After a day’s hiatus, bears were back at Dalal Street as benchmark indices opened lower on Thursday on the back negative global cues. However, indices seesawed between red and green zone for the initial few minutes as recovery could not sustain.
At 9.20 am, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex was trading 87.83 points, or 0.15 per cent, lower at 59,323.25. NSE’s Nifty50 shed 35.65 points, or 0.20 per cent, to 17,415.25. Broader markets outperformed the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices were trading in green. Fear gauge India VIX shed over a per cent to 12.85-level.
For Nifty, 17,350-17,300 is likely to cushion any short-term blip, while the swing low of the 17,250 odd zone is expected to act as a sheet anchor for Nifty. While on the higher end, an authoritative breach beyond 17,600 could trigger the next leg of rally in the comparable period, said Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives at Angel One.
“Many stock-specific adjustments are likely to continue and provide substantial trading opportunities. And even though the indices may not be doing much, the individual stocks are not at all short of action. One should continue to identify such potential movers and trade accordingly and stay abreast with global and domestic developments on a regular basis,” he said.
Nifty Financial Services, Media and Private Bank indices posted any gains. Among the losers, the IT index dropped more than a per cent, whereas the Auto Index also posted major cuts. PSU Bank, Pharma and FMCG indices were also down.
Adani Group stocks continued to remain at focus of traders ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision later in the day. Adani Enterprises dropped 10 per cent at the opening tick, whereas Adani Ports, Ambuja Cements and ACC were also down about a per cent. Adani Total Gas dropped 2 per cent, whereas Adani Power, Adani Transmission, Adani Green hit upper circuits.
In the Nifty50 pack, Tech Mahindra Ltd and Infosys Ltd topped among the laggards, followed by Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and Maruti Suzuki Ltd. On the contrary, Bajaj Finserv Ltd jumped 2 per cent after bagging a mutual fund license. Hero Motocorp posted decent gains after strong monthly sales numbers.
The major concern for global equity markets continues to be the rising bond yields in the US, which will act as a drag for FII inflows into emerging markets like India. Yesterday the US 10-year bond yield touched 4 per cent. FIIs cannot be expected to turn buyers in this scenario, said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“Investors should make a distinction between FII selling on rising interest rates in the US and DII buying on improving prospects for the domestic economy. Domestic economy-facing stocks like banks, capital goods, cement, select autos and FMCG will continue to do well,” he said.
In the broader markets, railways stocks remained at focus on the back of Vande Bharat Train’s order win. Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd surged 8 per cent, whereas Titagarh Wagons jumped over 7 per cent. Among other gainers, Quess Corp, Rane Madras and Tata Telecommunications rose 5-6 per cent each.
On the other hand, Triveni Turbine plunged over 6 per cent, whereas Indo Amines plunged more than 5 per cent. SVP Global, Alok Textiles and Dollar Industries shed 4-5 per cent each.
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