Benchmark indices succumbed to profit booking, even as healthy buying continued in the broader market space, after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) kept repo rate unchanged for the sixth consecutive time at 4 per cent and maintained the policy stance as Accommodative.
The six-member monetary policy committee (MPC), however, revised the growth projection downward to 9.5 per cent from 10.5 per cent for the current financial year and revised the inflation projection upward to 5.1 per cent.
Furthermore, it announced the third tranche of bond buying worth Rs 40,000 crore under G-SAP 1.0. It also announced G-SAP 2.0, under which it will buy bonds worth Rs 1.2 trillion. The central bank will also buy bonds issued by state governments, unlike G-SAP 1.0 that was only for central government securities.
Post the announcement, 10-year government bond yields hardened by 0.4 per cent to top 6 per cent-mark while the equity markets gave up their gains.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 436 points from the day’s high and hit a low of 51,953. It, however, trimmed losses marginally to settle the day at 52,100 levels, down 132 points or 0.25 per cent.
On the NSE, the Nifty50 index dropped 64 points from the record high level of 15,734, touched earlier in the day, to close at 15,670 levels.
The benchmark indices were dragged down largely by banking and FMCG counters such as Nestle India, SBI, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, HUL, Axis Bank, and Titan.
Overall, the Nifty Bank index ended 1 per cent lower, followed by the Nifty Private Bank and FMCG indices, down 0.8 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively. On the upside, the Nifty Metal and Realty indices clocked gains up to 1.3 per cent.
That said, market participants continued to buy stocks in the broader markets after the RBI announced a special, Rs 15,000 crore-liquidity window for sectors like travel and toursim, tour operators, hotels, restaurants, aviation and related companies, spa clinics and beauty parlours.
The BSE MidCap index advanced 0.63 per cent while the BSE SmallCap index added 0.78 per cent. Both the indices hit record peak levels of 22,540 and 24,280, respectively in intra-day trade.
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Bulls ruled on Dalal Street on Friday, the first day of the June F&O series, as a trinity of steady decline in Covid-19 cases, the announcement of unlock in the national capital, and $6 trillion fiscal stimulus in the US held up investor confidence.
The benchmark Nifty index scaled a fresh record peak of 15,469.6 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) today, surpassing its previous record peak of 15,432 hit on February 16. The index traded higher for the sixth consecutive session as India recorded its lowest daily count of new Covid-19 cases in 44 days. The country, on Thursday, logged 186,364 fresh virus cases while death remained above 3,500-mark.
Add to it, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced earlier on Friday that the national capital will begin to unlock from Monday and said that construction activities and factories will be reopened from May 31.
Reading these developments as the first step towards a gradual uptick in economic activities, benchmark indices zoomed to day’s high of 51,529 on the S&P BSE Sensex and record peak on the Nifty. By the close, the Sensex index was quoting at 51,423 levels, up 308 points or 0.6 per cent while the Nifty50 was at 15,436-mark, up 98 points or 0.64 per cent.
Reliance Industries was the biggest contributor towards the indices’ rally today after the stock clocked its sharpest intra-day rally in two months and zoomed 6.4 per cent. The stock, which settled 5.8 per cent higher on the BSE, looks firm on both, fundamental and technical, grounds. Analysts at Jefferies maintained their ‘buy’ rating on the counter with a target of Rs 2,580 per share. READ MORE
That apart, Grasim, Adani Ports, M&M, Eicher Motors, Coal India, HDFC, Kotak Bank, and IndusInd Bank remained the top gainers of the day, up between 1 per cent and 3 per cent. On the downside, Sun Pharma, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, NTPC, PowerGrid, Shree Cement, and Nestle India were the top laggards, down up to 4.5 per cent.
Broader markets, however, settled the day in the red on the back of profit-booking. The BSE Midcap index fell 0.12 per cent and the BSE SmallCap index dropped 0.48 per cent.
In terms of sectoral participation, the Nifty PSU Bank index gained 0.7 per cent, followed by the Nifty Private Bank index, up 0.3 per cent. On the contrary, the Nifty Pharma index slipped 1.2 per cent on the NSE.
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It was a freaky Friday for Dalal Street investors as bears came roaring amid weakness in Asian markets and unabated rise in Covid-19 cases along with hiccups in vaccination drive back home. Profit booking too weighed on markets following four straight sessions of gains that led to a 4 per cent rally in the benchmark indices this week.
The benchmark indices eased 2 per cent today amid massive selling in all but pharma sector. The Nifty Bank and Financial Services indices took the sharpest knock and dropped 3 per cent each while the Nifty FMCG, Auto, IT, and Realty indices slipped up to 1.5 per cent. The Nifty Pharma index bucked the trend and gained settled 1 per cent higher.
In effect, NSE’s 50-share index erased 264 points to close at 14,631 levels dragged mainly by HDFC (down 4.2 per cent), HDFC Bank (4 per cent), ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Asian Paints, M&M, TCS, Tata Motors, and Adani Ports. The losses were, however, capped by gains in ONGC (4 per cent), Coal India, Divi’s Labs, Grasim, and Indian Oil Corporation.
On the BSE, the Sensex index nursed losses in 25 of the 30 constituents and ended at 48,782 levels today, down 983.5 points.
On a weekly basis, both the frontline indices snapped their 3-week losing streak and added around 2 per cent higher each.
SmallCap scrips, meanwhile, remained resilient in the weak market with stocks such as Uttam Sugar, Tata Metaliks,Jay Bharat Maruti, and Confidence Petroleum India rallying between 174 per cent and 16 per cent. At the index level, the S&P BSE SmallCap settled just 0.07 per cent lower.
The MidCap index, on the other hand, slipped 0.65 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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Snapping their 3-day winning streak, domestic equity markets traded range-bound in the negative territory on Friday, with a few episodes of gains. Amid mixed global cues and record Covid-19 cases back home, coupled with reports of a vaccine supply crunch, the benchmark indices dropped 0.3 per cent today.
Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex ended the day at 49,591 level, down 155 points. 50 per cent of the constituents ended the day in the red with Bajaj Finance (down 3 per cent), Ultratech Cement, NTPC, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, and Reliance Industries leading the list of losers. On the upside, Sun Pharma, HUL, Tech Mahindra, Titan Company, Dr Reddy’s Labs, and HCL Tech were the top gainers on the index, up in the range of 1 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
On the NSE, the 50-share barometer settled at 14,835 levels, down 39 points dragged down by UPL, Tata Steel, Coal India, and Axis Bank.
Trends in the broader markets were mixed as the S&P BSE SmallCap index closed 0.7 per cent higher while the S&P BSE MidCap index dipped 0.07 per cent.
The SmallCap index hit fresh record peak of 21,667, for second day in a row on the back of gains in Srei Infra, Butterfly Gandhimathi, Kilitch Drugs, Subex, Bank of Maharashtra, Aarti Surfactants, Vimta Labs, and Sasken Technologies.
Sectorally, investors appeared to be defensive with the Nifty Pharma index ending over 3 per cent up. The Nifty IT and FMCG indices, meanwhile, settled 0.8 per cent higher each.
On the downside, the Nifty Bank, Private Bank, and Auto indices slipped up to 1 per cent.
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A tug of war between bulls and bears was ultimately won by the bulls on Thursday, the day of the expiry of the weekly F&O contracts. That apart, buoyancy in the global markets on the back of a $2 trillion US government spending plan, and record GST collection for the month of March back home gave the requisite armour to investors.
Among the frontline indices, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex reclaimed the 50,000-mark on a closing basis and closed at 50,030, after advancing 521 points or 1.05 per cent. Earlier in the day, the index had briefly slipped in the red to touch a low of 49,478.5. On the NSE, the Nifty50 index closed at 14,867 levels, up 177 points or 1.2 per cent.
The index breadth remained firmly in the favour of the bulls as 25 of the 30 constituents on the Sensex and 41 of the 50 constituents on the Nifty settled the session in the green. IndusInd Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, and UltraTech Cement outperformed the Sensex today, up between 2 per cent and 4 per cent. JSW Steel, Hindalco, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, and Hero MotoCorp were the additional gainers on the Nifty, rallying up to 8 per cent.
On the downside, HUL, Nestle India, TCS, Divis Labs, HDFC Life, TCS, and Titan ended lower between 0.32 per cent and 1.3 per cent.
Taking into consideration the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices’ 1.66 per cent and 2 per cent gains, respectively, the overall market breadth was in the ratio of 1:3 in the favour of advances.
As regards sectoral performance, the Nifty Metal index settled over 5 per cent higher on the NSE today, followed by the Nifty PSU bank index, up 2.6 per cent. The Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, Private Bank, and Pharma indices, meanwhile, gained up to 2 per cent. The Nifty IT and Realty indices closed with less than a per cent gain.
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Images on investors’ trading screens turned around 180 degrees by the end of the session on Friday as bulls fought back to lift indices over a per cent higher. A drop in the US Treasury yield and a GDP growth upgrade by Moody’s for India helped the markets snap 5-day losing streak.
Tracking sluggishness in the global markets, the domestic equity markets opened in a sea of red with the frontline indices dropping over a per cent. The dip was, however, quickly bought-into, pushing markets in the positive territory in less than 120 minutes into the trade.
Mood in the global markets changed after the US Treasury yields slipped to 1.5 per cent from Thursday’s high of 1.74 pe cent. Back home, Moody’s Analytics said India’s economy is likely to grow by 12 per cent in CY2021 following a 7.1 per cent contraction last year as near-term prospects have turned more favourable.
Consequently, bulls reigned on Dalal Street for the first time in six days riding on the back of FMCG and metal counters. Both, the Nifty FMCG and Metal indices, ended over 2 per cent higher each, followed by gains in the Nifty Pharma and PSU Bank indices, up over 1 per cent. Other indices settled with less than a per cent gains, while the Nifty Realty index ended in the red, down 0.7 per cent.
Among the key headline indices, the 50-share barometer on the NSE closed above the 14,700-mark at 14,744 levels, up 186 points or 1.28 per cent. The 30-share benchmark Sensex, on the other hand, advanced 642 points, or 1.3 per cent, to end at 49,858 levels. In the intra-day deals, the Sensex and the Nifty touched 50,003 and 14,788, respectively jumping 1,416 and 350 points from day’s low.
Individually, HUL, Power Grid, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, NTPC, UPL, Reliance Industries, Divis Labs, Gail, and UltraTech Cement were the top gainers on the Nifty, while L&T, Coal India, Tech M, Bajaj Auto, Titan, and ONGC ended as the top laggards.
In the broader markets, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices closed 1.35 per cent and 0.4 per cent higher, respectively.
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A steep hike in US treasury yields took the global markets by surprise on Friday as investors dumped equities for bonds. That apart, an air strike by the United States in Syria on Thursday, targeting facilities near the Iraqi border, further dented trading sentiment.
US Treasury yields vaulted to their highest levels, of about 1.5 per cent, since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic on expectations of a strong economic expansion and related inflation. Back home, the 10-year goverment bond firmed up to 6.23 per cent on Friday mirrowing similar trends. Effectively, fear of reversal in rate cut cycle, spooked investors who off-loaded equities worth Rs 5 trillion.
Additionally, the US air strike in retaliation for a rocket attack in Iraq earlier this month, and caution ahead of the release of the gross domestic product (GDP) for the December quarter made investors sit on the fence.
In the intra-day trade, the benchmark S&P BSE Sensex tumbled 2,149 points while the Nifty50 index slumped 629 points. The indices ended near the lowest point of the day, at 49,100 and 14,529 levels, respectively, down 1,939 points and 568 points.
All the 30 constituents on the Sensex index and 50 stocks on the Nifty ended the day in the red. ONGC, JSW Steel, GAIL, M&M, Bajaj Finance, Grasim, and Hero MotoCorp were the top Nifty losers, down up to 8 per cent; Axis Bank, HDFC, Power Grid, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank were the top drags on the Sensex.
In the broader markets, small-cap stocks held their ground relatively better as the S&P BSE SmallCap index settled only 0.7 per cent down. The S&P BSE MidCap index, on the the hand, ended 1.75 per cent lower.
On the sectoral front, banking counters got butchered as yield concerns soured sentiment in the sector. Expectations that banks may have to show yield-induced fall in G-sec value as losses, investors pushed the sell button for banks. The Nifty Bank, and Private bank indices closed 5 per cent down, followed by losses in the Nifty PSU Bank index, down 4.5 per cent.
The Nifty Metal and Auto indices dropped 3 per cent while the Nifty FMCG, IT, and Pharma indices slipped 2 per cent each.
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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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Fresh concerns over coronavirus lockdown in China and European countries weighed on market sentiment, dragging benchmarks 1 per cent lower on Friday. That apart, concerns around the implementation of US President-elect Joe Biden’s proposed package tempered global recovery hopes.
The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex breached below the 49,000-mark during the intra-day trade, and hit a low of 48,795 on the BSE, plunging around 860 points from day’s high. The Nifty50, on the other hand, skid 260 points from day’s high to hit a low of 14,358. Volatility gauge, India VIX, jumped over 4 per cent today to close at 24 levels.
Sensex ended in the sea of red with 26 of the 30 constituents ending the day in the red. Tech Mahindra (down 4 per cent) was the top loser on the index, followed by losses in ONGC, HCL Tech, Asian Paints, Ultratech Cement, HUL, and NTPC, down between 2 per cent and 3.7 per cent. The index closed at 49,035 levels, down 549.5 points or 1.11 per cent.
Weightage-wise, HDFC, Reliance Industries, Infosys, ICICI Bank, and HUL dragged the index by 300 points.
On NSE, the Nifty50 index slipped below the 14,500-mark and settled at 14,433 levels, down 162 points or 1.11 per cent lower.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices settled with a cut of 1.25 per cent and 1.06 per cent, respectively.
All the sectoral indices on the NSE closed with a red tick. Nifty IT and Nifty PSU Bank index ended with 2 per cent cuts while Nifty Financial Services, FMCG, Metals, and Private bank were down 1 per cent. Nifty Bank index skid 273 points, or 0.8 per cent, and ended at 32,247.
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