The week that was: Indian markets were a mixed bag with positive bias 

For the Indian stock markets, the week started on a weak note as the benchmarks lost heavy ground on Monday – the 30-share Sensex was down nearly 950 points – but most of the losses were recouped the next day itself and the rest of the week also saw the indices registering a northward journey. 

The week, however, ended on a negative note albeit only marginally as Friday saw both Sensex and Nifty losing marginal ground. 

On a weekly, basis, both Sensex and Nifty gained nearly 2 per cent each with Sensex gaining 1,090 points in absolute terms. The broader Nifty gained nearly 315 points during the week. 

“The week gone by started on a negative note and threatened to retest the recent swing lows.  However, the global markets came to the rescue and the gap up opening on Tuesday forced the short sellers to cover their positions. For the rest of the week, our markets traded with a positive bias and ended with weekly gains of almost a couple of percent above 17,500,” said Ruchit Jain, Trading Strategist, 5paisa.com. 

While global cues supported the stock markets, global investors were not quite supportive as they continued to press the sell button. Data shows that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth nearly Rs 7,000 crore in the secondary market during the week. 

Meanwhile, Friday saw the debut of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-backed Star Health and Allied Insurance Company and it was a lacklustre one to say the least. 

The insurance company, which was forced to reduce the offer for sale portion to see the public issue scrape through, made its debut at Rs 845 on the NSE and fell further to touch a low of Rs 828 – down 8 per cent from its issue price of Rs 900.  

It just about managed to end day one above its issue price at Rs 901. On BSE, it closed at Rs 906.85 with its market capitalisation pegged at Rs 52,191 crore. 

“The public issue was offered at around 15 to 20 per cent higher valuations and hence the share price of the newly listed insurance stock may further go down,” said Ravi Singhal, Vice Chairman, GCL Securities. 

“One should take fresh position in the counter at around Rs 725 to Rs 750 levels for 6 months target of Rs 1000 to Rs 1100 keeping stop loss at Rs 640 levels,” he added. 

Going ahead, market participants expect stocks and indices to trade in a range-bound manner as concerns related to inflation and omicron variant continue to impact investor sentiments. 

Technical analysts are of the view that the indices are trading close to key resistance levels and hence traders and investors should adopt a careful stock-specific approach.