Informist, Friday, Dec 3, 2021
By Vaibhavi
NEW DELHI – Intensified selling pressure in the last hour of trade saw benchmark indices erase the gains made in early trade and pulled down Nifty 50 index below the crucial support of 17200 points.
Uncertainties surrounding the Omicron variant of COVID-19 restrained investors from leaving any leveraged positions open in the market.
After two Omicron cases were reported in India on Thursday, more patients in Delhi and Mumbai are being tested for the new variant of the virus.
"We expect more clarity to emerge in the coming days; however, equity markets in the interim will likely react to the news flow about the new COVID variant," said Kotak Securities in a note.
The Nifty 50 ended 1.2% lower at 17196.70 points after hitting a high at 17489.80 points in the day. Similarly, the 30-stock Sensex ended 1.3% lower at 57696.46 points, having touched an intraday high of 58757.09 points.
The Nifty 50 and the 30-stock Sensex have shed around 1% this week.
"The Nifty (50) failed to keep above the 17400-17500 zone, which is a bearish signal," said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst at Deen Dayal Investments. "We (markets) are resisting at higher levels and, therefore, the upside is definitely capped in that region."
Selling pressures were predominantly felt in frontline stocks and sectors that lifted the "fear-gauge" India VIX up by more than 4% to the day's high at 18.8 points in the last trading hour.
Shares of heavyweight Reliance Industries dropped by nearly 3% as rumours that the Department of Telecommunications may hold arm Reliance Jio Infocomm liable to pay part of the dues owed by Reliance Communications resurfaced. The stock contributed nearly 52 percentage points to the losses in Nifty 50.
Furthermore, COVID-19 concerns saw investors booking profits in banks, financial services companies and automobiles.
The Nifty Bank index ended nearly 1% lower at 36197.15 points. Large-cap banking and financial stocks, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Housing Development Finance Corp closed 1-3% lower.
Another frontline sector that witnessed profit booking was automobiles, as industry majors Bajaj Auto, Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti Suzuki India and Hero MotoCorp declined 0.4-1.6%.
Even as frontline stocks witnessed selling pressure, the broader market fared better in today's trade as all major small-cap indices on the NSE ended nearly 1% higher.
This indicates that the risk-reward for investors was favourable in the small-cap segment.
Among specific movers in the mid-cap space, shares of Vodafone Idea surged nearly 13% and touched an over two-year high of 14.7 rupees on market talk that ace investor Radhakishan Damani had bought a stake in the company.
Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises hit a 10-week high during the day on reports that its merger deal with Sony Pictures Networks India is likely to be finalised before Christmas.
* Among Nifty 50 stocks, 12 rose and 38 fell
* Among Sensex stocks, 4 rose and 26 fell
* On the NSE, 1,074 stocks rose, 924 fell and 74 were unchanged
* On the BSE, 1,804 stocks rose, 1,452 fell and 141 were unchanged
* Nifty Bank: Down 0.85%; Nifty Auto: Down 0.78%; Nifty Media: Up 1.73%
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BSE National Stock Exchange
Sensex: 57696.46, down 764.83 pts (1.3%) Nifty 50: 17196.70, down 204.95 pts (1.2%)
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S&P BSE Sensitive Index Nifty 50
Lifetime High:62245.43 (Oct 19) : Lifetime High: 18604.45 (Oct 19)
Record Close High: 61765.59 (Oct 18) : Record Close High: 18477.05 (Oct 18)
2021 1st day close: 47868.98 (Jan 1) : 2021 1st day close: 14018.5 (Jan 1)
2021 Closing High: 61765.59 (Oct 18) : 2021 Closing High: 18477.05 (Oct 18)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan 29) : 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan 29)
2021 High (intraday): 62245.43 (Oct 19) : 2021 High (intraday): 18604.45 (Oct 19)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan 29) : 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec 31) : 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar 23) : 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec 31) : 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar 24) : 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec 20) : 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb 19) : 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug 28)) : 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar 23) : 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec 26) : 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec 26)
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Edited by Pranav S. Joshi
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