Informist, Wednesday, Feb 28, 2024
By Padmini Dhruvaraj
MUMBAI – Benchmark equity indices ended sharply lower today due to profit-booking across sectors, analysts said. Expiry of the February derivatives contracts of the Nifty Bank index contributed to the volatility in the market, they added.
The Nifty 50 index opened a tad higher, tracking gains in some automobile stocks, and turned choppy in the first hour of trade, but managed to hit an intraday high of 22229.15 points during that hour. However, due to a sharp decline in banking stocks, the benchmark index erased all gains, in sync with the Nifty Bank index.
Later, the 50-stock index fell more due to profit-booking in most of its constituents and hit an intraday low of 21915.85 points. A market analyst at Indiacharts.com said the index managed to bounce back from its low as the 20-day daily moving average of 21948 points lent support.
Eventually, the 50-stock index closed 247.20 points, or 1.1%, lower at a one-week low of 21951.15 points, with 46 of its constituents in the red. The BSE Sensex ended 790.34 points, or 1.1%, lower at 72304.88 points.
Volatility gauge India VIX index closed 3.8% higher, after hitting its highest in 11 months. A high India VIX indicates increased volatility expectations, while a low reading suggests the market is anticipating less volatility.
"Indian equity indices moved into the red today ahead of the much-awaited US inflation reading during the week," Avdhut Bagkar, technical and derivatives analyst at StoxBox, said in a note. "A slew of strong economic data along with inflation that has proven to be sticky has resulted in traders drastically dialling back their initial expectations of deep and early interest rate cuts from the Fed," he added.
Among Nifty 50 constituents, Eicher Motors, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, and Power Grid Corp of India were the major laggards, ending with 3.5-4.4% losses. Only four stocks in the index ended in the green – Hindustan Unilever, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services, and Bharti Airtel.
All sectoral indices on the National Stock Exchange ended in the red, with the Nifty Media, Nifty Energy, Nifty PSU Bank, and Nifty Realty indices being the worst hit. The Nifty Realty index snapped a six-day gaining streak and ended 2.1% lower on the back of losses in shares of Brigade Enterprises, DLF Ltd, Godrej Properties, and Macrotech Developers.
The Nifty Auto index notched a fresh lifetime high today, before falling 2% due to profit-booking. Shares of automobile companies were also among the major laggards in the Nifty 50, with Bajaj Auto, Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki India, and Mahindra & Mahindra closing 2.5-3.5% lower.
Meanwhile, the Nifty Bank index closed 624.90 points, or 1.3%, lower at 45963.15 points. "It (Nifty Bank) closed around the crucial support zone of 46000, which is not a healthy sign," Tejas Shah, technical research analyst at JM Financial and BlinkX, said in a note. "On the downside, the support zone lies at 45900 and 45500 while the resistance is seen at 46000-46100."
The broader market underperformed benchmark indices today, as all mid-cap and small-cap indices on the NSE closed 1.8-2.3% lower. Rainbow Childrens Medicare and Aegis Logistics were the top gainers in the broader markets, while Vodafone Idea and HFCL fell the most. In a report, brokerage firm Nomura said, "If Vodafone Idea is able to tie up the entire fund raise, it will be a material positive; however, Vodafone will not be fully out of the woods." It also said recovery and rollout of fifth-generation network would take time and would be crucial to an improvement in its outlook.
Shares of Juniper Hotels listed at 365 rupees on the National Stock Exchange, 1.4% higher than the issue price of 360 rupees. The stock rose more after listing and ended 11.5% higher at 401.50 rupees. The company said it would use the net proceeds of 15 bln rupees from the issue towards repayment, prepayment, or redemption of outstanding borrowings availed by the company and its subsidiaries and for general corporate purposes.
Going forward, analysts expect the bearish momentum in the market to continue. The Nifty 50 index is expected to find support at 21850 points and face resistance at 22000 points. "On daily charts the index has formed long bearish candle, which indicates further weakness from current levels. For the traders now, as long as the index is trading below 22100, the weak sentiment is likely to continue," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities.
* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 4 rose and 46 fell
* Of the Sensex stocks, 26 rose and 4 fell
* On the BSE, 88 stocks rose, 2,963 fell, and 77 were unchanged
* Nifty Media: down 3.46%; Nifty Energy: down 2.30%; Nifty PSU Bank: down 2.30%
BSE NSE
Sensex: 72304.88, down 790.34 pts, or 1.08% Nifty 50: 21951.15, down 247.20 pts, or 1.11%
S&P BSE Sensitive Index Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 73427.59 (Jan 16, 2024) : Lifetime High: 22297.50 (Feb 23, 2024)
Record Close High: 73128.77 (Jan 16, 2024) : Record Close High: 22217.45 (Feb 22, 2024)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan 1) : 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan 1)
2024 Closing High: 73128.77 (Jan 16) : 2024 Closing High: 22217.45 (Feb 22)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan 23) : 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan 23)
2024 High (intraday): 73427.59 (Jan 16) : 2024 High (intraday): 22297.50 (Feb 23)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan 24) : 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan 2) : 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec 28) : 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb 27) : 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec 28) : 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan 30) : 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan 3) : 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec 1) : 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun 17) : 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec 1) : 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun 17) : 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct 14) : 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan 29) : 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct 14) : 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct 14)
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)
End
Edited by Avishek Dutta
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