Domestic equity markets kicked of the week on a muted note amid the mixed global cues on Monday. However, traders awaited clear directions for the markets. Adani Group and Hindenburg saga will be heard in Supreme Court today.
At 9.20 am, BSE Sensex was trading 44.57 points, or 0.07 per cent, higher at Rs 60,727.27, whereas NSE’s Nifty50 index was up 13.45 points, or 0.08 per cent, at 17,869.95 at the same time. Broader markets were trading flat as BSE midcap and smallcap indices were barely changed at the opening tick. Fear gauge India VIX spiked about 4 per cent to 13.20-level.
The Nifty remained largely range bound in the last few sessions and was able to hold above 17800 levels despite negative global cues. However, broader markets saw a strong recovery where midcap and small cap stocks significantly outperformed the Nifty, said ICICIDirect Research.
“Sectorally, technology and pharma stocks have been major gainers. Going ahead, we expect the Nifty to move higher towards 18200 in the coming week due to expected short covering among heavyweights, primarily among banking names,” it said.
Adani Enterprises and Adani Ports topped among the gainers in the Nifty50 pack. The former one rose over 3 per cent, whereas the latter one was up 2 per cent. Bajaj Auto, Titan, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Finserv and UPL were other gainer among blue chip counters, rising a per cent each.
Among the losers, Infosys dropped more than a per cent. Tech Mahindra, Wipro, Coal India and Hindustan Unilever were the key laggards.
Adani Power, Adani Transmission, Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas plunged 5 per cent each during the early trade. Among other group stocks, NDTV, ACC, Ambuja Cement and Adani Wilmar were down marginally.
There is no clear direction in the market. There are both negative and positive signs. The rise in the dollar index to 103.7 and the hardening of bond yields are unfavorable for emerging market equity. Rising yields indicate that rates will remain higher for longer. Also, the spike in Brent crude to around $86 is a macro concern for India, said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
“The positive is that the sustained FII selling has reversed with a Rs 1458 crore buy figure on Friday. It remains to be seen whether this trend will sustain. If it does, bulls can take the markets higher. Capital goods, IT, cement and high-quality banks after the correction are on strong wicket,” he said.
In the broader markets, EKI Energy Services hit a lower circuit of 20 per cent after muted performance in the December 2022 quarter. Welspun Enterprises plunged 11 per cent. Kennametal India and Balkrishna Industries tumbled 10 per cent each after disappointing quarterly performance.
Among the gainers, Dishman Carbogen jumped over 13 per cent after strong quarterly earnings, whereas Oil India advanced 8 per cent. Galaxy Surfactants, Tata Telecommunications, Repro India and Ashoka Buildcon jumped 5-7 per cent each.
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