Sensex takes a breather, gains 1,628 points; Nifty ends at 8,745


After days of brutal sell-off, the domestic equity market witnessed a sharp rebound on Friday and ended with around 6 per cent gains as positive global cues and coordinated efforts by countries across the globe to fight coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic soothed investors’ nerves.

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied 1,628 points or 5.75 per cent to settle at 29,916. Of 30 constituents, 28 advanced and just 2 declined. Reliance Industries (RIL), HDFC and TCS contributed the most to the index’s gains. ONGC jumped over 18.5 per cent to Rs 72.45 apiece. It ended as the top gainer on the index. Other heavyweights such as RIL, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), and TCS gained in the range of 10-12 per cent.

On the downside, HDFC Bank slipped over 1 per cent to Rs 882 after global brokerage house Bernstein downgraded the stock to ‘underperform’ and sharply slashed the target price to Rs 750 from Rs 1,400 earlier.

On the NSE, headline index Nifty gained 482 points or 5.83 per cent to settle at 8,745 levels.

On a weekly basis, both Sensex and Nifty slipped over 12 per cent.

All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the green. Nifty FMCG advanced the most – up around 9 per cent to 26,073 levels while Nifty IT surged over 8.5 per cent to 12,306 points. Metal stocks, too, witnessed solid buying as the Nifty Metal index ended 7.7 per cent higher at 1,695 levels.

In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap 100 index jumped around 5 per cent to 12,642 levels while the Nifty SmallCap index gained over 2 per cent to 3,874 points.

Market breadth was in favour of buyers as out of 2,605 companies traded on the BSE, 1,447 advanced and 1,008 declined while 150 remained unchanged. Volatility index India VIX declined over 7 per cent to 66.92 levels.

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Sensex tanks 1,448 points on Friday on Coronavirus jitters; Nifty ends at 11,219


Equity market witnessed one of the steepest falls in the recent years on Friday as the fears of coronavirus turning into a pandemic triggered all-round sell-off at the bourses. Hopes that the epidemic that started in China would be over in a few months and economic activity would return to normal have been shattered, as new infections reported around the world now surpass those in China.

As a result, the S&P BSE Sensex nosedived 1,448 points or 3.64 per cent to end the session at 38,297. All 30 constituents ended in the red. Tech Mahindra (down around 9 per cent) took the biggest knock on the index. Other major contributors to the index were Reliance Industries (RIL), Infosys, HDFC, ICICI Bank, and TCS.

On the NSE, the 50-share index Nifty plunged 432 points or 3.7 per cent to end at 11,202.

Volatility index India VIX zoomed 29 per cent to 22.87 levels.

Sector wise, all the indices on the NSE ended deep in the red. Nifty IT index dropped over 5 per cent to 15,274 levels while Nifty Metal index cracked over 7 per cent to 2,233 levels.

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As markets end flat, over 70 stocks hit fresh 52-week highs


The Indian market ended the truncated week on a sombre note, posting mild gains on both indices. Strong movements by Infosys and pharmaceutical stocks helped the Street, but selling in HDFC group stocks, FMCG stocks capped upside.

The 30-share BSE Sensex was up 28.05 points at 31,596.06 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 4.55 points at 9,857.05.

The market was closed on Friday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi.

The broader markets outperformed benchmark indices as the BSE Midcap index gained 0.8 percent and Smallcap was up 0.4 percent on positive breadth. About five shares advanced for every four shares falling on the BSE.

However, among these times, there were over 70 stocks which had a good day and clocked fresh 52-week high milestones. Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Holding, Chennai Petro, Deepak Fertilisers, Avenue Supermarts, Indiabulls Housing Finance, IndusInd Bank, JSW Steel, and Tata Steel, among others, were in that list of gainers.

Meanwhile, there were 28 stocks that also hit fresh all-time highs, thereby increasing investor wealth. Bajaj Finserv, Deepak Fertilisers, Avenue Supermarts, IndusInd Bank and Heritage Foods, among others were a part of this list.

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