Gains in shares of select IT and finance heavyweights such as Infosys, Bajaj Finance and TCS, helped key equity indices the Sensex and the Nifty close in the green on February 9.
Global cues were mixed in absence of any major trigger. After the lower closing of the US markets, major European markets such as Germany's DAX, France's CAC and UK's FTSE rose to a percent.
Sensex opened 52 points higher at 60,715.89 but failed to hold gains and traded volatile through the session. In intraday trade, it rose 200 points to 60,863.63 at one time and fell 191 points to 60,472.81 at another.
The 30-share pack ended 142 points, or 0.23 percent, higher at 60,806.22. Nifty closed the day at 17,893.45, up 22 points, or 0.12 percent.
Shares of Infosys, Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, TCS and Larsen & Toubro were the top contributors to the rise in Sensex.
Mid and smallcaps underperformed the benchmarks. The BSE Midcap index ended flat while the Smallcap index fell 0.15 percent.
Some 119 stocks, including Adani Green Energy, Barbeque-Nation Hospitality, Page Industries, Sudarshan Chemical Industries and Thyrocare Technologies, hit their 52-week lows in intraday trade on BSE.
Crude oil prices oscillated between gains and losses, supported by optimism over recovering Chinese demand and dragged by concerns over Fed rate hikes and US oil inventories hitting their highest levels in many months. Brent Crude traded near the $85 per barrel mark.
The rupee slipped 2 paise to end at 82.52 per dollar.
Top Nifty gainers: Bajaj Finserv (up 2.27 percent), Hindalco Industries (up 2.20 percent) and HDFC Life Insurance Company (up 2.19 percent) ended as the top gainer stocks in the Nifty index.
Top Nifty losers: Shares of Adani Enterprises (down 11.19 percent), Adani Ports (down 2.94 percent) and Hero MotoCorp (down 2.02 percent) ended as the top Nifty losers.
Sectoral picture
Most sectoral indices suffered losses on February 9. Nifty Metal, with a loss of 1.58 percent, ended as the top loser. Nifty Realty (down 0.58 percent) and Nifty Auto (down 0.52 percent) lost over half a percent each.
Among the gainers, Nifty IT (up 0.70 percent) and Media (up 0.60 percent) ended at the top. Nifty Bank inched up by 0.04 percent.
Experts' views on markets
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services pointed out that following the shaky closing of the US markets, domestic markets traded close to the flatline as more Fed speakers echoed Powell's aggressive remarks.
Nair observed that while FII selling continued to lower investor confidence, significant support from DIIs provided the domestic market with a comforting cushion.
"Investors need to adopt value buying as a strategy. Due to a decrease in valuation near long-term averages, smallcap companies are looking appealing over the long term," said Nair.
Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities said traders mostly remained on the sidelines in the absence of any fresh positive triggers, as worries of global slowdown and no signs of any pause on the global rate hike cycle continued to weigh on the sentiment.
"Although markets were rangebound with a positive bias, fluctuation in the market could continue in the near term," said Chouhan.
Technical view on markets
"Nifty, on the daily chart, closed above its 21 EMA, which is a positive sign for the Indian markets in the short term. Technically, Nifty is gathering momentum, reviving bullish hopes for a test of near-term resistance at 18,000 levels. On the lower side, immediate support for the prices is placed at 17,650 levels. A successful closing above 18,000 will indulge a breakout in the index and which may lead the prices towards 18,200 – 18,250 levels," said Rohan Patil, Technical Analyst, SAMCO Securities.
Key market data
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of MintGenie.
