
Domestic equity markets managed to post gains on Wednesday. Headline indices witnessed a choppy trade during majority of the session but fag-end buying lifted the market. Traders will be looking at inflation cues from the global markets and India Q3 earning season, which officially kicks off from Thursday.Manappuram Finance tumbled 5 per cent each.
For the day, BSE's Sensex jumped 271.50 points, or 0.38 per cent, to settle at 71,657.71. NSE's Nifty50 gained 73.85 points, or 0.34 per cent, to end the day at 21,618.70. Broader markets were in-line with the headline peers as the BSE midcap and smallcap indices managed to rise up to one-third a per cent each. Fear gauge drooped more than 2.20 per cent to 12.97-mark. Major equity indices made a strong surge in the second half to end in the green as investors looked ahead to earnings of IT majors as well as key economic indicators like retail inflation and factory production for directional cues, said Avdhut Bagkar Technical and Derivatives Analyst, StoxBox. "The Nifty50 generated mild buying interest bolstering a technical pullback in the final hour that pushed the closing in the upper quartile of the trading range. The market breadth remained encouraging as 28 Nifty 50 stocks closed in the green. Rally in the second half was led by Reliance and other Heavyweight banks," he said. On a sectoral front, the Nifty media index surged about 3.5 per cent, while the Nifty metal index gained about a per cent. The Nifty consumer durable index advanced two-third a per cent. On the downside, the Nifty FMCG, realty and PSU Bank indices settled in red for the day. In the Nifty50 pack, Adani Enterprises and Cipla gained more than 3 per cent each. Followed by Reliance Industries, which surged 2.9 per cent for the day. HCL Technologies added over 2 per cent. Among the losers, Divis Laboratories, NTPC and Bharat Petroleum dropped 2 per cent each. ONGC and Power Grid were other laggards. The weakness in global indices continued to weigh down the domestic indices with every up move. The market is looking for fresh triggers for a direction, and the release of US and Indian inflation data may provide a near-term direction in the market, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services. "The investor's focus will be shifted to the earnings season, on a sequential basis, the earnings growth is likely to be lower, while the expectations for auto, capital goods, and cement will remain strong," he said. A total of 3,935 shares were traded on BSE on Wednesday, of which 2,094 settled with gains. 1,741 stocks ended the session with cuts while 100 shares remained unchanged. During the day, 488 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 208 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day. In the broader markets, Network18 Media & Investments and Cochin Shipyard hit an upper circuit of 20 per cent each. AstraZeneca Pharma India gained about 18 per cent, while TV18 Broadcast soared 16 per cent. On the downside, Trident and
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