by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Markets, News
By Porisma P. Gogoi,
Mumbai : Upbeat quarterly corporate earnings along with influx of foreign funds and major decisions undertaken by the government during the week catapulted the key Indian equity indices — the Sensex and the Nifty50 — to record high levels.
The benchmark indices extended their bull run for the seventh consecutive week with banking and IT stocks giving a major thrust to the upward trajectory, said market observers.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex), which crossed the psychologically important 35,000-mark during the week, augmented by a substantial 919.19 points or 2.66 per cent to close at a fresh level of 35,511.58 points.
The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) crossed the 10,900-points-level for the first time this week.
However, the Nifty50 failed to sustain that level at the closing on Friday. The index closed trade at a fresh high of 10,894.70 points — up 213.45 points, or 2 per cent, from its previous week’s close.
The indices also touched their new 52-week highs. On Friday, the Sensex scaled a fresh intra-day high of 35,542.17 points and the Nifty50 of 10,906.85 points.
“The recent rally was undoubtedly dominated by the technology and banking space. The banking stocks got lured on Thursday after the news that the government is mulling allowing 100 per cent FDI (foreign direct investment) in the sector,” D.K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, told IANS.
On the global front, stock markets across the globe rallied on the back of optimism in the US economy and expectations for a strong earnings season, Aggarwal said.
“Investors’ interest resumed in the market again after the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council announced cut in the tax rate on 29 goods and 54 categories of services,” Arpit Jain, AVP at Arihant Capital Markets, told IANS.
“Encouraging Q3 FY18 results by blue-chip firms like HDFC Bank and ITC added to the cheer,” he said.
In a major decision on Thursday, the GST Council slashed the rates on 54 services and 29 items, including old and used motor vehicles, public transport buses run on bio-fuel, sugar-boiled confectionery and packaged water, which cheered investors.
On the investment side, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors purchased scrips worth Rs 4,234.46 crore, while domestic institutional investors divested stocks worth Rs 698.65 crore during the week.
Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors bought equities worth Rs 3,596.2 crore, or $563.3 million, during January 15-19.
“The announcement of the Ministry of Finance that the government will reduce the additional borrowing of dated securities for FY18 to Rs 200 billion from Rs 500 billion that was earlier announced helped alleviate some of the uncertainty,” Shibani Kurian, Senior Vice President and Head of Equity Research, Kotak Mutual Fund, told IANS.
“The government has reassessed its additional borrowing requirements, taking note of revenue receipts and expenditure patterns,” added Kurian.
On the currency front, the rupee weakened by 22 paise to close at 63.85 against the US dollar from its last week’s close at 63.63.
“Sectorally, the top gainers were the Bank Nifty, IT, PSU banks and FMCG indices. The top losers were the realty, metal and energy indices,” Deepak Jasani, Head – Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
The top weekly Sensex gainers were: ICICI Bank (up 11.32 per cent at Rs 353.55); HDFC (up 7.90 per cent at Rs 1,900.45); Tata Consultancy Services (up 6.56 per cent at Rs 2,954.75); Axis Bank (up 6.21 per cent at Rs 590.25); and Infosys (up 6.01 per cent at Rs 1,143.25).
The losers were: Coal India (down 7.65 per cent at Rs 284.45); Tata Motors (down 3.94 per cent at Rs 418.95); Tata Motors (DVR) (down 3.39 per cent at Rs 243.95); ONGC (down 3.32 per cent at Rs 193.60); and Hero MotoCorp (down 2.58 per cent at Rs 3,590.75).
(Porisma P. Gogoi can be contacted at porisma.g@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Banking, Economy, Markets, News
Mumbai : Optimism around quarterly corporate earnings, along with an upward rally in banking stocks and healthy inflow of foreign funds, lifted the key Indian equity indices — the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 — to record high levels on Wednesday.
Also, the government’s decision on Wednesday to cut the size of additional borrowing to Rs 20,000 crore of government securities from Rs 50,000 crore during the current fiscal uplifted the investors’ sentiments.
Despite weak global cues, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE closed above the vaunted 35,000-mark and the Nifty50 hit the 10,800-level intra-day — both for the first time.
The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange, which scaled a record high of 10,803 points intra-day, rose 88.10 points or 0.82 per cent, to close at a fresh high of 10,788.55 points.
The Bank Nifty recorded a fresh high of 26,328.40 points during the intra-day trade.
On the BSE, the Sensex closed firm at a fresh high of 35,081.82 points — up 310.77 points or 0.89 per cent from its previous session’s close — after touching a new intra-day high of 35,118.61 points.
However, the BSE market breadth remained marginally bearish as 1,476 stocks declined against 1,424 advances.
In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index closed higher by 0.66 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.43 per cent.
“Sentiments remained buoyant as investors expect corporate results to improve, especially since numbers during the same period last year were impacted by a ban on high-value currency notes,” Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, told IANS.
Dhiraj Relli, Managing Director and CEO, HDFC Securities, said: “The lowering of additional borrowing requirement for current fiscal to Rs 20,000 crore from Rs 50,000 crore estimated earlier was welcomed by the market participants with the BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) segment leading the pack.”
“It is remarkable, markets are rising in the phase of adverse expectations and scaling the 35,000-mark for the Sensex is an important landmark,” he added.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee strengthened by 15 paise to close at 63.88 against the US dollar from its previous close at 64.03.
Provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors purchased scrips worth Rs 625.13 crore and domestic institutional investors worth Rs 168.61 crore.
“The markets began the day on a weak note, however sentiment turned positive when the announcement from the government sources came saying that government can cut on borrowings with tax collections exceeding budgeted estimates and disinvestment targets,” said Anita Gandhi, Whole Time Director at Arihant Capital Markets.
“This led to softness in yields and buying interest in banking sector resumed,” she added.
Official data released during the day showed that the net Direct Tax collections by the government up to January 15 in the current fiscal (2017-18) stood at Rs 6.89 lakh crore (provisional) — which is 18.7 per cent higher than during the corresponding period of last year.
According to Sanjeev Zarbade, Vice President-PCG Research at Kotak Securities, the equity benchmarks ended at fresh record closing highs despite tepid global cues.
“Some easing in crude prices also fuelled market sentiment. Sector-wise, the rally was driven by banking and financials as well as technology, pharma, metals and select FMCG stocks,” Zarbade said.
All the 19 sub-indices of the BSE closed with gains, led by banking, capital goods and healthcare stocks.
The S&P BSE banking index augmented by 455.37 points, capital goods index by 314.51 points, and healthcare index by 171.63 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Wednesday were: Axis Bank, up 4.65 per cent at Rs 584.75; State Bank of India, up 3.44 per cent at Rs 306.35; ICICI Bank, up 2.68 per cent at Rs 343.10; Infosys, up 2.61 per cent at Rs 1,152.25; and Yes Bank, up 2.58 per cent at Rs 342.50.
Major Sensex losers were: Wipro, down 1.85 per cent at Rs 325.75; HDFC Bank, down 0.88 per cent at Rs 1,887; Hero MotoCorp, down 0.80 per cent at Rs 3,566.05; ONGC, down 0.74 per cent at Rs 195.65; and Hindustan Unilever, down 0.68 per cent at Rs 1,371.85.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Finance, Investing, Markets, News
By Porisma P. Gogoi,
Mumbai : Consistent investments by domestic institutions propelled the key Indian equity indices — the Sensex and the Nifty50 — to close the week’s trade at record high levels, continuing their winning streak for the sixth consecutive week.
Despite some volatility, the benchmark indices moved higher riding on optimism surrounding the ongoing earnings season, market observers said.
On a weekly basis, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) surged by 438.54 points or 1.28 per cent to close Friday’s trade at a fresh level of 34,592.39 points.
The wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) crossed the 10,600-points-level for the first time this week.
The Nifty50 closed trade at a fresh high of 10,681.25 points, up 122.4 points or 1.16 per cent from its previous week’s close.
The indices also touched their new 52-week highs. On Friday, the Sensex scaled a fresh intra-day high of 34,638.42 points and the Nifty50 of 10,690.25 points.
“With the constant inflow of funds in the domestic market, markets moved higher on optimism surrounding corporate earnings amid mixed global cues,” D. K. Aggarwal, Chairman and Managing Director of SMC Investments and Advisors, told IANS.
During the week, two global software majors — Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys — came out with their earnings for the third quarter of 2017-18.
While TCS reported 4 per cent annual decline in consolidated net profit to Rs 6,545 crore for the period under review, Infosys’ net profit was reported at a record 38 per cent annually in rupee terms.
“Continuous buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and expectation of recovery in this earnings season led to the rise in indices. Domestic institutions bought shares worth Rs 1,446 crore in the past 10 sessions,” Arpit Jain, AVP at Arihant Capital Markets, told IANS.
Provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that DIIs purchased stocks worth Rs 2,383.11 crore during the week, while foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold scrips worth Rs 965.16 crore.
Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors bought equities worth Rs 554.03 crore, or $88.34 million, during January 8-12.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: “Liquidity from FIIs and DIIs continues to support domestic market sentiments. On the global front, strong global metal prices and rising crude prices continue attract positive investor sentiments.”
“Further, US investors remained optimistic on strong economic growth outlook led by better than expected quarterly earnings,” Nair added.
On the currency front, the rupee weakened by 26 paise to close at 63.63 against the US dollar from its last week’s close at 63.37.
In another economic development, the Union Cabinet this week opened up Air India for foreign investors and brought in changes in key sectors by allowing 100 per cent foreign investment in single brand retail and construction development through the automatic route.
“Besides spurring growth in the economy, this step is likely to contribute to growth of investment, income and employment,” Aggarwal said.
“Sectorally, the top gainers were the realty, IT, media and metal indices. The top losers were the PSU bank, infra and auto indices,” Deepak Jasani, Head – Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
The top weekly Sensex gainers were: Coal India (up 9.96 per cent at Rs 306.50); Infosys (up 6.21 per cent at Rs 1,075); Wipro (up 3.13 per cent at Rs 319.45); Tata Consultancy Services (up 2.78 per cent at Rs 2,759); and Reliance Industries (up 2.26 per cent at Rs 943.85).
The losers were: Bharti Airtel (down 6.06 per cent at Rs 507.30); Bajaj Auto (down 3.43 per cent at Rs 3,165.25); NTPC (down 2.40 per cent at Rs 173.10); Hero MotoCorp (down 1.91 per cent at Rs 3,668); and Power Grid (down 1.79 per cent at Rs 197.30).
(Porisma P. Gogoi can be contacted at porisma.g@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Markets, News
Mumbai : The key Indian equity indices — Sensex and Nifty50 — slipped from record highs to close in the red on Friday as investors turned cautious ahead of the start of the quarterly earnings result season on January 11.
IT major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is expected to be the first blue-chip company to come out with its third quarter results on January 11, followed by Infosys on Friday.
According to market observers, broadly negative global cues and heavy selling pressure in consumer durables, auto and banking stocks added to the downward trajectory of the key indices.
On a closing basis, the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) edged lower by 4.80 points or 0.05 per cent to 10,632.20 points.
The barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which opened at a record high level of 34,538.78 points, touched a fresh high of 34,565.63 points on an intra-day basis.
The Sensex closed at 34,433.07 points — down 10.12 points or 0.03 per cent — from its previous session’s close.
The BSE market breadth was bearish as 1,629 stocks declined as compared to 1,299 advances.
“Markets traded in a narrow range on Wednesday before finally closing with marginal losses,” Deepak Jasani, Head, Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
“Major Asian markets have closed on a negative note, barring the Shanghai and Hang Seng indices. European indices like DAX and CAC 40 traded in the red,” Jasani said.
In the broader markets, the S&P BSE mid-cap index closed lower by 0.31 per cent and the small-cap index by 0.04 per cent.
According to Dhruv Desai, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Tradebulls, caution prevailed in the equity markets ahead of the corporate results season kicking in towards the end of the week.
“Benchmark indices gave up gains as investors remained cautious ahead of key corporate earnings later this week and the federal budget next month,” Desai told IANS.
On the currency front, the Indian rupee strengthened by 12 paise to close at 63.59 against the US dollar from its previous close at 63.71.
Provisional data with the exchanges showed that foreign institutional investors sold scrips worth Rs 572.26 crore, while the domestic institutional investors purchased stocks worth Rs 600.24 crore.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: “Investors turned little nervous ahead of earnings season, while IT index outperformed on account of relief from US H1B visa norms and expectation of positive outlook helped to recoup the losses.”
Sectorwise, the S&P BSE auto index declined by 180.37 points, followed by consumer durables index by 156.80 points and banking index by 90.67 points.
On the other hand, the S&P BSE IT index rose by 209.76 points, Teck index by 93.70 points and realty index by 31.55 points.
Major Sensex gainers on Wednesday were: TCS, up 3.64 per cent at Rs 2,807.10; Wipro, up 2.66 per cent at Rs 326.05; Coal India, up 1.33 per cent at Rs 308.10; Adani Ports, up 1.05 per cent at Rs 423.75; and Infosys, up 0.99 per cent at Rs 1,051.60.
Major Sensex losers were: Dr Reddy’s Lab, down 1.45 per cent at Rs 2,422.80; Tata Motors (DVR), down 1.31 per cent at Rs 253.20; NTPC, down 1.25 per cent at Rs 173.95; Asian Paints, down 1.22 per cent at Rs 1,177.40; and Bajaj Auto, down 1.10 per cent at Rs 3,205.35.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Economy, Markets, News
By Porisma P. Gogoi,
Mumbai : Extending gains for the fifth consecutive week, the key Indian equity indices closed the first week of the New Year at fresh highs, riding on positive global cues, along with inflow of foreign funds and healthy domestic macro-data.
Although the benchmark indices started off the week on a slightly weak note, the barometer 30-scrip Sensitive Index (Sensex) closed trade at a fresh level of 34,153.85 points on the last trading day (January 5).
It rose by 97.02 points or 0.28 per cent from its previous week’s close at 34,056.83 points.
The Sensex also touched a new intra-day high of 34,188.85 points.
On the same day, the wider Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) scaled a record intra-day high of 10,566.10 points.
The index closed trade at a fresh high of 10,558.85 points, up 28.15 points or 0.26 per cent from its previous week’s close at 10,530.70 points.
“The week gone by saw the Nifty surging higher. It was the fifth consecutive week of gains for the Nifty,” Deepak Jasani, Head – Retail Research, HDFC Securities, told IANS.
“Sectorally, the top gainers were the metal, infra, media and pharma indices. The top losers were the auto, IT and PSU bank indices,” he added.
On the currency front, the rupee strengthened by 50 paise to close at 63.37 against the US dollar from its last week’s close at 63.87.
“Indian equity benchmarks rose to record highs with the NSE Nifty 50 Index closing above the 10,555 level for first time. Strong global cues and impressive domestic economic data boosted market sentiments,” Arpit Jain, AVP at Arihant Capital Markets, told IANS.
“Moreover, FIIs (foreign institutional investors) were net buyers of nearly Rs 10 billion in the last three days, which had a positive sentiment in the market. Monthly auto sales numbers and December’s manufacturing data signalling revival also helped,” Jain added.
Data released early during the week showed that robust demand, along with low base effect and end of season discount offers, led to automobile manufacturers reporting healthy sales figures for December, 2017.
On the investment front, provisional figures from the stock exchanges showed that FIIs turned net buyers and purchased scrips worth Rs 1,738.44 crore.
However, domestic investors divested funds worth Rs 936.44 crore during the week.
Figures from the National Securities Depository (NSDL) revealed that foreign portfolio investors invested in equities worth Rs 1,618.27 crore, or $254.14 million, from January 1-5.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: “Despite positive December auto sales numbers, market started-off year on a weak note. Market was contemplating a risk posed by the likely populist agenda which may hurt the fiscal consolidation target earlier set by the government.”
“But by the last two trading days, metals outperformed on expectation of strong earnings growth, supported by firm global base metal prices whereas auto stocks witnessed profit booking after the recent run,” he said.
Nair added that favorable global cues due to strong US jobs data and improvement in domestic services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for December helped the market move out of the subdued phase of trading.
Data released during market hours on Thursday revealed that the seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Services PMI Business Activity Index registered an overall increase from 48.5 in November to 50.9 in December on the back of new orders and easing of inflationary pressures.
The top weekly Sensex gainers were: Coal India (up 5.99 per cent at Rs 278.75); Yes Bank (up 5.71 per cent at Rs 333.05); Tata Steel (up 5.17 per cent at Rs 770.30); Adani Ports (up 4.89 per cent at Rs 424.45); and Larsen and Toubro (up 4.58 per cent at Rs 1,314.50).
The losers were: Maruti Suzuki (down 3.06 per cent at Rs 9,434.05); Infosys (down 2.62 per cent at Rs 1,012.10); Bajaj Auto (down 1.37 per cent at Rs 3,277.55); Hero MotoCorp (down 1.24 per cent at Rs 3,739.30); and Wipro (down 1.16 per cent at Rs 309.75).
(Porisma P. Gogoi can be contacted at porisma.g@ians.in)
—IANS
