Following a gain of 2.39% in the third week, the Indian equity markets extended their rally for the fourth week of October by rallying 1.15% and marching towards a five-month high. The Sensex ended with a gain of 203 points at 59,959.85 on Friday and is just 41 points away from the crucial 60,000 mark. Similarly, the Nifty finished the Friday session with a gain of 49.85 points and ended at 17,786.
The Indian Rupee, on the other hand, gained 0.32% last week and is currently trading at 81.9 against the US Dollar. The rupee recovered after falling to a record low of 83 on October 19. However, the Indian currency still lost 10% of its value against the US dollar so far in 2022.
Foreign portfolio investors withdrew funds worth ₹1,586 crore from Indian stock markets in October and became net sellers for the second straight month. The strengthening US dollar, ongoing rate hikes and surging inflation have triggered a consistent outflow of funds from Indian markets. In September, foreign investors sold ₹7,624 crore worth of equities in India.
Besides, crude oil prices jumped 3% last week, marking the second consecutive weekly gain. Brent crude futures were trading at around $96 per barrel on Friday. WTI crude futures ended at $88 per barrel. Brent crude is up 3.01% last week, while WTI is up 3.35%.
Furthermore, the dollar index nearly lost 0.96% last week and continued its downtrend for the second straight week after growing expectations that the US Fed may be less aggressive on rate hikes soon. On Friday, the dollar index settled at 110.8, and so far in October it has lost 1.22% and is down 3.45% from its 20-year high of 114.77.
Meanwhile, five stocks in the Nifty 500 index returned between 10–20% last week. Infibeam Avenues led the Nifty 500 Index gainers, gaining more than 20.6 per cent. During Friday's intra-day trade, the stock ended at ₹17.30, up 19.72% with a trading volume of 68.3 million on both the BSE and NSE, 3.66 times more than its weekly average volume of 14.9 million.
The surge in the stock came after the company received "in-principle" approval from the RBI to operate as a payment aggregator.
In March 2022, the RBI issued a framework for payment aggregators in India. Under this framework, payment aggregators are mandated to obtain a license for acquiring merchants and provide them with digital payment acceptance solutions.
Tata Motors (DVR) was another big mover last week, rallying 18.6%, and Dhani Services was also the top mover during the same period. The stock moved from ₹49 to ₹57.40, delivering a return of nearly 17.20%. However, the stock is still 70.36% lower than its 52-week high of Rs. 193.60.
Bank of India rallied 16.2% to ₹58.70 in the last week. The stock gained 22.29% in the last three months to reach ₹48.80 from ₹58.70.
IIFL Finance was the fifth top gainer in the Nifty 500 index with returns to the tune of 15.8% in the last week. During the last two trading sessions, the stock jumped 12.63% after the company reported a 36% growth in its net profit for the second quarter of the current fiscal. The company's AUM rose 25% YoY to ₹55,000 crore. While the AUM for gold loans and home loans rose by 31% and 25%, respectively.
Other stocks including Multi commodity exchange, SJVN, Rail Vikas Nigam, Bharat Heavy Electricals, and Indraprastha Gas also jumped 10-15% in last week.
Top Losers
Gland Pharma was the top loser in the Nifty500 Index by dropping 14.5% last week. The stock hit an all-time low of ₹1,840.2 after the drug maker reported a 20% drop in its consolidated net profit in Q2 to ₹241 crore as against a net profit of ₹302 crore in the same quarter in the previous fiscal. Company's Indian revenue was down 42% at ₹72.6 crore, as compared to ₹125.8 crore in the year-ago quarter,
Following the Q2 announcement, domestic brokerage firm Motilal Oswal cut its EPS estimate by 7% and 6% for FY23 and FY24, respectively.
The new-age tech stock Nykaa hit a 52-week low last week and at current levels, the stock is trading below its issue price of ₹1,125. During the last week, the stock fell 13.4% to ₹983.6, and so far this year it has lost nearly 53% of its value and shed 62% from its all-time high of ₹2,573.70.
The stock made a strong entry on November 10, 2021, when it was listed at a premium of 77.86% at ₹2,001 over the IPO price of ₹1,125 and closed the same day at ₹2,206, a 96.2% premium over the IPO price. The IPO was subscribed to nearly 81 times.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of MintGenie.
