While investors looked to book profits at higher levels, most dips were bought into, resulting in a flat finish for the benchmark indices on Tuesday although there was no dearth of volatility. After gyrating between gains and losses during the session, the BSE barometer Sensex lost 17 points to end at 58,280, with IT stocks and private lenders among top drags.
Its NSE counterpart Nifty declined 16 points but managed to hold the 17,350 mark to settle at 17,362. Nineteen Nifty stocks closed in the green and 31 in the red. Bharti Airtel, HDFC and Grasim were the top gainers while Sun Pharma, BPCL and Hindalco were the biggest losers. Both indices snapped their three-day winning streaks but did manage to hit new highs in intra-day deals (Sensex at 58,553 and Nifty at 17,437).
The broader market also disappointed as both BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices snapped their 10-day winning run. The BSE Midcap index lost 0.23 per cent and BSE Smallcap 0.42 per cent. Amid this backdrop, the market breadth leaned in favour of sellers.
In the sectoral landscape, only three indices - Nifty FMCG, Nifty Media and Nifty Financial Services - closed in the green. Nifty Realty snapped its eight day bull streak to emerge as the worst performing index, down over 2 per cent. Nifty IT and PSU Bank indices closed over 1 per cent lower each.
In stock-specific moves, telecom shares hogged the limelight. Shares of Vodafone Idea rallied 15 per cent while Bharti Airtel jumped 3 per cent amid reports that Cabinet will consider a telecom relief package tomorrow. Further, Vi chairperson Himanshu Kapania said in a letter to shareholders that the company is hopeful of government support in generating reasonable returns on its investment.
That apart, shares of IRCTC soared 9 per cent, with the firm's market cap crossing Rs 50,000 crore for the first time. It even hit a new high in trade today at Rs 3305. The stock has been in demand after the company announced its stock split plan. On August 12, 2021, the board of IRCTC approved a stock split in the ratio of 1:5 to enhance the liquidity in the capital market, widen the shareholder base and make the shares affordable to small investors.
ITC defied market sentiment and gained over 1 per cent to settle at Rs 211.75 after a CLSA report said the FMCG firm may be on the verge of changing the shape of its business. ITC's FMCG business is shaping up well for a K-shape acceleration with scale driving margin expansion even as capital intensity falls. We expect another 362 bps of margin expansion for the FMCG business. The brokerage has a buy rating on the stock with a 12-month target price of Rs 265.
RVNL jumped 7 per cent to Rs 31 after it announced that the company has signed an MoU with NHAI in connection with construction of Multi Modal Logistics Parks.
Now, going into trade on Wednesday, with no other event lined up, stock-specific moves and global cues will continue to influence domestic markets.
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