Market Wrap Podcast, September 22: All that happened in the markets today

The domestic benchmark indices ended a volatile trading day marginally lower as investors were cautious ahead of the outcome of the FOMC meeting that will clear the air regarding the Fed’s tapering plans. After trading in a narrow range for the most part of the day, the 50-pack Nifty finally settled 15 points lower at 17,547. Its BSE counterpart Sensex settled the day at 58,927, down 78 points. Both Sensex and Nifty have ended in the red in the last three of four trading sessions.

In the Sensex pack of stocks, 16 ended in the green and 14 in the red. Tech Mahindra, M&M, HCL Tech and Bajaj Auto were the top gainers while HDFC, Nestle India, ICICI Bank and HUL were the worst laggards.

Even as investors shunned the large-cap names, they lapped up the mid-and smallcap stocks with both hands.  Consequently, the broader markets outperformed the benchmarks. The BSE Midcap index closed the day 1.5 per cent higher, the Smallcap index rose 1.2 per cent.

Sectorally, Nifty Media was the top performer as the index rose 13 per cent led by Zee Entertainment. It was followed by Nifty Realty, which gained 8 per cent on expectations of strong demand ahead of the festive season. Easing jitters over the Chinese economy bolstered the metal stocks which pushed the metal pack 1.5 per cent higher. The only laggards in trade today were the financial services, banking and FMCG sectors.

The stock that hogged the limelight in today's session was Zee Entertainment. The stock surged to end over 32 per cent higher after the company signed a merger deal with Sony Pictures India. Post-merger, 47.07 per cent stake will be held by shareholders of Zee Entertainment, while Sony Pictures Networks will hold a 52.93 per cent stake in the merged entity. The stock hit a new 52-week high of Rs 355.40.

Further, the shares of Route Mobile closed up 1.5 per cent after the company board approved up to Rs 2,000 crore fundraising plan.

ITC continued to rally, with its market cap regaining Rs 3-trillion mark in intra-day deals. The scrip closed the session 1 per cent higher at Rs 243.

KPIT Technologies, meanwhile, zoomed over 6 per cent after the company said it will acquire Germany's Future Mobility.

Iin the primary market, Paras Defense and Space Technologies IPO continued to receive an overwhelming investor response. The IPO was subscribed over 40 times at the end of Day 2, with the retail portion subscribed the most at 68 times.

The markets on Thursday will take cues from the outcome of the meeting of the US Federal Reserve. Besides, volatility could continue to plague investors amid the weekly F&O expiry. Lastly, the IPO of  Paras Defense will remain open for the last day of the bidding process. Tech charts suggest that the Nifty index range is between the 17300-17800 zone and either side breakout will decide the final direction.