indices ended in red with the BSE Midcap index falling 0.68%, while the Small cap index was down by 0.45%. The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Metal up by 1.28%, Basic Materials up by 0.51%, Utilities up by 0.37%, Power up by 0.29% and FMCG up by 0.08%, while Realty down by 2.83%, Auto down by 1.01%, Consumer discretionary down by 0.81%, Energy down by 0.68% and banking down by 0.65% were the top losing indices on BSE.

Support and Resistance levels

Key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 17,446.66, followed by 17,377.03. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 17,601.87 and 17,687.43, according to pivot charts.

SGX Nifty

The trends on SGX Nifty indicate a negative opening for the index in India with a 24-points loss. The Nifty futures were trading at 17,464.00 on the Singaporean Exchange around 06:45 hours IST.

Asian Markets

Asian markets finished mixed. The Hang Seng gained 3.24% and the Nikkei 225 rose 0.73%. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.97%

US Markets

The S&P 500 rose 23.09 points, or 0.5%, to 4,500.53.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 21.42 points, or 0.1%, to 35,089.74.

The Nasdaq rose 219.19 points, or 1.6%, to 14,098.01.

The Russell 2000 index of smaller companies rose 11.33 points, or 0.6%, to 2,002.36.

European Markets

European markets finished broadly lower on Friday with shares in Germany leading the region. The DAX was down 1.75% while France’s CAC 40 was off 0.77% and London’s FTSE 100 was lower by 0.17%.

RBI is expected to keep policy rates unchanged next week: Experts

Reserve Bank is likely to maintain the status quo on key policy rates in its next bi-monthly economic policy, which will be the first after the presentation of the Union Budget for 2022-23. Experts, however, are of the opinion that RBI’s monetary policy committee (MPC) may change the policy stance from ‘accommodative’ to ‘neutral’ and tinker with the reverse-repo rate as part of the liquidity normalisation process. The next bi-monthly monetary policy is scheduled to be announced on Wednesday at the end of three-day deliberations of the MPC beginning Monday. Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda, said given the assurance on growth as per the budget and the possibility of inflation rising mainly due to crude oil, “we expect the RBI to start the process of normalisation by increasing the reverse repo rate by 25 bps”.

IndusInd Bank files a complaint with the NCLT against Zee Entertainment for a Rs 83 crore default

IndusInd Bank Limited has moved National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai Bench claiming default of Rs 83 crore by Zee Entertainment. “An application has been filed against the Company, under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 read with Rule 4 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy (Application to Adjudicating Authority) Rules 2016, by IndusInd Bank Limited, claiming to be a Financial Creditor, before the Hon’ble National Company Law Tribunal, Mumbai Bench for initiation of Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process against the Company, claiming a default of Rs.83,08,00,000,” Zee said in a BSE filing. Zee said that it is a party to the Debt Service Reserve Account Guarantee Agreement (DSRA Guarantee Agreement) entered into with IndusInd Bank Limited for the term loan facility advanced to Siti Networks Limited.

Cipla will acquire 32.49% in a solar power company

Cipla on Friday said it has signed a pact to acquire a 32.49% stake in AMP Energy Green Eleven to set up a captive solar power project in Maharashtra. The company has entered into a shareholder’s agreement along with the power purchase agreement to acquire up to 32.49% stake on a fully diluted basis in AMP Energy Green Eleven, the Mumbai-based company said in a regulatory filing. The acquisition is in line with the commitment to enhance the share of renewable power sources in its operation and to comply with regulatory requirements for being a captive user under Indian electricity laws, it added. AMP Energy Green Eleven was incorporated on November 21, 2020, and is engaged in the business of generating and supplying electrical power generated using solar energy.

Godrej Properties has decided to terminate a planned investment in DB Realty

Godrej Properties on February 4 said its board has decided not to proceed with a previously announced plan to invest Rs 400 crore to acquire around 10% stake in DB Realty. The latest decision was taken after the board took into consideration the feedback from the stakeholders and minority investors, it said in a regulatory filing. “After prolonged discussions and taking into consideration the feedback from the stakeholders and minority investors, the Board has decided not to proceed with any further evaluation of a potential investment in the equity capital of the D B Realty and the Platform,” the firm’s statement said. The company may, however, continue to explore the possibility of evaluating projects with DB Realty on a case to case basis, Godrej added.

Adani Green Energy raises Rs 612.30 crore through an NCD to refinance debt

Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) Group, through its three subsidiaries, has raised Rs 612.30 crore in their maiden domestic bond issuance, the group said in a statement on Friday. The proceeds from the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) will be utilised to part-refinance existing rupee term loans bearing higher interest costs. The NCDs have an average coupon rate of 7.83% per annum, which is significantly lower than existing debt, the statement said. The three subsidiaries– Adani Green Energy (UP) Ltd, Prayatna Developers Pvt Ltd, and Parampujya Solar Energy Pvt Ltd– have a collective operational capacity of 930 megawatts (MW). They raised the funds by private placement of bonds.

Bulk Deal data

ALPHA LEON ENTERPRISES LLP bought 20,00,000 shares of Antarctica Graphics Ltd at Rs 2.70 per share on NSE.

LODHA CHANCHAL DEVI sold 1,15,000 shares in Aro Granite Industries at Rs 69.94 per share on the NSE.

GANITA TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED bought 9,94,141 equity shares in Bharat Wire Ropes Ltd. at Rs 80.75 per share on the NSE, the bulk deals data showed.

L7 HITECH PRIVATE LIMITED picked up 1,35,000 equity shares in HP Adhesives Limited at Rs 395.03 per share respectively on the NSE.

RASHI ENTERPRISES sold 9,94,141 shares in Bharat Wire Ropes Ltd. at Rs 80.75 per share on the NSE.

DII and FII data

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth a net Rs 2,267.86 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 621.98 crore in the Indian equity market on February 4, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

NSE F&O Ban

No security/stock has been put under the F&O ban for February 7. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit.