Indian Market Wrap: Sensex, Nifty end 2021 on a high; log good weekly gains
On Monday, domestic equity benchmarks reversed from early lows and ended with modest gains. Investors factored the low mortality rate of the omicron Covid-19 variant. Pharma and healthcare stocks were in demand. Media and FMCG stocks were under pressure.
On Tuesday, the domestic equity benchmarks ended with strong gains, tracking positive global trends. The Nifty settled above the 17200 mark. All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in green. Autos, consumer durables and oil & gas stocks were in demand.
On Wednesday, the domestic equity benchmarks ended with minor cuts. The Nifty closed below the 17,250 mark. Pharma and healthcare stocks were in demand. On the other hand, metal and media shares were under pressure.
On Thursday, the key equity indices ended near the flat line with some negative bias. The Nifty closed a tad above the 17,200 mark after hitting the day's high of 17,264.05. IT, consumer durables and healthcare stocks were in demand. Trading was volatile on account of monthly F&O expiry.
On Friday, All the sectoral indices ended higher with Auto, Bank, FMCG, Metal, Oil & gas, PSU Bank and Realty indices rose 1-2 percent. For the week, Sensex and Nifty gained 2% each.
Here is a quick recap of the market moving developments:
New developments in pharma sector: Shares of domestic pharma companies gained on Wednesday as the Drug Controller General of India, approved the anti-COVID-19 pill Molnupiravir for emergency use in the country on Tuesday. Strides Pharma will launch the capsule immediately while other homegrown pharma companies such as Aurobindo Pharma, Natco Pharma, Dr Reddy's and Cipla have announced rolling out their generic versions of the drug shortly.
India gives incentives for semiconductor shortage: Within days of announcing a Rs 76,000-crore policy push for semiconductor and display manufacturing, the government on Thursday said it will start receiving applications from companies keen on setting up semiconductor fabs, display units and for other related schemes from January 1, 2022. They also received interest from Intel to set up a unit in India.
Three IPOs got listed:
CMS Info Systems listed at 2% premium
HP Adhesives listed at 16.4% premium
Supriya Lifesciences listed at 55% premium
RBL Bank shares saw a sharp drop: RBL Bank Share price crashed 20% on Monday morning following the developments over the weekend. The RBL share price was at 139.10 in the early hours of the trading session. The current levels are 50% lower from the 52-week high of Rs 274.30 per share. However, the share price recovered after the RBI allayed fears with respect to the financial position of the bank. To read the full story, click here.
That’s all for this week’s market wrap. We will be back with more interesting market insights in the next week. Wishing all our users a very Happy New Year 2022!