Nifty ends at 9,108; logs 1st weekly fall in March; banking stocks gain

The benchmark indices on Friday settled higher thanks to gains in banking stocks following news reports that the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has promised to offer a solution to the growing non performing assets (NPA) crisis in next few days.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 29,421, up 89 points, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 9,108, up 22 points. Both the indices logged their first weekly loss in March, retreating from a record high hit last week. 

"Nifty closed flat in a volatile session today, tracking mixed cues. Initially, it made a firm start and inched higher, thanks to strong rebound in banking counters. But, profit taking at the higher levels again pushed the index to neutral line. It was a mixed session on the sectoral front wherein banking, especially the PSU pack, clearly outshone the others," said Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities.

"The move in Nifty was in line with our view and we expect this to continue on Monday as well. Now, the challenging part is to manage stock-specific positions in such volatile scenario. We suggest limiting leveraged positions and keep them hedged until Nifty resumes its uptrend," he added.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE Midcap ended 0.1% down, while the S&P BSE Smallcap index gained 0.3%. 

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, turned negative. On the BSE, 1,471 shares declined and 1,346 shares advanced. A total of 218 shares were unchanged.

Sectors and stocks

Nifty PSU Bank index (up 1.5%) was the leading sectoral gainer, led by gains in Oreintal Bank of Commerce (up 7%), Bank of India (up 5%), Syndicate Bank (up 4%) and Punjab National Bank (up 4%).  

Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank indices settled nearly 1% higher. 

Among individual stocks, Bank of Baroda, ICICI Bank and SBI were the top movers on Nifty. 

YES Bank closed 1% higher at Rs 1,532 after the private sector lender announced that its qualified institutional placement (QIP) offer has opened on Thursday.

NHPC rose 2% after the company said it signed power purchase agreements with Tata Power-Delhi Distribution on 22 March 2017 for seven power stations, namely Bairasiul, Salal, Tanakpur, Chamera-I, Uri-I, Sewa-II and Chamera-III for a period of 35 years from the date of commercial operations (COD) of the respective power stations. 

Skipper rallied 8% after the company said that it has secured contracts worth around Rs 405 crore for supply of transmission towers to the projects of Power Grid Corporation of India, Transmissions Corporation of Telengana and Power Transmission Corporation of Uttrakhand. The announcement was made during market hours today, 24 March 2017.

Global markets

Global markets traded mixed today. While, european markets opened lower amid uncertainty over a delayed vote on US President Donald Trump's health-care bill, Asian markets closed higher. The pan-European STOXX 600 was 0.2% lower. France's CAC 40 shed 0.3%, while FTSE 100 was little changed. 

In Asia, Australia bounced back from a tough few days to be up 0.8%, while MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was all but flat. Japan's Nikkei added 0.8% encouraged by a slight softening in the yen. China's Shanghai Composite gained 0.6%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.1%.

(With inputs from Reuters)