It was a wild ride for the markets on Friday as a hawkish monetary policy by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) led to a tug of war between bulls and bears. While an in-line repo rate hike of 50 basis points gave ammunition to the bulls, bears tried to drag the indices as inflation projections were maintained for fiscal 2022-23 (FY23) despite three consecutive rate hikes.
Overall, the S&P BSE Sensex oscillated within a band of 405 points during the day, hitting a high of 58,649, and a low of 58,244. The index ended at 58,388, up 89 points or 0.15 per cent. The Nifty50, on the other hand, closed 16 points, or 0.09 per cent, higher at 17,397 levels.
In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added up to 0.2 per cent. Among sectors, the Nifty Auto index fell over 1 per cent, bogged down by Balkrishna Industries (down 7 per cent), and M&M (2 per cent). On the upside, the Nifty IT index gained 0.6 per cent.
Rate-sensitive stocks hogged the limelight as Manappuram Finance soared nearly 10 per cent, clocking its biggest intra-day gain in recent times. Meanwhile, shares of State Bank of India were up 1.5 per cent and were seen inching towards a new historic peak; automobile major Bajaj Auto and realty player DLF were trading with modest gains.
The rate hike signaled the entire reversal of the Covid-era cuts. The latest rate action takes the total tally of rate hikes since May to 140 basis points. Accounting for introducing the SDF at a higher rate than the reverse repo rate in April, effective rate hikes stand at 180 bps in 2022.
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Equity markets rose for a second consecutive day on Friday, propelled by across-the-board buying. The S&P BSE Sensex hit a high of 54,937 intra-day, before ending at 54,885, up 632 points or 1.17 per cent.
The NSE Nifty, on the other hand, settled the day at 16,352, up 182 points or 1.13 per cent. The index hit a high of 16,371 earlier today. In the broader markets, the Nifty MidCap100 index and the Nifty SmallCap100 indices rose 1.4 per cent each.
Apollo Hospitals, Tech M, HDFC Life, Hero MotoCorp, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Infosys, L&T, HUL, and Bajaj Finserv zoomed over 2.5 per cent on the Nifty. Dr Lal Path Labs, Whirlpool of India, IndiaMART InterMESH, Page Industries, Route Mobile, Balrampur Chini, and Sonata Software, on the other hand, surged up to 9.5 per cent in the broader market.
Sectorally, the Nifty IT index was the lead gainer, up 2.54 per cent, on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The only loser was the Nifty Metal index, down 0.06 per cent.
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It was a one-way rally on Dalal Street on Friday as investors started the first day of the new financial year (FY23) with across-the-board buying. The frontline S&P BSE Sensex zoomed 708 points, or 1.2 per cent, to settle at 59,277. The Nifty50, meanwhile, soared 206 points or 1.2 per cent to end at 17,670.
The broader indices, too, advanced in-line with large-caps with the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices climbing 1.4 per cent and 1.7 per cent, respectively.
NTPC, PowerGrid, IndusInd Bank, SBI, HDFC, M&M, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and ITC were the biggest Sensex gainers, surging in the range of 1.5 per cent to 6 per cent.
On the downside, only Tech M, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Sun Pharma, Titan, and Infosys were the drags, down up to 0.7 per cent.
In the broader market space, Adani Power, BHEL, Bajaj Holdings, RBL Bank, SML Isuzu, Sahyadri Industries, Mrs Bectors Foods, and Spandana Sphoorty leaped between 5 per cent and 10 per cent.
Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank index jumped 4 per cent on the bourses with Union Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank, and Bank of Maharashtra adding over 4 per cent each.
The Nifty Bank, Private Bank, Media, Financial Services, Realty, and FMCG indices, meanwhile, added between 1.5 per cent and 2 per cent.
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Domestic equity markets traded within a narrow range on Friday, fluctuating between gains and losses, as a slew of downgrades in the GDP growth forecasts for FY22 along with a slowdown in the vaccination programme amid supply crunch kept investors indecisive about the market direction.
India recorded over 343,000 fresh Covid-19 infections on Friday, taking the caseload tally to a little over 24 million. According to a government official, two billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines will be made available in the country between August and December, enough to vaccinate the entire population. This comes after Delhi, Maharashtra and Karnataka decided to suspend the vaccination for people in the 18-44 age group till further orders amid an acute shortage of vaccines.
However, favourable global cues helped the indices to limit losses. In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.3 per cent, with banks and retail stocks leading the gains, following a healthy session in Asia.
Against this backdrop, the BSE barometer of 30-shares culminated the session at 48,732.5 levels, adding 42 points or 0.09 per cent. During the choppy session, the index hit a high and low of 48,899 and 48,473, respectively.
On the NSE, the broader 50-share index defended the 14,650-mark to settle at 14,678 levels, down 19 points or 0.13 per cent.
Overall, 21 of the 30 shares on the Sensex and 34 of the 50 constituents of the Nifty ended the day in the red. Coal India, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Grasim, and IndusInd Bank on the Nifty and M&M, SBI, ONGC, Dr Reddy’s Labs, and NTPC on the Sensex ended the day as top laggards.
On a weekly basis, both, the Sensex and the Nifty50 indices slipped around 1 per cent each.
On the upside, Asian Paints, UPL, ITC, Nestle India, L&T, HUL, Britannia, PowerGrid, and Reliance Industries were the combined top gainers of the day.
Profit-taking in the broader markets was sharper than benchmarks. The S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices lost 1.2 per cent each.
Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index nursed the steepest loss of around 4 per cent, followed the Nifty Realty index, down 3 per cent and the Nifty PSU Bank and Auto indices, down 2 per cent each. On the upside, only Nifty FMCG index ended in the green, up 2 per cent.
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The benchmark indices witnessed a see-saw trade on Friday as markets failed to breach crucial resistance zones at the higher levels. As per technical charts, if the frontline S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty surpass their psychological levels of 50,000 and 15,000 levels, respectively, then the indices may log a 4-per cent rally in the short-term.
However, with the Covid-19 situation in the country getting grimmer day by day, market participants have stayed on the sidelines. During Friday’s session, the Sensex index dropped 250 points from day’s high of 49,089 to settle 28 points, or 0.06 per cent higher at 48,832.
The NSE’s Nifty50, on the other hand, ended at 14,618 levels, up 36 points or 0.25 per cent. The index had reached an intra-day high of 14,698.
Wipro, which jumped 10 per cent in the intra-day trade and hit a record high of Rs 474 on the NSE, ended as the top gainer (up 9 per cent) on the Nifty after clocking its best performance in the March quarter in a decade. ICICI Securities said that the key highlights of the quarter were healthy deal wins, up 16.7 per cent QoQ, to $1.4 billion, healthy net addition of 7,404 employees, higher offshore up 180 bps to 54.5 per cent. READ MORE
That apart, Hindalco, Asian Paints, Cipla, BPCL, HCL Tech, and UltraTech Cement were the other best performing stocks on the Nifty, up in the range of 2 per cent to 4 per cent. On the downside, Tata Steel, L&T, ICICI Bank, SBI, Bajaj Finance, and JSW Steel slipped up to 2 per cent to end as top drags on the index.
Investor participation in the broader markets, however, remained strong with the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices settling 1.2 per cent and 1.05 per cent higher, respectively.
Sectorally, the Nifty Pharma index ended 2 per cent higher while the Nifty Auto, IT, Metal, and FMCG indices gained between 0.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent. On the downside, the Nifty Bank, PSU Bank, and Realty indices slipped up to 0.6 per cent.
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Investors took some profit off the table on Friday after markets scaled historic levels a day before, when the S&P BSE Sensex surpassing the 50,000-mark for the first time. That said, investors rewarded stocks of the firms that delivered strong Q3FY21 results.
In the intra-day trade, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex plunged 790 points and hit a low of 48,835 levels. The index settled around day’s low level of 48,878 levels, down 746 points or 1.5 per cent. Financial bore the maximum brunt with Axis Bank declining 4.4 per cent on the Sensex, followed by SBI (3.5 per cent), ICICI Bank (3.7 per cent), and IndusInd Bank (3.5 per cent).
On the flipside, Bajaj Auto, HUL, TCS, Ultratech Cement, and Bajaj Finserv were the only gainers on the Sensex.
On the NSE, the Nifty50 settled at 14,372 levels, down 218 points or 1.5 per cent.
The broader markets, however, fared slightly better. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended 1.1 per cent lower at 18,777.46 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed at 18,442 levels, down 0.93 per cent.
Sectorally, most of the key indices settled lower. The Nifty Metal index underperformed the benchmark and closed 4 per cent lower. Among individual stocks, SAIL fell 14 per cent, JSPL slipped 8 per cent, and Hindustan Copper declined over 4 per cent.
That apart, Nifty Bank index tanked over 1,000 points, or 3.25 per cent, to close at 31,176 levels.
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The domestic stock market ended flat with a positive bias on Friday. The S&P BSE Sensex settled 14 points, or 0.04 per cent higher at 38,854.5 levels while NSE’s Nifty ended at 11,464, up 15 points, or 0.13 per cent. India VIX dropped nearly 3 per cent to 20.68 levels.
SBI (up 2 per cent) ended as the top gainer on the S&P BSE Sensex while IndusInd Bank (down nearly 2 per cent) was the biggest loser. Of 30 constituents, 10 advanced while 20 declined.
On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.29 per cent while Nifty added 1.15 per cent.
The broader market, however, fared better than the frontline indices. The S&P BSE MidCap index settled at 14,660 levels, up 0.58 per cent and the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended 0.52 per cent higher at 14,558.
Sectorally, IT stocks rallied the most. The Nifty IT index ended 1.29 per cent higher at 18,633 levels. Nifty PSU Bank index gained 0.79 per cent while Nifty FMCG index settled 0.63 per cent higher at 30,972 levels.
Shares of Wipro and Tata Elxsi hit their respective 52-week highs on the BSE on Friday on the expectation of strong earnings growth in the current quarter (July-September) of the financial year 2020-21 (FY21). READ MORE
Shares of Max Healthcare Institute (MHIL) hit a high of Rs 133.80 on the BSE during the day on the back of heavy block deals. The stock settled at Rs 131.30, up around 17.5 per cent.
Strides Pharma ended nearly 13 per cent higher at Rs 685.90. In the past two months, the stock has rallied over 64 per cent after the company reported strong performance across all business segments in the April-June 2020 quarter (Q1FY21) despite significant disruptions and ambiguity in the business environment due to Covid 19.
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The Indian markets ended over half a per cent higher on Friday, lifted by financial stocks, while volatility index, India VIX, dipped 4 per cent to below 20 levels.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained 214 points, or 0.56 per cent, to 38,435 levels, and the Nifty50 index ended above the 11,350-mark at 11,372, up 59 points or 0.53 per cent. NTPC (up over 4.5 per cent), Asian Paints (up over 4 per cent) and Power Grid (up over 4 per cent) were the top Sensex gainers. Asian Paints hit a record high of Rs 1,971 during the day. The stock settled at Rs 1,958.35 on the BSE.
On a weekly basis, Sensex gained 1.47 per cent while Nifty added 1.72 per cent.
On the flip side, ONGC (down over 1 per cent), Bharti Airtel (down 1 per cent), and Tata Steel (down nearly 1 per cent) were the biggest losers on the index.
Among other individual stocks, GMM Pfaudler surged over 8 per cent in early deals after it said it has acquired a 54 per cent stake in its parent firm Pfaudler Group for a consideration of around $27.4 million.
The trend among Nifty sectoral indices was positive, led by Nifty PSU Bank index, up 1.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, the broader markets kept up their outperformance. The S&P BSE MidCap index ended at 14,954, up 0.57 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 14,625.19, up nearly 1.5 per cent.
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The domestic stock market ended Friday’s volatile session in the negative territory, weighed down by heavyweights Reliance Industries (RIL) and the HDFC twins. Weak global markets following disappointing US gross domestic product (GDP) data, too, dented investor sentiment.
The S&P BSE Sensex ended 129 points or 0.34 per cent lower at 37,607 while the Nifty50 index gave up the 11,100-mark to settle at 11,073, down 29 points or 0.26 per cent. India VIX declined nearly 3 per cent to 24 levels.
On a weekly basis, Sensex fell 1.36 per cent while NSE’s Nifty slipped 1 per cent.
Among individual stocks, shares of RIL ended 2 per cent lower at Rs 2,067 apiece on the BSE after the company reported a profit before tax (PBT) of Rs 8,542 crore against Rs 14,366 crore reported during the same quarter last year. The company’s net profit, however, rose about 31 per cent to Rs 13,233 crore against Rs 10,104 crore in the same quarter last year.
State Bank of India (SBI) ended over 2.6 per cent up at Rs 191.45 after the lender posted 36.8 cent rise in profit before tax (PBT) at Rs 5,559.7 crore for the quarter ended June 2020 (Q1FY21) on robust growth in net interest income.
The sectoral trend on the NSE was mixed. While pharma, PSU banks, and realty counters advanced, auto and private banks ended flat with negative bias. Nifty Pharma index gained the most – up 3.6 per cent to 11,148.90 levels.
In the broader market, the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained over 0.8 per cent to 5,011 while the Nifty Midcap 100 closed 0.4 per cent higher at 15,471 points.
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