Sensex snaps 8-day losing streak, ends 449 pts up; Nifty reclaims 17,450

CLOSING BELL: IT, financial and metal shares led the market rally; Broader indices such as Midcaps and Smallcaps outperformed the benchmarks, while shares of Adani Group too finished on a solid note.

(Photo: Bloomberg)

Stock Market Highlights: The key benchmark indices logged smart gains in trade on Wednesday as investors picked up beaten down shares after eight straight days of fall. IT, financial and metal shares attracted most of the buyers, while shares of Adani Group too finished with solid gains.

Even as India’s GDP growth slowed down to 4.4 per in the December quarter, and the manufacturing sector shrank 1.1 per cent in the same period, investors placed bullish bets after Moody's Investors Service raised India's economic growth estimate for 2023 to 5.5 per cent from 4.8 per cent pegged earlier. READ MORE

The S&P BSE Sensex scaled a high of 59,475 in late deals, and finally settled with a gain of 449 points at 59,411. In the process, the BSE benchmark snapped its 8-day losing streak wherein the index had shed 2,358 points.

The NSE Nifty 50 index touched a high of 17,468, a day after breaking below the 200-DMA, a key technical level placed at 17,384. The Nifty ended 147 points higher at 17,451 on Wednesday.

Also read: Ahead of searing summer, analysts bet on consumer appliance stocks

Axis Bank was one of the top gainer among the Sensex 30 shares after the lender completed the acquisition of Citibank’s India business. The stock along with SBI and IndusInd Bank gained around 2.5 per cent each.

Tech Mahindra, TCS and HCL Technologies were the other major gainers, up over 2 per cent each. Tata Steel, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Wipro and Reliance Industries were the other prominent gainers.

On the flip side, PowerGrid Corporation slipped 1.5 percent. HDFC Bank was the only other loser among the Sensex 30 pack today.

The broader indices outperformed, both BSE Midcap and Smallcap were up 1.4 per cent each. The overall breadth too was fairly positive, with more than two shares advancing for every single declining stock on the BSE.

Among sectors, the BSE Metal index surged 2.6 per cent and was the top gainer. The Bankex, IT, Capital Goods and Realty indices also advanced over a per cent each.

Adani Enterprises up nearly 16 per cent was the top gainer among the Nifty 50 pack. The stock has been in demand in the last two trading sessions, as the Group looks to re-build investor confidence. Meanwhile, the company’s mining arm Mundra Aluminium was declared as the preferred bidder for the Kutrumali bauxite block by the Odisha government. READ MORE

Among the other Group shares, Adani Power, Adani Green, Adani Transmission, Adani Wilmar, NDTV and Adani Total Gas were locked at the 5 per cent upper limit. ACC, Amuja Cements and Adani Ports were up 2- 3 per cent.

That apart, shares of Delhivery were in limelight after nearly 4 per cent of total equity of the logistics solution provider changed hands via block deals in today’s opening deals. READ MORE

Shares of defence major – Bharat Dynamics surged over 3 per cent in trades on Wednesday after the company bagged an export order worth $255 million. The stock has rallied over 23 per cent in the last two weeks. Similarly, shares of Equitas Small Finance Bank have soared over 38 per cent in the last one month.

Primary Market Update

Divgi TorqTransfer Systems IPO opened for subscription today in the price band of Rs 560 to Rs 590. As of 03:45 PM, the IPO was subscribed up to 9 per cent only. The offer period closes on March 03, Friday.

4:15 PM

Tech View :: Nifty50 must pass 17,750 to show any real strength

Because of the market's extreme oversold conditions on both the technical and derivative fronts, Nifty ends its eight-day losing streak. Nifty recovered its 200-DMA after a single day of decline, but 17,625 and 17,750 remain significant upside obstacles, and it must pass 17,750 to show any real strength. Otherwise, it will continue to be vulnerable at higher levels.

We can see a double bottom formation on the Bank Nifty, which indicates a possible short-term bottom. However, the 20-DMA near 41,000 will be a key resistance level, and if it succeeds in breaking through it, we can anticipate a short covering move in the direction of the 41,500-42,000 region.

The market's strongest sector is capital goods, and associated companies could continue to outperform. Following a period of significant correction, PSU banking stocks are now experiencing buying interest.

Views by: Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart Ltd

4:10 PM

Tech View :: Nifty Bank may attempt 41,000

The Bank Nifty remained positive throughout the day following a consolidation breakout on the daily chart. During the day, it moved closer to the 14 DMA. The momentum oscillator RSI is in bullish crossover. A double bottom formation on the daily RSI is likely to provide positive momentum in the space. On the higher end, it may move towards 41,000. On the lower end, support is placed at 40,400.

Views by: Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.

4:05 PM

F&O analysis :: Traders are going into Thursday's weekly expiry with a bullish 17,500 short straddle position

Nifty ended its 8-day losing streak today closing above its 200 DMA at 17,350 with a strong bullish candlestick bar. From the last few days the Nifty 17500 PE of the March monthly expiry was seeing constant shorting of this strike. These short sellers did not square off their positions even when the Nifty fell to 17300 levels, signalling strong bias on the long side.

What is interesting also is to note that this bounce that happened today did not see any significant unwinding by these 17500 PE short sellers, which further signals bullishness on the Nifty Index. It is also important to note that the Nifty index is still in a broad sideways range between 17,250 on the downside and 18,080 to 18,280 on the upside which is also the congestion zone for the Index.

From tomorrow's expiry perspective, traders should look for a range of 17,400 on the downside and 17,600 on the upside barring any new news flow. OI is also indicating that traders are going into tomorrow’s weekly expiry with a bullish 17,500 short straddle position as well.

Views by: Rahul Ghose, Founder & CEO – Hedged, an algorithm-powered advisory platform

4:00 PM

Tech View :: Pullback rally can continue over the next few sessions

The Nifty has managed to close in the positive after falling for nine consecutive trading sessions. We believe that Nifty is oversold and the pullback can continue over the next few trading sessions. On the hourly charts Nifty has broken out of a falling channel which suggests that the Nifty is in a counter trend pullback. The positive crossover on the hourly momentum indicator is in sync with the price action. The pullback if any is likely to be just a relief rally and thus we change our outlook on the Nifty to sideways. The range of consolidation is likely to be 17,700 – 17,200. In terms of levels, 17,340 – 17,300 shall act as a crucial support zone while 17,550 – 176,00 is the immediate hurdle zone for Nifty.

Views by: Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

3:56 PM

Comment :: Markets looking forward to sequential improvement in Q4 GDP

Benchmark Indices finally tasted a tinge of Green in today's trade on the back of monthly automotive volume numbers and healthy GST collections in a shorter month. Even as the Street reacted to the Third Quarter GDP numbers today, markets seem to look forward towards the 5% GDP during Q4. Today's session, however, surely witnessed investor interest in several PSU banking stocks which had corrected quite meaningfully.

Views by: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

3:55 PM

Currency check :: Rupee ends higher at 82.50/$ against Tuesday’s close of 82.67/$

3:54 PM

BSE Snapshot :: Market breadth favours buyers in 2:1 ratio; M-Cap hits Rs 261 trn

3:53 PM

Market Check:: Top losers on the BSE today

3:52 PM

Market Check :: Top gainers on the BSE today

3:51 PM

Buzzing stock :: Delhivery ends off lows; stock fell 1% in early deals post block deal in nearly 4% equity

3:49 PM

Buzzing stock :: Uflex sprints 9.5% as Co says 'all accounting books found in order' by I-T dept

3:48 PM

Buzzing stock :: LIC zooms 4%

3:47 PM

Buzzing stock :: Adani Enterprises rallies 15% on receipt of LoI for bauxite block in Odisha

Tht apart, India's Adani Group has told creditors it has secured $3 billion loan from a sovereign wealth fund, Reuters reported, as the embattled conglomerate seeks to ease concerns about its credit profile after a short-seller attack.