Closing Bell: Sensex, Nifty rebound from 3-month lows, break 2-day losing streak; Bajaj twins among top gainers

Closing Bell: Indian frontline indices S&P BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50 not just ended their 2-day losing streak but also rebounded from 3 month lows on Monday. While the Sensex closed at 59,500.41, up 169.51 points or 0.29 per cent, the broader market Nifty50 closed at 17,648.95, higher by 44.60 points or 0.25 per cent. The banking gauge Nifty Bank also managed a green closing at 40,387.45 finishing 42.15 points or 0.1 per cent higher.

In the 50-stock Nifty50, 29 stocks advanced with Bajaj Finance, Adani Enterprises, UltraTech Cement Company, Bajaj Finserv and Asian Paints ending as top gainers. The top losers were Power Grid, Bajaj Auto, IndusInd Bank, Larsen & Toubro and JSW Steel. 

India VIX, a measure of volatility in Nifty closed at 17.81, up 2.84 per cent from the previous closing of Friday.
 

Source: NSE

Source: NSE

Out of 15 Nifty sectoral indices, 7 ended in the green. The top performers were Nifty IT (+1.03 per cent), Nifty Consumer Durables (+0.40 per cent) and Nifty PSU Bank (+0.39 per cent) while the biggesrt laggards were Nifty Oil & Gas (-3.63 per cent), Nifty FMCG (-0.69 per cent) and Nifty Metal (-0.36 per cent). 

GAIL India topday reported 90 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit on petrochemical, natural gas marketing woes. The stock fell over 4 per cent intraday.

There was stock specific action in the broader markets, though Nifty Mid Cap 100 and Nifty Small Cap 100 were mired by selling pressure through the day. While the former was down by 56.05 points or 0.19 per cent, the latter ended marginally lower from the Friday closing at 9,233.00, down 9.70 points or 0.10 per cent. 

Nifty Mid Cap 100 closed at 30,185.85. In the 100-stock index, 50 stocks gained, 47 declined and 3 remained unchanged. Vodafone Idea, Indian Bank and PB Fintech (Poli 

In the 100-share Nifty Small Cap 100, 49 stocks gained. The top gainers were Aegis Logistics, Mazagon Dock and Intellect Design Arena while the top losers were EID Parry, BCG and Route Mobile. 

The rupee rose by 9 paise to close at 81.50 (provisional) against the US currency in a restricted trade on Monday, supported by a weak greenback in the overseas markets and a decline in crude oil prices.
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened lower at 81.69 and touched a low of 81.72 against the US dollar in line with losses in the equity markets, PTI reported.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, declined 0.16 per cent to 101.76.

According to , a weak Dollar index and a decline in crude oil prices cushioned the downside. Further, FPO-related foreign inflows also supported the rupee at lower levels, he said.

"We expect the rupee to trade with a slight negative bias amid a weak tone in the domestic markets and expectations that the US Dollar may rise on safe-haven appeal," Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas said.

Choudhary further said that month-end dollar demand from importers and selling pressure from FIIs may also put downside pressure on the rupee. "Traders may remain cautious ahead of India's union budget and US FOMC meeting later this week. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 81 to Rs 82.20," Choudhary said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude futures fell 0.25 per cent to USD 86.44 per barrel.

"The rupee remained in a range of 81.50 to 81.72 as it gained after $ selling by exporters due to month end. The dollar index also fell to 101.71 while Brent oil was at $ 86.26. Asian currencies continued to remain range bound," Anil Kumar Bhansali, Head of Treasury at Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP said. 

"Range for tomorrow  81.30 to 81.80," he added.

Expert Take

"Continuing with the bearish momentum from the last week the Nifty opened gap down & went down to breach the last week’s low of 17493. On the downside it received support near 17400 & recovered sharply towards the end of the session, resulting in a positive daily close. Consequently, the Nifty managed to hold above the 61.8% retracement of the Sept – Dec 2022 rise & 200 DEMA, which are near 17550. This makes today’s low of 17405 a crucial support. On the higher side, the index can test 17800, which will now act as a resistance as per the principle of role reversal."-- Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas 

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