Major benchmark indices started in green on Monday. At 09:16 IST, the Sensex rose 5.67 points or 0.01 percent to 57367.87, and the Nifty rose 6.80 points or 0.04 percent to 17159.80. About 1,271 stocks are up, 778 stocks are down and 129 stocks are unchanged.
On the other hand, HDFC twins, Kotak Bank, TCS, Dr Reddy’s, UPL, M&M, Nestle, Bajaj Finance and HCL Tech were the biggest laggards, falling 0.4-1 percent. However, the broader markets outperformed the first-line indices. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were up 0.15 percent.
Sector-wise, Nifty Bank and Financials, each down 0.8 percent, were the biggest losers. Real estate and consumer durables indices were also in the red. While Nifty Oil & Gas, Pharma, Metals, Media and Auto were all in the positive zone, up 0.3-2 percent.
Of the shares, PVR and Inox Leisure rose by 6 percent and 13 percent respectively. The two have struck a deal to merge and become India’s largest film exhibition company.
dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “While the war in Ukraine and the resulting spike in crude oil initially hit the markets, the war is not affecting the markets much now. The main headwinds for the markets in High inflation in the US and Fed tightening remain in 2022. It appears that markets have priced in a Fed increase of about 190bp in 2022. The fact that the markets remain resilient despite so much headwind reflects the strength of this bull market.”
“DIIs and retail investors now exert more influence on the market than FPIs. Domestic investors emerging as a major counter-force to the FPIs in fair weather is a desirable development. However, retail investors should be more vigilant in their investments by avoiding low-value stocks and investing in high-quality stocks,” Vijayakumar added.
Volatility may also continue into the new week due to the monthly expiration of derivative contracts in March and developments surrounding the Russia-Ukraine war. The two sides are likely to hold talks again in Turkey between March 28 and 30. Investors will also follow car sales data to be released on Friday, along with the budget deficit and infrastructure output figures for February to be announced on Thursday.
Global clues
The S&P 500 ended higher on Friday as financial stocks rose after benchmark government bond yields rose to their highest level in nearly three years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 153.3 points or 0.44 percent to 34,861.24, the S&P500 gained 22.9 points or 0.51 percent to 4,543.06 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 22.54 points or 0.16 percent to 14,169.30.
Tokyo shares opened lower on Monday after nine consecutive sessions of gains, as investors closely watched developments in Ukraine. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.39 percent or 110.87 points to 28,038.97 in early trading, while the broader Topix index fell 0.06 percent or 1.14 points to 1,980.33. “Profit-taking sales are likely,” although Wall Street rallies should bolster investor sentiment, Monex senior market analyst Toshiyuki Kanayama told Reuters.
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