Dalal Street welcomed Samvat 2080 with a bag as investors lapped up quality stocks during the one hour special Muhurat trading. The traditional one-hour special trading session was hosted on both BSE and NSE on Diwali-eve as investors picked up value stocks to mark the beginning of new Hindu year- Samvat 2080.
On the festive eve, bulls pushed the BSE Sensex 355 points, or 0.55 per cent higher, to 65,259.45. NSE's Nifty50 gained 100.20 points, or 0.52 per cent, to end the Muhurat trading session at 19,525.55. Investors were keenly interested in broader markets as the BSE midcap index rose two-third per cent, while the BSE smallcap index gained about a per cent each.
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Investors would keep a watch on domestic and global macroeconomic data, global crude oil, movement of rupee against dollar, ongoing quarterly earnings season, global trends, FII/DII trading activity for the coming week, said Arvinder Singh Nanda, Senior Vice President, of Master Capital Services.
"Some major economic numbers that will dictate the market trend are India’s inflation data, trade balance, US OPEC report, crude oil inventories, CPI Inflation data, PPI, retail sales, initial jobless claims, building permits, UK unemployment and inflation data, Eurozone GDP, trade balance industrial production and inflation numbers," he said.
All the sectoral indices of Nifty settled in green. The Nifty IT and media indices were top gainers for the day, rising three-fourth per cent each. The Nifty realty, consumer durables, oil & gas, metal and auto indices gained more than half a per cent each. Fear gauge India VIX rose over 2 per cent to 11.35-mark.
Among the bluechips, Coal India surged about 3 per cent, while UPL and Infosys were other key gainers, rising about 1.5 per cent each. Eicher Motors, Wipro and NTPC were up a per cent each. There were not big losers among the blue-chip banks but Britannia Industries, Sun Pharmaceuticals and Apollo Hospitals settled slightly lower.
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The horizon of Samvat 2080 looks promising in anticipation builds for an electrifying start, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP Research Analyst at Mehta Equities. The market optimism is fueled by factors such as the Federal Reserve's efforts for a soft landing, robust GST numbers, active retail participation, easing Middle East hostilities, and declining WTI oil prices, he said.
"Our 'Diwali Picks 2023' features 12 stocks with balanced investment potential, including names like HDFC Bank, L&T, Tata Motors, Indigo, Tata Power, ABFRL, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Usha Martin, Dodla Dairy, Ashoka Buildcon, LG Bal Bros, and Imagica. We recommend accumulating these value picks with strong fundamentals for potential growth," he added.
A total of 3,713 shares were traded on BSE on Sunday's Muhurat Trading, of which 2,906 settled with gains. 688 stocks ended the session with cuts while 119 shares remained unchanged. During the day, 16 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas a dozen shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.
Indian equities are expected to outperform most other global markets in the face of continued geopolitical uncertainties and relatively higher domestic economic growth. The major themes will be domestic consumption and premiumisation, enabling companies to post strong earnings growth aided by margin accretion, said Sunil shah, Director at Khambatta Securities.
"In Spite of rich valuations in the small- and mid-cap segments, companies with fundamentally strong businesses and good earnings growth continue to justify their valuation. FPIs may come back to the party. Upcoming state and general elections can make the market move sideways. Inflation, interest rate trajectory, and geopolitical tensions will remain the key risks," he said.
In the broader markets, Pix Transmissions hit upper circuit of 20 per cent, while Kovai Medical Center and Antony Waste Handling Cell gained 15 per cent each. Caplin Point Laboratories and NGL Fine Chem gained 9 per cent, while Welspun Corp, Anup Engineering and AGS Transactions gained 7 per cent each.
Among the losers, TamilNadu News Print & Papers dropped 7 per cent, while Sastasundar Ventures dropped 6 per cent each. PTC India and ESAB India were down 5 per cent each. Rama Steel and Honda India Power Products declined 4 per cent each during the Muhurat Trading.