Monday, December 23, 2024 | 02:27 PM ISTEN Hindi

MARKET WRAP: Sensex ends 743 pts higher as RIL jumps 10% on Facebook deal

All that happened in the markets today

SI Reporter New Delhi

Brokers trade at their computer terminals at a stock brokerage firm in Mumbai

Indian equity markets inched higher on Wednesday, helped in great part by Reliance Industries (RIL), which ended over 10 per cent higher after the company announced that Facebook would invest Rs 43,547 crore ($5.7 billion) in the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Jio Platforms to expand its presence in India. READ MORE

Among headline indices, the S&P BSE Sensex ended at 31,379.55, up 743 points or 2.42 per cent while the NSE's Nifty ended at 9,187.30, up 206 points or 2.29 per cent. Fear guage, India VIX, slipped around 5 per cent to 42.98 levels.

RIL settled at Rs 1,363.35 apiece on the BSE, up 10.30 per cent. It emerged as the biggest gainer on Sensex, followed by Asian Paints (up 5 per cent), IndusInd Bank (up 3.7 per cent), and Maruti (up 3.6 per cent).

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap gained 0.78 per cent to 11,567 levels while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 10,642, up 0.73 per cent.

On the sectoral front, auto and FMCG stocks made decent gains with Nifty Auto ending 2.5 per cent higher at 5,427 levels. Nifty FMCG also gained around 2.5 per cent to settle at 29,185. Nifty Bank rallied 1.5 per cent to 19,702-mark.

Nifty Media jumped nearly 7 per cent to 1,151 levels.

Buzzing stocks

Besides RIL, other stocks that made news on Wednesday were Asian Paints, RBL Bank, and Bajaj Healthcare, among others.

Shares of Asian Paints hit an over one-month high of Rs 1,817, up 5 per cent on the BSE on the back of historic drop in crude oil prices. It ended at Rs 1,813. READ MORE

On the other hand, RBL Bank hit a new low of Rs 102, down 7 per cent on the BSE in the intra-day trade, falling 20 per cent in the past three trading days on concerns of weak net earnings. The stock of the private sector lender slipped below its previous low of Rs 105.60 touched on April 7, 2020. In the past two months, it has tanked 67 per cent despite management clarification that the bank is a well-capitalised and profitable entity. The stock ended at Rs 105, nearly 4 per cent lower. READ MORE

Bajaj Healthcare ended over 9 per cent higher at Rs 301.40. It hit a record high during the day. READ MORE

Global Markets

Oil slumped to less than $16 a barrel on Wednesday, hitting its lowest since 1999, with the market awash with excess supply as the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic continues to hammer demand for fuels.

Brent crude, which fell 24 per cent in the previous session, touched $15.98 a barrel, its lowest since June 1999. It was trading down $1.83, or 9.5 per cent, at $17.50 at the time of writing of this report.

US West Texas Intermediate CLc1 was down 15 cents, or 1.3 per cent, at $11.42.

Asian share markets were on the defensive on Wednesday as the crude oil prices collapsed, sparking worries about further turmoil in the energy sector, already reeling from the heavy blow from global shutdowns. European shares are on course to claw back earlier losses with pan-European Euro Stoxx 50 futures up 0.98 per cent.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell as much as 1 per cent before erasing losses to last stand at 0.4 per cent higher while Japan’s Nikkei slumped 0.7 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:16 PM

MARKET COMMENT | Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

The Indian markets, including almost all sectoral indices, ended mostly in the green, with Reliance Industries contributing around 50% of the gains in the benchmark indices. The market also rallied on the expectation of a stimulus package to be announced soon. ACC and CRISIL also announced better quarterly results, which aided sentiment. With European markets expecting an ease in lockdown measures, Indian markets will also be looking forward to news regarding the peaking of infections, so that the economy may be opened for business as soon as possible. Dabur, which announces its results tomorrow, will be the first in the FMCG category for the quarter. Investors will look out for an insight into the FMCG sector’s performance during the lockdown.

3:56 PM

Technical Observation by Nagaraj Shetti - Technical Analyst, HDFC Securities

After showing sharp weakness on Tuesday, Nifty witnessed an excellent bounce on Wednesday and closed the day higher by 2.29%. We observe formation of long bull candle on Wednesday, which signals a buy on dips opportunity.

The positive sequence of higher tops and bottom continued and Tuesday's low of 8,909 could now be considered as a new higher bottom of the sequence. Hence, one may expect further upside in the coming sessions.

Nifty is currently moving in a rising wedge type formation and is currently moving up from near the lower end of wedge at 8,850 levels. This rising wedge formation, after a sharp down trend of March and April 2020 could hint at negative pattern implication in the near term. But this negative implication could only activate on a move decline 8,800-8,750 levels.

The short term trend of Nifty is positive, one may expect further upside in the coming sessions. Upside levels to be watched at 9,350-9,400 levels in the next few sessions and immediate support is placed at 9,050.

3:47 PM

Sectoral gainers and losers on the NSE

3:42 PM

MARKET AT CLOSE | Top gainers and losers on the S&P BSE Sensex

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The S&P BSE Sensex surged 743 points or 2.42 per cent to 31,379.55 levels while Nifty gained 206 points or 2.29 per cent to end at 9187.30.

3:31 PM

NEWS ALERT | Cabinet nod to increase subsidy on phosphatic fertiliser by 5% YoY: Govt

-- No decision on restarting flights as of now: Govt

3:28 PM

How Covid-19 spoilt the oil bonanza

Oil has now dropped by about 65 per cent to $20 a barrel, principally because the outbreak of Covid-19 and the consequent decline in economic activity have destroyed demand in large parts of the world. The proposal for a production cut by members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) by about 10 per cent of global output is now considered too small to make an impact. READ MORE

3:21 PM

Why investors shouldn't try buying troubled consumer durable stocks on dips

The nationwide lockdown will snatch away two good quarters from white goods manufactures. For companies, such as Voltas, Blue Star, Havells, Whirlpool, and Crompton Greaves Consumer Electricals, the March and June quarters are the most critical and active periods, accounting for 50–55 per cent of annual revenues. Air conditioner makers, in particular, draw 42–45 per cent of their revenues during March-June, according to brokerage Nirmal Bang. READ MORE

3:13 PM

Bajaj Healthcare locked in 10% upper circuit; hits record high on HCQ boost

“The company has received FDA approval for manufacturing Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate Bulk Drug (API) and formulation for its tablets. Hydroxychloroquine Sulphate has been recommended by several countries, including the US, with limited dosage for Covid-19 patients and as a- preventive for high-risk individuals like healthcare workers,” Bajaj Healthcare said in a press release on April 17, 2020. READ MORE

3:12 PM

NEWS ALERT | Ruchi Soya Industries locked in upper circuit for 57th straight trading day

-- The stock hit a new high of Rs 306 today, zooming 1712 per cent or 18 times from Rs 16.10 on January 27, 2020.

-- The stock is trading under trade-to-trade or 'T' segment, where shares can be traded only for compulsory delivery basis

3:08 PM