Domestic equity markets closed higher after a volatile session amid a larger downturn in Asian peers. Buying momentum caught on as the day progressed despite an initial weakness due to profit booking in morning trades.
The 30-share S&P BSE Sensex closed at 60,617 levels, after adding 221 points or 0.37% on Tuesday and the broader CNX Nifty50 settled at 18,056 levels rising over 52 points or 0.29% higher from Monday’s closing levels.
“Now the next levels to watch out for would be 18150-18200 and once we surpass this, it would open up the possibility of retesting record highs before the budget itself. Let’s see how things pan out going ahead; but looking at recent developments in small names, the market is certainly gearing up for the pre-budget rally. We reiterate that traders should keep focusing on stock centric moves; because they are likely to provide better trading opportunities as compared to the index. For the coming session, the support is placed at 17900 and after this 17800 is the level to watch out for, which can also be considered as an immediate base for the index,” said Sameet Chavan, Chief Analyst-Technical and Derivatives, Angel One Ltd.
The advance-decline ratio was flat on Tuesday as 1,003 stocks gained against a decline seen in 1,067 on the NSE.
HCL Tech, Adani Ports, HDFC, Tech Mahindra, and ONGC were top Nifty gainers of the day while Coal India, Hindalco, BPCL, Tata Steel, and JSW Steel were top losers.
Broader market underperformed the main indices, Nifty MidCap and SmallCap index gained 0.1% each.
It was a mixed show in sectoral gauges; Nifty Metal slipped 1.85% followed by FMCG and Auto, while Nifty IT, Pharma and Realty closed higher ahead of key IT results scheduled tomorrow—Infosys, TCS and Wipro.
In a major development, the government is likely to emerge as the single-largest stakeholder in Vodafone Idea (Vi) as the company is expected to offer its shares to the government in lieu of interest accrued during the moratorium period. The telco opted for a four-year moratorium in the deferred spectrum and AGR payments to the government.
Vi expects the interest amount to be around Rs 16,000 crore for which the company will issue 1600 crore new shares to the government, making it the single largest shareholder in the company. The development triggered a sell-off with Vi scrip closing at Rs 11.75, slipping 20.88% on the NSE on Tuesday.
Global markets
Asian markets were mostly in red as investors remain cautious about inflation and tightening policies by global central banks. Also, weak handover from US markets overnight also cast a shadow over Asian peers. Only Sensex and Taiwan TSEC 50 Index are in green zone from Asia. Japanese Nikkei slipped 0.90% during the day, marking the worst fall among all major indices from the region.
US markets closed lower on Monday with Tech stocks being the worst performers ahead of Fed Chair Powell’s testimony. European stocks closed lower, with banks being the best performers and Tech stocks being the worst, ahead of US inflation data due on Wednesday.
