RIL, HUL, Airtel help indices log V-shaped recovery; Sensex ends 21 points up
Benchmark equity indices slumped over 1 per cent in Friday’s intra-day session but made a sharp V-shaped recovery to end the day with little change. Financials and metals exerted pressure on the bourses, even as gains in Reliance Industries, FMCG and select private bank stocks tried to limit the losses.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 722 points intra-day but recovered to close 21 points, or 0.04 per cent, higher at 52,344 levels. The broader Nifty50 index, meanwhile, bounced back from the day’s low of 15,451 to end at 15,683 levels, down 8 points or 0.05 per cent.
The correction was deeper in the broader markets where the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices closed 0.70 per cent and 0.89 per cent down, respectively.
Overall, the market breadth was heavily skewed towards bears with the Advance to Decline ratio standing at 1:2. ONGC, Coal India, Power Grid, JSW Steel, UPL, NTPC, M&M, SBI, and Nestle India were the top laggards among the large-cap stocks while Mahanagar Gas, Ashok Leyland, SAIL, Canara Bank, Max Financial Services, Graphite India, HEG, Hindustan Copper, Affle India, and Wockhardt Pharma cracked in the mid and small-cap segments.
Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank declined nearly 2 per cent while the Nifty Auto, Metal, and Realty indices slipped up to 1 per cent each. On the upside, the Nifty FMCG index ended 0.29 per cent higher.
Shares of Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group (ADAG) company Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) hit an over two-year high of Rs 105.90, up 5 per cent on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday. The stock of the electric utility company was quoting at its highest level since May 30, 2019, and crossed the Rs 100-mark after a gap of over two years.
Shares of Hindustan Unilever (HUL) rose nearly 2 per cent to Rs 2,457.90 on the BSE in intra-day trade on Friday, in an otherwise weak market, on a positive outlook. The stock of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) company was trading close to its 52-week high level of Rs 2,504.30, touched on April 13, 2021. It was trading higher for the fourth straight days. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 0.66 per cent at 51,994 points at 12:35 pm.
Shares of Tips Industries (TIL) were locked in 5 per cent upper circuit for the fourth straight day at Rs 1,124.80 on the BSE on Friday in an otherwise weak market after the company reported robust set of numbers for the March quarter (Q4FY21). The stock of the movies & entertainment company was trading at its all time high level.
Shares of SBI Cards and Payment Services tanked 6 per cent to Rs 984 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade on Friday after nearly 7 per cent of the company’s total equity changed hands on the NSE and BSE. At 10:26 am, the stock was trading 5.5 per cent lower at Rs 994 on the NSE. Earlier in the day, around 64 million shares, representing 6.8 per cent of the total equity of the company, changed hands on the NSE and BSE, exchanges data shows.
Shares of Globus Spirits hit a new high of Rs 584 after rallying 10 per cent on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intra-day trade on Friday. The stock has now zoomed 50 per cent in a week since reporting a more-than-doubled consolidated profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 50.63 crore in the March quarter (Q4FY21), on the back of strong revenue. It had PAT of Rs 19.35 crore in the year-ago quarter.
Here are some picks from the week gone by.
