After a volatile session on Monday, Sensex and Nifty closed marginally higher, tracking mixed cues from global equities. Sensex ended 60 points higher at 38,417 and Nifty gained 27 points to 11,325. Traders said subdued global cues and lingering border tension with China continued to weigh on investors' sentiments.
On Friday, Sensex and Nifty closed 1.6% lower each, tracking losses in the global markets. Over the last week, Sensex and Nifty declined 1,110 points (2.81%) and 313 points (2.69%), respectively.
M&M, followed by Bajaj Auto, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, M&M, GAIL, Bharti Airtel, ITC and UltraTech Cement were among the top losers today. On the other hand, Tata Steel, Maruti, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Titan and Sun Pharma were among the gainers. On the sectoral front, except FMCG, IT and media, all the other indices closed in the red territory, with nearly 1% loss registered in the realty index.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "Virus infections continued to rise unabated and this fear combined with a sell-off seen in the US markets, in the previous trading session, served to bring in doubts regarding the continuation of the momentum seen in recent times in the market."
Aamar Deo Singh-Head Advisory, Angel Broking said, "Overall, advance and declines were also evenly poised clearly indicating that markets appear to be getting into a consolidation mode. Going forward, we could witness increased volatility as India VIX, continues to trade above the 20 mark, indicating an increase in volatility in coming weeks."
On a similar note, the rupee on the currency front witnessed high volatility and later settled 21 paise lower at 73.35 against the US dollar, amid weakness in domestic equities and a strong dollar.
On Rupee's outlook, Vaqarjaved Khan- Research Analyst, Angel Broking said, "With risk sentiment improving and global economies recovering from this unprecedented pandemic, USDINR (CMP: 73.19) is likely to move lower towards 72.5 in the coming week."
As per market participants, stocks fell overseas, amid rising trade tensions between China and the US. News that the Trump administration might propose import restriction on China's Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) raised concerns.
Asian stock markets were mixed on Monday, tracking losses in Wall Street that registered its biggest weekly decline in more than two months on Friday.
On the other hand, European markets reversed from weak closing lower on Friday and traded 1% higher each today. Although, EU planning fresh sanctions on Russia kept investors cautious.
Domestic as well as international equity markets were trading majorly lower today, amid weak stance by investors due to heightened tensions of slower recovery from rising virus pandemic. Worldwide, there were 272 lakh confirmed cases and 8.87 lakh deaths from COVID-19 outbreak. Meanwhile, India's death toll from COVID-19 infections rose to 71,687 and total coronavirus cases to 42.04 lakh as of Monday.
Expressing views on markets closing today, Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments said, "The Nifty threatened crucial support of 11250 this morning but managed to swiftly climb above it to close past 11350. It is imperative the markets are able to keep above this level as a break of 11250-11200 could spawn a short-medium term breakdown which can drag the Nifty by about 300-400 points. On the upside, we would need to cross 11600 on a closing basis for the uptrend to resume again."
Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking said, "We feel the performance of global markets combined with development on India-China LAC issue will continue to dictate the market trend. Considering the market scenario, traders should maintain positions on both sides and prefer hedged bets."
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