Market Wrap Podcast, Sep 9: Here's all that happened in the markets today

After trading on both sides of the flatline, the benchmark indices eked out gains to end the session on a positive note, snapping their two-day losing run. The gains led by Airtel, Nestle, ITC and TCS helped Sensex rise 55 points to 58,305. Nifty50, meanwhile, added 16 points to settle the weekly expiry at 17,369. In the 50-pack index, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Nestle and Hindalco were among the leading gainers and SBI Life, HDFC Life, Titan and Ultratech Cement were the top losers.

Overall, both indices gained nearly 0.3 per cent, thus ending the truncated week on a positive note. The domestic markets will be closed for trading on Friday on account of Ganesh Chaturthi.

Buying momentum remained strong in the broader markets. Both BSE Midcap and Smallcap scaled fresh record highs in trade, with the former closing the session 0.56 per cent higher and the latter 0.52 per cent.

Sectorally, the Nifty Media index shone the most with gains of nearly 3 per cent. Other gainers included Metals, FMCG and IT. Meanwhile, Nifty Realty was the worst performer, followed by Financial Services, Bank and Private Bank index.

In stock-specific news, shares of Dish TV rallied 20 per cent to a 52-week high of Rs 17.95, up 30 per cent in three days, after YES Bank sent a notice to the company to remove the top management, including the managing director Jawahar Lal Goel. YES Bank in a letter said that the Board is not acting in line with good corporate governance standards and is not a fair representation of the incumbent significant shareholders of the company.

Future Retail stock ended at 10 per cent upper circuit limit after the Supreme Court Thursday stayed all the proceedings before the Delhi High Court for four weeks related to the implementation of an award by Singapore's Emergency Arbitrator restraining Future Retail Ltd (FRL) from going ahead with its Rs 24,731 crore merger deal with Reliance Retail.

UCO Bank soared 11 per cent to Rs 15 as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) removed the public sector lender from its PCA (Prompt Corrective Action) framework citing improvement in its financial and credit profile.

Shares of SBI Life tumbled 4 per cent to Rs 1173 on the BSE after the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) offloaded 2 per cent stake in the life insurance company via open market today.

In other news, the Finance Ministry said that economic recovery, which was impacted during the second wave, will see faster revival in the next three quarters of the current financial year, even if the third wave hits the country. It said that this confidence is mainly due to a rapid surge in the inoculation drive and a rebound in leading macroeconomic indicators.

Now, going into trade next week, investors are first and foremost likely to react to the industrial output for the month of July that will be out on Friday. They will also keenly track the inflation data for August due next week. According to Vinod Nair of Geojit Financial Services, the retail inflation is expected to remain high in line with the July inflation rate of 5.59 per cent while wholesale inflation is expected to ease from the previous level of 11.16 per cent. Further, Street will assess ECB meet outcome to gauge future tapering plans.

Two new companies will also list on the bourses next week, namely Ami Organics and Vijaya Diagnostic. Ami Organics IPO had garnered over 64 times subscription and was commanding a strong premium in the grey markets. Meanwhile, Vijaya Diagnostic received a little over 4 times bids and consequently a tepid demand in the unlisted space.

Lastly, oil price movement, stock-specific triggers and FII flows will continue to sway market trajectory. Analysts say while the overall bullish mood is likely to stay on the Street, profit-taking in overpriced stock counters is likely. Hence they suggest investors must continue to invest in fundamentally strong stocks for the long term.