'Earning expectations remain strong.'
In August, domestic equity markets garnered one of the highest foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020, despite the US Federal Reserve standing firm on unwinding its stimulus measures to control inflation. FPIs pumped in over Rs 51,000 crore ($6.4 billion) in August, the most since December 2020 and the third-highest tally since March 2020-the month the Covid-19 pandemic roiled global markets. This was the second consecutive month of positive foreign flows. In the preceding nine months, FPIs had yanked out over $32 billion or Rs 2.2 trillion.
Many investors want to exit equities now and re-enter when they begin to rise. Such timing is difficult to pull off.
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Benchmark share indices ended lower on profit taking after they touched record highs in the previous session.
From the pandemic shocks to state polls to global trends, a raft of sentiment drivers are expected to steer the Indian stock market in 2022 after a historic year of massive investor returns and milestones. The Union Budget, which will be closely watched for further reform moves, and quarterly earnings of corporates will be among the developments on investors' radar amid global central banks moving towards tighter interest regime in the wake of inflationary pressures. The year 2021 was rewarding in a big way for equity investors.
Sliding for the fourth straight day, the BSE Sensex shed 152 points in choppy trade on Wednesday amid mixed global cues ahead of the US Federal Reserve's policy decision.
TCS was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising around 4 per cent, followed by ONGC, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Dr Reddy's, HDFC and HCL Tech. NSE Nifty advanced 76.65 points to 14,581.45.
Powered by a rally in index heavyweight Reliance Industries, equity benchmark Sensex broke its four-session losing run to close above the 55,000-mark on Thursday despite a weak trend overseas. Investors made a cautious return to IT, pharma and bank stocks after their recent sell-off. However, a depreciating rupee and persistent foreign fund outflows capped the gains, traders said. Overcoming a lacklustre start, the 30-share BSE Sensex surged 427.79 points or 0.78 per cent to close at 55,320.28.
The early bird results for the January-March 2022 quarter (Q4FY22) hint at a slowdown in corporate sector growth in the upcoming quarters. The combined net sales of the 81 early bird companies in the Business Standard sample were up 15.1 per cent year-on-year in Q4FY22; this was less than the 15.9 per cent YoY jump reported in Q3FY22. The slowdown could be much stronger for the domestic market-focused companies, including those in the banking, finance, and insurance (BFSI) space.
While analysts remains overweight on financials, property, discretionary, industrials and materials, they maintain a neutral stance on pharma, telecom and energy; and underweight on staples, utilities, and IT services.
The broader NSE Nifty too fell over 150 points to crack below the 10,400-mark as financials, IT and energy stocks declined.
TCS was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by L&T, Bharti AIrtel, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, Bajaj Auto and Reliance Industries. NSE Nifty rallied 164.70 points to its fresh closing peak of 16,529.10.
'Periods of high volatility are usually bad for mid-caps and this is something that has to be kept in mind.' 'Focus on quality is of paramount importance.'
Equity benchmarks began the week on a downbeat note on Monday, weighed by heavy selling in market heavyweight Reliance Industries and persisting weakness in global bourses. The rupee plunged to its lifetime low against the US dollar amid unabated foreign fund outflows, underscoring the risk-off sentiment prevailing globally as central banks embark on policy tightening to tame soaring inflation. Slipping for the second straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex shed 364.91 points or 0.67 per cent to close at 54,470.67.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, climbing 3.33 per cent, followed by PowerGrid, SBI, Bharti Airtel, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries and Maruti.
Titan was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising over 3 per cent, followed by M&M, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, TCS, Maruti and Infosys. NSE Nifty surged 122.10 points to 15,885.15.
Market benchmark Sensex tumbled over 323 points after an intense last-hour sell-off on Wednesday, triggered by losses mainly in index heavyweights Infosys, Reliance and HDFC.
Infosys was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying around 7 per cent, followed by TCS, IndusInd Bank, ONGC, HDFC Bank and HCL Tech. On the other hand, ITC, Bajaj Finance, Kotak Bank and Sun Pharma finished in the red.
Auto stocks are weighing on the indices.
'Rising Covid cases and localised lockdowns are being closely monitored.'
Ajit Mishra, vice president, Research, Religare Broking, answers your queries.
Though most analysts expect the global central banks to keep the liquidity tap open, valuations of Indian markets, they say, are beginning to look stretched. Against this backdrop, they remain cautious, with some even expecting a minor correction from here on.
Bajaj Auto was the top laggard in the Sensex pack, tumbling around 6 per cent, followed by M&M, Reliance Industries (RIL), Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, SBI, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank. NSE Nifty tumbled 162.60 points or 1.36 per cent to 11,767.75.
Shyam Metalics and Energy (SMEL) will end the over two-month drought in the initial public offering (IPO) market. The steelmaker will launch its Rs 909-crore offering soon. SMEL has pruned its IPO size from Rs 1,107 crore, with the promoters deciding to offload shares worth Rs 252 crore as against Rs 452 crore planned earlier. The company has priced its IPO between Rs 303 to 306 per share.
IndusInd Bank, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, Sun Pharma, Bajaj Finance and Ultratech Cement were prominent gainers. NSE Nifty rose 176.65 points to 14,867.35.
Investors sought to book profits at attractive valuations after recent run up in last few trading sessions.
'In the short term, we may see some disruptions due to Covid, but in the medium-to-long term, we should keep an eye on US inflation and 10-year bond yields.'
UltraTech Cement was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rising 3.06 per cent, followed by IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Titan, Axis Bank, SBI and Reliance Industries. NSE Nifty advanced 78.35 pointsto close at 14,814.75.
Equity benchmark Sensex rebounded 454 points on Thursday, boosted by gains in index heavyweight Reliance Industries amid a positive trend in global markets.
ONGC was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying over 13 per cent, followed by HCL Tech, Hero MotoCorp, NTPC, TCS, M&M, Infosys and Maruti. NSE Nifty soared 306.55 points, or 3.21 per cent, to 9,859.90.
Tata Steel was the top loser in the Sensex pack, sinking over 5 per cent, followed by SBI, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance, HDFC Bank and NTPC. NSE Nifty tanked 371 points to 16,614.20.
'Investors should continue to invest because you are looking at the long-term; in the next four to five years, we are bound to outperform (the rest of the world equity markets).'
Top gainers in the Sensex pack included HCL Tech, Tata Motors, M&M, Bajaj Auto, RIL, Hero MotoCorp, Yes Bank, Maruti, HDFC Bank and Bajaj Finance, which surged up to 6.43 per cent.
The rupee appreciated 7 paise to 79.74 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday as a positive trend in domestic equities supported the local unit. However, a strong American currency overseas and forex outflows restricted the rupee's gain, dealers said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 79.72 against the American dollar, then went lower to trade at 79.74 against the greenback in early deals, registering a gain of 7 paise over the last close.
Stock markets squandered early gains but managed to end in the green on Friday, propped up by heavyweight Reliance Industries which announced another stake sale deal for its digital platform. A strengthening rupee and firm global cues also supported the domestic bourses, traders said.
The latest circular from BSE that sought to cap the price movement of select scrips, especially the mid-, small-cap segments, traded on the exchange is not without a reason. A quick calendar year-to-date price check on the stocks from the categories put under 'Add-on Price Band Framework' by the BSE reveals a total of 210 stocks have seen their market price more than double. Among individual stocks, SC Agrotech, Adinath Textiles, Waaree Renewable Technologies, Steel Strips Infrastructure, Unistar Multimedia, Texel Industries, Raja Bahadur International and Hindustan Everest Tools from the BSE's X and XT group have rallied over 500 per cent during this period. Topping the charts is Gita Renewable Energy, which has zoomed 3,964 per cent to Rs 272.35 now from Rs 6.7 as on December 31, 2020.
Bajaj Finance was the top loser, tumbling 4.68 per cent, followed by Tech Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, Reliance Industries, Bharti Airtel and HCL Tech. NSE Nifty crashed 290.70 points or 2.43 per cent to 11,680.35.
'Indian markets may initially react and follow the pattern of US and other global markets post US elections.'
According to experts, major stocks are in the process of correcting to their support levels ahead of the Union Budget.
Omkeshwar Singh, head, Rank MF, a mutual fund investment platform, answers your queries.
