Sensex, Nifty snap 3-day losing streak; Adani stocks rise up to 7%, Gland Pharma tanks 20%

Bulls had an upper hand over bears on Friday as the benchmark indices snapped the three-day losing streak and settled higher in a volatile trading session. Positive global sentiments pushed the indices higher but selling pressure in select sectors capped gains at Dalal Street. For the day, the 30-share pack BSE Sensex jumped 297.95 points, or 0.48 per cent, to settle at 61,729.68. NSE's Nifty50 gained 73.45 points, or 0.41 per cent, to close at 18,203.40. Broader markets underperformed the headline peers as BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled in red. Fear gauge India VIX eased about 4 per cent to 12.30-level. "Nifty formed a hammer pattern on the daily chart, indicating a potential trend reversal. It found support at the 21EMA, resulting in a smart recovery from the day's low. Positive divergence was observed on the hourly RSI, suggesting a possible shift in momentum. Resistance on the higher end, is seen at 18,300, while support is placed at 18,050," said Rupak De, Senior Technical analyst at LKP Securities. Adani Group stocks were back in focus after the Supreme Court panel's report on Adani-Hindenburg row made public, which said that it was not possible to conclude that there was a regulatory failure on the price manipulation allegation at this stage. All Adani stocks rallied on Friday. Adani Wilmar rallied 7 per cent, while Adani Power and Adani Transmission gained 5 per cent each. Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises, New Delhi Television and Adani Green gained 4 per cent each for the day. Adani Total Gas ended 3 per cent higher for the day. Ambuja Cements and ACC also settled higher. “Positive global cues helped markets reverse its 3-day losing streak, as buying in IT, select banking & realty stocks aided recovery. If the global situation over interest rate movement and demand scenario doesn’t improve, we may see bouts of profit taking in the near term,” said Amol Athawale, Technical Analyst (DVP), Kotak Securities. Among the sectors, Nifty Pharma Index dropped about a per cent, followed by Nifty Healthcare, Consumer durables, Oil & Gas and FMCG indices, which settled in red. On the contrary, the Nifty IT Index rallied over a per cent. Nifty Realty and Auto indices also gained about a per cent each for the day. Apart from the Adani Group stocks, Tata Motors jumped 3 per cent in the NIfty50 index with Tech Mahindra and Infosys gaining 2 per cent each. HCL Technologies, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Ultratech Cement, Grasim, Wipro and ICICI Bank were among the other gainers from the index. On the downside, Divis Labs and Britannia Industries topped the losers, dropping 2 per cent each. ONGC, NTPC, Hero Motocorp, HDFC Life Insurance, UPL, Titan Company, Dr Reddy's Laboratories and Asian Paints ended a per cent lower. "The domestic market, though experienced a lack of decisive direction, closed the day on a positive note. The optimism in the US market was fuelled by progress in debt ceiling talks and stronger-than-expected jobless claims," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. "However, the prospect of a stronger US economy suggests that the Federal Reserve may keep policy rates elevated for an extended duration," he said. A total of 3,595 shares were traded on BSE on Friday of which 1,809 settled with cuts. 1,640 stocks ended the session lower while 146 shares remained unchanged. A total of 168 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas 114 tested the lower circuit levels for the day. In the broader market, Gland Pharma was the biggest loser of the day, tanking 20 per cent, after disappointing Q4 results. Thomas Cook and Rama Phosphates tumbled 8 per cent each, while Man Industries dropped 7 per cent. KDDL and RITES settled 6 per cent lower for the day. On the other hand, Vishwaraj Sugar Industries rallied 15 per cent ahead of its quarterly results next week, while KEC International jumped 12 per cent. Hindustan Construction Company rallied 9 per cent after a strong Q4 performance, while The Ramco Cements gained 8 per cent. Ugro Capital ended 6 per cent higher.

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