Benchmark indices began trading Friday with nominal gains following mixed global signals. However, the indices nearly flattened within minutes of opening, wiping out all gains. Among the Sensex-30 stocks, Bajaj twins, SBI, HDFC, Bharti Airtel, M&M and Kotak Bank were the biggest winners. Titan, PowerGrid, Nestle, HDFC Bank and Maruti, meanwhile, were the biggest losers.
Sectorally, Nifty Auto, Metals, PSBs, Realty and Oil & Gas were the notable winners. While Nifty Bank, IT, Pharma and FMCG were understated. In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices were in positive territory, up 0.6 percent.
Motherson Sumi gained 4 percent of individual shares by winning an order to manufacture and supply parts for the interior of commercial aircraft to Boeing.
Apart from that, Zen Technologies was also up almost 5 percent. The company has received a Project Sanctions Order (PSO) from the Indian Army for the design and development of a prototype Integrated Air Defense Combat Simulator (IADCS).
dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “The range of 17,000-17,500 for Nifty is likely to hold up in the near term with a possible break above the upper band in early April driven by positive news from the earnings season. The market’s bullish undertones are evidenced by the fact that despite a host of unfavorable developments, Nifty is up 2.5 percent so far in March and India is outperforming most markets A hawkish Fed, spiking crude and uncertainties related to the war has not diminished the bulls’ enthusiasm. The trend of favoring value over growth is reflected in the strong performance of stocks such as RIL and ITC and the weak performance of stocks such as Britannia and HUL. This trend is likely to continue.”
Markets ended the previous choppy session with marginal losses as investors continue to wait and see amid the uncertainties of the Russia-Ukraine war.
Markets will be watching closely the last day of EU summits for any signs of a likely ban on energy imports from Russia. Meanwhile, US President Biden has warned that the US will respond to Russia if Putin uses chemical or biological weapons.
At home, in the primary market, Ruchi Soya’s follow-up offering was 12 percent subscribed to at the end of Day 1 of the offering period.
Global clues
Major US stock indices rose more than 1 percent on Thursday, extending the market’s recent recovery as investors picked up beaten stocks of chipmakers and big growth names and oil prices plunged. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 349.44 points or 1.02 percent to 34,707.94, the S&P 500 gained 63.92 points or 1.43% to 4,520.16 and the Nasdaq Composite added 269.24 points or 1. 93 percent to 14,191.84.
Tokyo shares opened higher Friday after an overnight rally in US stocks led by semiconductor stocks. The benchmark Nikkei 225 index rose 0.62 percent or 174.65 points to 28,285.04 in early trading, while the broader Topix index rose 0.48 percent or 9.53 points to 1,991.09. The dollar stood at 122.10 yen, slightly lower than the 122.38 yen seen in New York on Thursday.
Hong Kong stocks extended the previous day’s losses at Friday’s open as profit takers stepped in after the market’s recent rally. The Hang Seng index fell 0.96 percent or 210.34 points to 21,735.61. The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.10 percent or 3.11 points to 3,247.16, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange added 0.08 percent or 1.76 points to 2,146.10.
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