Market Wrap Podcast, September 17: All that happened in the markets today

The Indian indices tumbled from record-high levels to end lower as investors booked profits in PSU Bank and metal stocks. The benchmark indices had started Friday's session on a gap-up note, thus pushing Sensex to a new peak of 59,737 and 50-pack Nifty to a fresh record high of 17,792. Although soon after, the indices lost steam with the Sensex closing the volatile session at 59,016, down 125 points, or 0.21 per cent, while Nifty shut shop at 17,585, down 44 points, or 0.25 per cent. Even then, on a weekly basis, the benchmarks rose for the fourth straight week.

The top Sensex gainer was Kotak Mahindra Bank which rose 5 per cent, followed by HDFC Bank that added 2 per cent. That said, the top losers were Tata Steel and SBI that lost up to 4 per cent.  

The broader markets too reversed from all-time high levels to end the day in the negative territory. The BSE MidCap fell 1.14 per cent and the SmallCap 1.06 per cent, thus underperforming benchmark Sensex. The market breadth was in the favour of the sellers with an advance-decline ratio of nearly 1:2. The volatility index -- India VIX -- rose by 5.7 per cent to 15.23.

Among sectoral indices, only the Nifty Bank, Private Bank, Financial Services, and Media ended in the green. The PSU Bank index tanked the most among all sectors, down 3 per cent, on account of profit-booking even though the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday announced the National Asset Reconstruction Company that would acquire bad loans in an attempt to resolve them. Metal and realty indices too lost over 2 per cent each.

Among stock-specific movements, Interglobe Aviation surged 11 per cent on strong aviation data for August. The domestic air passenger traffic for the month was up 136 per cent year-on-year at 6.7 million. The stock hit a new high of Rs 2243 in intra-day deals and settled at Rs 2197.

Further, the stock of eClerx rose 4 per cent on receiving the board's approval to undertake buyback of shares. The board has approved up to Rs 303 crore buyback at Rs 2,850 per share.

Brightcom Group hit an upper circuit of 5 per cent at Rs 41.45 after the company said its board approved allotment of 1.50 crore convertible warrants at Rs 37.77 each on a preferential basis to Shankar Sharma. Sharma is vice chairman & joint managing director of First Global, an investment management firm.

Shares of CESC erased gains to end the session just 4 per cent higher after the company's board fixed September 17, 2021, as the record date for the stock split in the ratio of 1:10. The stock had risen as much as 10 per cent to a new high of Rs 96.75 in the intra-day session.

Now, going into trade next week, the markets could first and foremost react to the outcome of today's GST Council meeting. But majorly, the two-day monetary policy meeting of the US Federal Reserve will likely dictate the market trend in the coming week. Investors across the world will be eyeing the FOMC meeting for more clarity on the outlook for both tapering as well as interest rate timelines.

That apart, back home, another initial public offer will hit Street next week. The Rs 171 crore IPO by Paras Defence and Space Technologies will open for subscription on Tuesday. The issue is priced in the band of Rs 165-175 per share. Furthermore, shares of Sansera Engineering will be up for listing on the bourses on Friday. The issue closed yesterday with over 11 times bids. Lastly, stock-specific news flow, pick up in vaccination drive, and foreign fund activity will also guide markets this week. According to technical analyst, Rohit Singre of LKP Securities, any break below the 17,530 zone could drag down the index more.