Market wrap: Sensex gains 969 points from day's low, ends 296 points up

Top headlines
 
·       Sensex gains 969 points from day's low, ends 296 points up
·       HP Adhesives makes strong debut at 16% premium, ends 22% higher
·       RBL Bank tanks 20% as Vishwavir Ahuja goes on leave; analysts sound caution
·       Tech Mahindra gains 4% to touch new all-time high
·       Adani Group nears first coal shipment from shunned Australian mine
 
The key benchmark indices closed higher after starting on a muted note and staying in the red zone for a while. However, by close, they recouped losses and finished with steady gains on the back of support from select pharma and private banking shares. IT stocks also logged notable gains.
 
BSE benchmark Sensex rallied to a high of 57,512, up 969 points from the day's low. It finally ended 296 points higher at 57,420.
 
The NSE Nifty surged 279 points from the day's low to hit a high of 17,112. The index eventually settled with a gain of 82 points at 17,086.
 
On an immediate basis, the index has formed a support zone near the 17,000-16,900 level. If it manages to sustain above this level, one can expect a swift extension in current pullback towards the hurdle zone of 17,150-17,220, according to Rohit Singre, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities.
 
Among stocks, RBL Bank garnered a lot of attention today as the scrip hit a 52-week low, crashing over 20%. The RBI appointed Yogesh K Dayal as an additional director after the private sector bank’s managing director and chief executive officer Vishwavir Ahuja went on a medical leave.
 
Later, in a clarification, the RBI said that the bank was well capitalised and its financial position remained satisfactory. Analysts believe that this development will create uncertainty and will be negative for the stock – at least in the short to medium term. The stock closed 18.3% lower on the BSE. 
 
That apart, Tech Mahindra was the leading gainer. It rallied 4% to hit a new high of Rs 1,792 on the expectation of strong earnings in the December quarter. The stock has surged 12% in the past week, against a 2.8% rise in the Sensex.
 
The company remains confident of delivering double-digit organic revenue growth in FY22, given broad-based demand, strong deal wins, improving win rates and steady progress on client mining.
 
Further, the shares of GMR Infrastructure also rose 12% on the BSE after the GMR Group signed a shareholders agreement with Indonesia's Angkasa Pura II for the development of Medan Airport.
 
Adding to the continuous trail of IPO debuts, HP Adhesives made a decent market debut, with its shares getting listed at Rs 319 on the BSE, a 16% premium over the issue price. The stock, which got locked in the 5% upper circuit in early trade, closed 22% higher on the exchange at Rs 335.
 
The broader markets also finished with notable gains. The BSE Midcap and Smallcap closed 0.3% and 0.5% up, respectively.
 
Among sectors, the Nifty Pharma index saw the biggest gains amid a fresh surge in Covid cases in some states, possibly led by the Omicron variant. The index closed 1.6% higher. The Bankex, the other notable gainer on the BSE, ended 0.7% up.
 
Meanwhile, in other news, the Adani Group is preparing to ship the first coal cargo from Australia's most controversial mine, after battling a seven-year campaign by climate activists and defying a global push away from fossil fuels.
 
The Carmichael mine in the outback Queensland state of Australia is likely to be the last new thermal coal mine to be built in that country. But it will be a vital source of supply for importers such as power plants in India. According to a spokesperson for Adani Group’s Australian subsidiary Bravus Mining & Resources, the company has secured the market for 10 million tonnes of coal per annum which will be produced at the Carmichael Mine.