Sensex, Nifty edge up slightly; Poly Medicure, MMTC, Crompton Greaves jump up to 8%

Indian equity benchmarks edged higher in Wednesday's early trade, led by gains in metals, state-owned banks and consumer durable stocks. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack rose 43 points or 0.07 per cent to trade at 65,263, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 18 points or 0.09 per cent up to trade at 19,415. Mid- and small-cap shares were positive as Nifty Midcap 100 climbed 0.46 per cent and small-cap gained 0.59 per cent.

Asian markets were mixed today. Overnight, Wall Street equities were muted. Investors now await comments from US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, due on Friday, at a meeting of central bankers at Jackson Hole in Wyoming, for cues on policy tightening.

On the domestic front, investors also await the release of Reserve Bank of India's (RBI's) latest policy meeting minutes, due on Thursday.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold Indian shares on a net basis during the previous session, offloading Rs 495 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought shares worth Rs 534 crore, according to provisional National Stock Exchange data (NSE).

"Investors may wait and watch for new data expected this weekend from the US. Since the dollar index and the US bond yields remain high, FIIs will not be strong buyers in the market. They have been sellers in the cash market in 12 out of the last 15 trading days this month," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

13 out of the 15 sector gauges -- compiled by the NSE -- were trading in the red. Sub-indexes Nifty Metal, Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Consumer Durables were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 0.84 per cent, 0.50 per cent and 0.66 per cent, respectively. However, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Financial Services slipped 0.22 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.

Aditya Gaggar, Director of Progressive Shares said, "Nifty50 remained rangebound and oscillated in the range of 19,300-19,470, a breakout on either side is a must for a clear direction. As long as Index is in the range, conservative traders must refrain to take a position while risk takers can initiate a long position at the support levels and vice-versa. Sector-wise, the metal sector is on the verge of giving a breakout from the bullish flag and pole formation and a strong performance can be expected thereafter. One can expect the same performance from the auto segment as well because the sector is also about to give a flag and pole formation breakout. By consolidating in a range, the pharma sector is seen cooling off its overbought condition, one can buy stocks on correction, if any."

On the stock-specific front, Hindalco was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock jumped 2.14 per cent to trade at Rs 460. L&T, LTI Mindtree, Cipla and Divi's Labs gained up to 1.36 per cent.

In contrast, Jio Financial Services, Sun Pharma, Bharti Airtel, Adani Enterprises and Tata Consumer Products were among the top laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,033 shares were advancing while 802 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, L&T, Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Infosys, and Tata Steel were among the top gainers.

Also, Poly Medicure, MMTC, Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, Linde India, ITI and Varroc Engineering surged up to 8.44 per cent. On the flipside, DCW, Welspun Enterprises, Repco Home Finance, TCNS Clothing, Max Financial Services and Carysil slipped up to 5.92 per cent.

On Tuesday, Sensex had inched 4 points or 0.01 per cent up to settle at 65,220, while Nifty had added just 3 points or 0.01 per cent to end the session at 19,396.

Nifty outlook

"The pull back that unfolded after initial momentum waned off, found support from the 19,371-19,357-region pencilled in yesterday as critical to further upsides. This encourages us to continue playing for 19,460-19,520. Else, expect bears to begin dominating, eying previously projected objectives of 19,258 and 19,060-18,900 or even 18,600-18,300, but a collapse is not expected right away," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

 

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