Following a triumphant finish in 2022. This year the Indian equity markets got off to a bad start by dropping more than 1% in the first week of the current month. The domestic benchmark indices declined due to worries about rate hikes and the slowdown in the global economy. On Friday, the Sensex and Nifty suffered losses for the third trading session in a row.
During last week, the BSE Sensex lost 940 points, or 1.55%, to close at 59,900, while the Nifty50 lost 245 points, or 1.36%, to finish the week at 17,860. The BSE small-cap index fell 0.50% during the same period, while the BSE midcap index closed 2.05% lower.
According to the recent projections by the Statistics Ministry, the Indian economy is expected to grow at a slower 7% rate in the current fiscal ending March 2023 as against an 8.7% gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2021-22.
If the forecast comes true, India's GDP growth will be lower than Saudi Arabia's expected 7.6% expansion, PTI reported.
Earlier, economists at HSBC said India's economy is expected to grow at a 5.5% rate in the next financial year, a notch below the expected potential rate of 6%, as growth momentum in the country was slowing gradually.
The slowing economic growth may negatively affect demand and, consequently, company profits. Notably, over the last three years, a strong corporate earnings trend has been the most important driver of India’s stock market outperformance, domestic brokerage firm, Motilal Oswal highlighted in its latest India Strategy report.
Crude oil prices, on the other hand, plummeted last week on the back of ongoing recession fears. WTI crude futures fell 8.09% to $73.77 a barrel. Brent crude futures dropped 8.56% to $78.56 a barrel.
The Indian rupee had the worst performance in Asia during the previous year, but it got off to a strong start in 2023. The domestic currency strengthened 0.44 paisa to 82.27 against the US dollar in last week.
Despite markets being lower, five Nifty 500 stocks have reached their all-time highs in the last week.
Shares of Apollo Tyres have reached their all-time high of ₹340 apiece in Friday's trade. The stock has been on a bull run for the last 10 consecutive trading sessions. The stock experienced a strong spike after the price of the major raw material, crude oil, corrected sharply, along with the prices of other raw materials, including rubber.
Brokerage firm Motilal Oswal Financial Services believes that moderation in raw material (RM) prices will boost the margin recovery of tyre manufacturers.
"We expect the margin to recover from H2FY23, with a softening in underlying RM prices. As per our estimates, for every 10% change in natural rubber/synthetic rubber/carbon black prices (over its FY22 average), EBITDA margin will change by 160bp/80bp/100bp," Motilal Oswal said.
Axis Bank was very next on the list, the stock reached its lifetime high of ₹970 apiece on January 03. The stock has gained 24.47% in the last three months. In the last six months, the stock has delivered a return of 42.85 percent to shareholders.
Shares of Mahindra CIE Automotive have risen over 50% in the last one-year period. On January 02, the stock reached a record high of ₹353.90 apiece, surpassing its previous high of ₹347.40.
At the current market price of ₹343, the stock is trading 109.21% higher than its one-year low of Rs.164. Despite such strong performance, ICICI Direct Research maintained its "buy" rating on the stock with a revised target price of ₹410 apiece from an earlier price of Rs.380.
Similarly, Solar Industries' shares reached an all-time high of ₹4,538 apiece on January 03. The company is engaged in the manufacturing of a complete range of industrial explosives and explosive-initiating devices.
In the last one year, the stock advanced 81.40%, climbing from ₹2,421 to the current level of ₹4,385.
RHI Magnesita India was another stock that hit an all-time high in Friday's trade. During the intraday, the stock opened on a high note, reaching a record high of ₹892.90 on the NSE.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of MintGenie.
