D-Street party continues; Sensex ends 610 pts higher at 52,154; banks rally

The Nifty Bank index stole the show and hit a new peak of 37,309 levels, up 1,200 points in the intra-day trade. The index closed 1,197 points, or 3.3 per cent, higher at 37,306 levels

4:46 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Ajit Mishra, VP - Research, Religare Broking

Markets started the week on a robust note and made a new record high, largely led by firm global cues and encouraging domestic macro-economic data. The benchmark opened gap up and hovered in a range for most of the session however renewed buying in the last hour helped the index to close around the day’s high. Consequently, the Nifty index closed at 15,315 levels, up by 1%. A mixed trend continued on the sectoral front wherein banks and realty were the top gainers that supported the rally while FMCG, IT and consumer durables ended in the red.

 

Markets have resumed the trend after a week-long consolidation phase and we are now eyeing the 15,500 in Nifty. With no major events, participants should keep a close watch on global markets for cues. Also, maintain focus on the selection of stocks and avoid a contrarian approach.

4:45 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Joseph Thomas, Head of Research at Emkay Wealth Management

The markets closed the day on a high note with the Sensex crossing the 52000 mark, with both Sensex and Nifty closing with a gain of more than 1%. What moved the markets was the Bank Nifty, which climbed by 3.65 % to 37425, a significant surge from the 31000-32000 levels where it was basing itself for a couple of weeks. Midcaps, small caps, realty and healthcare too participated in the rise today. Markets elsewhere , in the East  as well as early Europe, has been well supported by the fruition of large scale vaccination as also  expectations of larger economic stimulus in the US

4:33 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Shrikant Chouhan, Executive VP, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Securities

The market has made a strong start to the week on the back of strong and positive domestic flows. The increase in the number of IIP and the easing of CPI inflation led to a recovery in financials. Bank Nifty rose by 1300 points, Finance Nifty rose by 900 points, Nifty 50 rose to 15340 levels and Sensex gained by more than 500 points throughout the day. It has proven to be the smartest rally after 4 days of aggregation. Based on the daily chart, Nifty / Sensex are moving towards 15500/52500 levels with minor resistance at 15360/52250 level and on the downside, 15270/51850 and 15100/51200 would be the big supports. Our strategy is to reduce weak long positions and we need to make partial profits in positions where there are abnormal gains. Along with financial, the focus should also be on auto stocks

4:32 PM

TECH VIEW :: Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities

After showing a range bound movement in the last four sessions, Nifty witnessed sharp upmove on Monday and closed the day higher by 151 points. After opening on an upside gap of around 107 points, Nifty shifted into a gradual upmove amidst a range movement for the whole session. Minor intraday dips in between was used as buy on dips opportunity. Today's opening upside gap remains unfilled.

 

A small positive candle was formed with gap up opening and with minor lower shadow. Technically, this pattern could indicate an upside breakout of the upper range of around 15255 levels. This pattern has negated a minor bearish implication created after a doji or high wave type candle pattern of Friday. This is positive indication.

Conclusion: The short term trend of Nifty continues to be positive. Today's upside breakout attempt of the range of 15255 could open more upside in the short term. The next upside levels to be watched around 15500 in the next few sessions. Immediate support is placed at 15200.

4:19 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Deepak Jasani, Head of Research, HDFC Securities

Indian benchmark equity indices began the new trading week on a strong note on Feb 15 – up for the third consecutive day, driven by outperformance from private financials as well as PSU Banks. The Nifty opened gap up, later remained in a range and closed near the day’s high. At close, the NSE Nifty 50 index also gained 1% or 151.4 points to close at 15,314, another record high.

 

Volumes on the NSE were lower than the recent averages with non financials seeing lower participation. Among sectors, Bank, Realty, Auto were the main gainers while Metal, IT, Pharma were the main losers.

Nifty keeps rising with upgaps reflecting pent up buying partly driven by encouraging Q3 numbers. However selective buying in sectors means that the overall volumes are measured and advance decline ratio also is either flat or negative (like on Feb 15). The next resistance for the Nifty is 15470 while 15243 could provide support.

4:00 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Optimistic global sentiment & improving corporate earnings are leading an uptrend in the market dictated by banking and realty stocks. Mild consolidation is noticed in Pharma & IT, but Mid-caps continue to beat the broad market. WPI inflation soared to 2.03% in January compared to 1.22% in December which is positive for the manufacturing sector showing upside in demand. Food inflation dipped cooling CPI to 4.06% in January from 4.59% in December 2020, moderation in inflation is in-line with the RBI views, positive for the domestic economy

3:59 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

Bulls powered Indices to new highs as FPI flows till date in February far exceeded January flows. Buoyed by Q3 earnings and CPI inflation, the day witnessed a ferocious rally in Financials backed by positive global cues and return of the elusive  capex cycle

3:58 PM

TECH VIEW :: Rohit Singre, senior technical analyst at LKP Securities

Index started a day with good gap and managed to hold the gains throughout the session and closed the day at 15314 with gains of one percent. Both the indices nifty & nifty bank has witnessed a fresh breakout in today’s session hints overall structure is still buying on the dip and we may see more upside in the near term if managed to hold above 14250 in nifty & 37000 in the nifty bank which is immediate & strong support on the downside

 

3:57 PM

TECH VIEW :: Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research, CapitalVia Global Research

Market witnessed a positive trend today after a few days of the lackluster movement. The expected levels of the market are likely to be in the range of 15250 and 15470, and it’s going to be crucial for the short-term market scenario to sustain above the 15250 Nifty50 index level. The momentum indicators like RSI, MACD to support the upside move and indicating potential upside from the current market level.

3:56 PM

SECTOR OF THE DAY :: Nifty Bank settles at record closing peak

3:54 PM

Stocks that lifted Sensex today

3:51 PM

S&P BSE MidCap index 1.4% higher

3:48 PM

Sectoral trends on NSE at Close

3:46 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close

3:34 PM

CLOSING BELL

The headline S&P BSE Sensex closed above the 52,000-mark for the first time on gains of 610 points, or 1.18 per cent, at 52,154 levels. 

 

NSE's Nifty50, on the other hand, hit a record high of 15,327 levels in the intra-day trade before ending at 15,315-mark, up 151 points or 1 per cent. 

3:25 PM

EXPERT TAKE :: Jyoti Roy, DVP – Equity Strategist at Angel Broking on Sensex hitting 52,000

The Sensex has today hit new all time high levels of 52,000 driven by continued strong flows due to positive global cues. After record monthly inflows of over Rs. 60,000 in Nov and Dec 2020 flows slowed down somewhat in January to ~Rs. 19,500 crore. While we did see some profit booking in the second half of January the Union Budget 2020-21 turned the tide around for the market. So far we have already witnessed FII flows of over Rs. 20,000 crore in February which is helping drive the markets. We expect the flows to remain strong for now which should help propel the markets to new highs. However we expect the pace of the rally to moderate from here  on and some profit booking cannot be ruled out at higher levels.

3:19 PM

BROKERAGE VIEW :: Geojit Financial Services on Apollo Tyres

CMP: Rs 239 | TP: Rs 289 | Reco: Buy

Apollo Tyres Limited manufactures tires and tubes for cars, trucks, farm equipment, and light commercial vehicles. The company markets its products with two global brands: Apollo and Vredestein in APMEA (Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa) and Europe regions.

Topline expanded 14.2% YoY (+17.3% QoQ) in Q3FY21 on robust sales seen across domestic and abroad markets in both OEM & replacements.

EBITDA margin improved 760bps YoY to 19.9% due to high margin product mix and lower costs. Adj. PAT rose 158.5% YoY to Rs. 449 cr.

We expect growth momentum to continue with ongoing cost containment measures, focus on digitalization, capex conservation, strong recovery from replacement market in India and focus on premium products in Europe. Hence, we reiterate our BUY rating on the stock with a rolled forward TP of Rs. 289 based on 18x FY23E adj. EPS.

3:09 PM

BSE Midcap index hits new high as financials, Adani group stocks rally

Adani Transmissions and Adani Enterprises from the Adani group companies rallied 13 per cent and 10 per cent, respectively. Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company, LIC Housing Finance, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Shriram Transport Finance, PNB Housing Finance, Aditya Birla Capital, L&T Finance Holdings and IDFC First Bank from financials were up in the range of 5 per cent to 13 per cent on the BSE. READ MORE

3:01 PM

TATA MOTORS IN FOCUS :: TaMo to roll out its first all-electric Land Rover model in 2024

>> In the next five years, Land Rover will welcome six pure electric variants as it continues to be the world leader of luxury SUVs

>> All Jaguar and Land Rover nameplates to be available in pure electric form by end of the decade

>>On a path towards double-digit EBIT margin and positive cash flow, with an ambition to achieve positive cash net-of-debt by 2025 with a value creation approach delivering quality and profitover-volume.

Click here to know Tata Motos' EV plans
 

2:53 PM

Recovery in occupancy, footfalls drive growth for Apollo Hospitals

Covid-related patients accounted for a quarter of the occupied beds and 17 per cent of revenues. However given the steadily declining allocated beds to Covid, this could come down further unless there is a further spike in infections. A positive trend is the higher revenues at newer hospitals as compared to the mature hospitals led by higher occupancies and a better mix. The ramp up in new hospitals should add to revenues and margins going ahead for the hospitals segment. Sales of Apollo Health and Lifestyle (diagnostics, preventive healthcare) too saw a 6.4 per cent gain led by higher Covid-related testing. READ MORE

2:39 PM

EXPERT TAKE :: Naveen Kulkarni, CIO at Axis Securities on Sensex hitting 52,000

The market rally has been very strong and India has multiple triggers which includes - Contained covid infections, Blockbuster budget and Economic revival. With this scenario as a backdrop, a higher beta portfolio will do well. BFSI should be the top sector in the portfolio, followed by discretionary, cyclicals and some allocation to industries. Also, digital is an evergreen theme and a significant allocation to the IT sector should be maintained. Overall, the market will continue to do well over the medium. Risks are now more global than local

2:32 PM

ICICI Bank, HDFC twins top contributors to Sensex's gain today

2:22 PM

Consumer, personal loans bolstered fintech lending in FY 2021: Report

SIDBI and Equifax launched the second edition of "Fintech Pulse", a quarterly publication highlighting key trends of the fast growing NBFC (Non- Banking Financial Company) Fintech segment.

 

"Fintech Pulse" aims to provide insights on trends in the Indian Fintech industry - from disbursements to delinquencies to top growing states and top loan categories. READ MORE

2:13 PM

Top gainers on the BSE at this hour

Company	PRICE(rs)	CHG(%)
Mahindra CIE	197.90	17.87
Cholaman.Inv.&Fn	533.00	13.76
Adani Total Gas	427.90	11.84
Adani Transmissi	688.15	9.65
HEG	1268.50	9.54

2:11 PM

NEWS FLASH :: IRCON International defers issue of bonus shares

Firm declared an interim dividend for FY 2020-21 at the rate of Rs 1.30 per share. The dividend will be paid on Wednesday the 3rd March 2021 onwards.

 

Bonus shares: The Board has deferred the agenda to its subsequent meeting. 

 

2:05 PM

European markets check

(Source: Reuters)

1:54 PM

RailTel IPO opens for subscription on Tuesday. Should you subscribe?

The three-day initial public offering (IPO) of the state-owned RailTel Corporation of India will open for subscription on Tuesday. The price band has been fixed at Rs 93-94 a share for the initial share-sale. The IPO is entirely an offer-for-sale through which the government will offload 87,153,369 equity shares, amounting to 27.16 per cent stake. At the upper end of the price band, the government would raise a little over Rs 819 crore. READ MORE

1:47 PM

Nestle Q4 preview: PAT likely to grow 16-19% YoY; may announce dividend

A continued increase in in-home consumption and demand for packaged food along with festive season is likely to have driven the growth for fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) maker Nestle India during the December 2020 quarter, according to analysts, who see a nearly 10-13 per cent growth in revenue on a yearly basis. However, on a sequential basis, the sales growth is likely to be flat or may dip marginally between 1-2 per cent, they believe. READ MORE

1:40 PM

SECTOR WATCH :: Nifty IT index wipes off gains, slips into the red

1:34 PM

Infosys, Wipro, TCS: How to trade frontline IT stocks in the current market

NIFTY IT: After the recent correction, the index is gradually rising. However, the resistance range of 27,000 to 26,500 has become the immediate hurdle. The next bigger upside is above this resistance, which the index seems to be attempting to conquer as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) is well positioned with a positive crossover. The support comes at 25,200 mark. READ MORE