Arpit Beriwal, Manager – Derivatives Analyst (Equity Research) at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, on Thursday said defence stocks finally saw a strong recovery after witnessing pain for the last six to eight months. "We have seen a strong recovery from the lower levels in the defence pack," he told Business Today.
On the stock-specific front, the market expert liked Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) from the sector. "After falling for almost nine months, a strong bullish move can be seen in HAL shares. The stock can slowly and steadily head towards Rs 4,400-4,500 levels with major support around Rs 4,000," Beriwal stated.
For BEL, he said the counter saw a relative outperformance within the entire defence space. "The trend is looking positive. Any dip near Rs 295-294 levels would be a buying opportunity. Support would be at Rs 285. BEL can head towards Rs 320-330 levels," the market specialist mentioned.
Meanwhile, domestic equity benchmarks resumed their climb after a single-day halt as banks, financials and energy stocks ticked higher. Last checked, the 30-share BSE Sensex pack was up 338 points or 0.44 per cent at 77,626 while the broader NSE Nifty index traded 104 points or 0.44 per cent higher at 23,591. Broader indices (mid- and small-cap shares) were also in the green, rising up to 0.29 per cent.
12 out of the 17 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Oil & Gas underperformed the NSE platform by rising as much as 1.71 per cent, 0.35 per cent, 0.77 per cent and 0.62 per cent. In contrast, Nifty Auto and Nifty Pharma fell 0.78 per cent and 1.27 per cent, respectively.
The overall market breadth was slightly positive as 1,856 shares were advancing while 1,745 were declining on BSE. 171 stocks stayed unchanged.