Domestic benchmark indices staged a smart recovery in the second half of the session and extended its gains for the straight second session on Wednesday. Buying in index heavyweights and positive global cues supported the market sentiments at Dalal street.
For the day, BSE Sensex jumped 242.83 points, or 0.40 per cent, to 61,275.09. The Nifty50 gained 86 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 18,015.85. Broader markets were in tandem with the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled gained about half a per cent, each. India VIX dropped more than 4 per cent to 12.86-level.
Markets were slightly volatile in early trade, but recovered in late trades to end with steady gains as investors mostly resorted to selective buying. Traders are taking a cautious approach currently due to uncertainty in global markets and the trend could continue for some more time, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities.
“The Nifty has also formed a bullish candle and a higher bottom formation on intraday charts which supports further uptrend from the current levels. For the trend-following traders, 17,900 would act as a key support zone, above which the index could move up to 18,100-18,150. On the flip side, below 17,900, bulls may prefer to exit out from the trading long position,” he said.
Barring Nifty FMCG and Pharma indices, all other sectors settled higher on Monday. Nifty Realty and IT indices jumped more than a per cent, each, whereas the Auto index rose about a per cent. PSU banks, media and metal stocks also posted decent gains during the day.
Among the Adani Group stocks, Ambuja Cements Adani Enterprises jumped 2 per cent each, while ACC added over a per cent. Adani Ports and Adani Wilmar were marginally up. NDTV hit an upper circuit of 5 per cent. However, Adani Green Energy, Adani Total Gas, Adani Power and Adani Transmission continued to hit a lower circuit of 5 per cent each.
Tech Mahindra topped the gainers in the Nifty50 pack with a 6 per cent rally. Apollo Hospitals surged 5 per cent, whereas Eicher Motors gained 5 per cent, whereas Reliance, Bajaj Finserv and Grasim jumped 2 per cent, each. Among the losers, Hindustan Unilever and Sun Pharma dropped a per cent, each, followed by ONGC, Larsen & Toubro and IndusInd Bank.
The US inflation, though it slowed down compared to the previous month, came in higher than expected at 6.4 per cent YoY. Higher inflation, combined with a strong labour market, has raised concerns that the Fed will remain hawkish for an extended period, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
“Despite a sluggish start in the domestic market, recovery in the IT and auto sectors contributed to a positive finish. A reversal in the FII pattern to net buying has also helped maintain optimism in the domestic market,” he said.
A total of 3,600 stocks traded for the day on BSE, of which 1,789 settled higher, while 1,679 settled higher. The remaining 132 stocks ended unchanged. A total of 161 stocks hit an upper circuit on BSE, whereas 252 stocks hit the lower circuit during the trading session.
In the broader markets, Primo Chemicals hit an upper circuit of 20 per cent, whereas Finolex Cables jumped 13 per cent. Brightcom Group surged 12 per cent, whereas Universal Cables and Balaji Telefilms rallied 11 per cent for the day. Tejas Networks and Torrent Power jumped 9-1o per cent, each.
On the contrary, Kitex Garments declined about 13 per cent after the company reported a loss of Rs 4.23 in the December 2022 quarter. EKI Energy Services continued to hit a lower circuit but its circuit filter was revised to 10 per cent. BF Investments, Ramco Systems and Jindal Polyfilms declined up to 10 per cent.
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