For the most part of Thursday, the headline indices traded in a choppy pattern and finally settled in the positive territory. BSE Sensex ended 223 points or 0.73 per cent higher at 30,603, while the broader Nifty 50 index finished below the crucial 9,000 mark, at 8,992, up 67 points or 0.76 per cent. The top Sensex gainers were NTPC, ICICI Bank, Titan and SBI. While the losers were led by HCL Tech, down by nearly 4 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra and Kotak Mahindra Bank. “The markets seem to have turned into a ‘buy on dips’ as investors are awaiting the stimulus package from the Finance Minister. Another trigger would be reopening of facilities by many corporates post April 20th. The NBFC sector got some fillip today on the expectation of RBI relief as well as lines of credit from leading banks,” an independent analyst Ambareesh Baliga told Financial Express Online.
Nifty IT index drops 2%: Except Nifty IT and Nifty FMCG, all the sectoral indices finished in green. Nifty Bank index gained nearly 2 per cent with IDFC First Bank, Bandhan Bank and ICICI Bank as top gainers. On the flip side, Nifty IT index ended lower dragged Emami, ITC and Dabur India. “IT stocks were impacted due to the earnings commentary from Wipro. Wipro did not give any earnings guidance but warned of a hit on margins. The earnings for TCS, expected later today, will give a clearer picture on the impact on the IT sector and demand outlook from developed markets,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said.
What lifted Sensex, Nifty today: The markets turned positive in the afternoon deals as traders and investors were seen in some large-cap stocks, says Narendra Solanki, Head Fundamental Research, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers. “The comments from NITI Aayog on India’s GDP expected to see strong recovery from the second quarter of FY21 as economic activities resume and expectations from the government to unveil fiscal measures to jumpstart growth gained traction,” Solanki added.
Technical Observation: As per the technical observation by Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Analyst at HDFC Securities, choppy trade can be witnessed in the next session. “Presently, the lower area of 8900 and 8850 is acting as key support for the market and Nifty is currently stuck at the overhead resistance of around 9050-9100 levels. Hence, one may expect choppy movement in the next session and any decline down to 8700-8600 levels could be a buying opportunity in the near term,” Shetti said.
FTSE raises India weight in headline indices: FTSE Russell has decided to rejig the investability weighting of its Indian constituents, which will see India’s weightage increase in the headline FTSE global indices. The move could see foreign investors rush to invest in Indian stocks, resulting in healthy inflows for the stock markets.