Indian Market wrap: Sensex, Nifty end flat after a week of volatility
On Monday, the domestic equity barometers tanked, mirroring weak global cues. The Nifty managed to close above the 16,600 mark after hitting the day's low of 16,410.20 in early afternoon trade. All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the red.
On Tuesday, the benchmark equity indices ended with strong gains due to bargain hunting after a recent steep fall. The Nifty ended below the 16,800 mark after hitting the day's high of 16,936.40 in afternoon trade. All sectoral indices on the NSE ended in the green.
On Wednesday, key equity benchmarks ended with robust gains amid recovering global stock markets. All the sectoral indices on the NSE ended in green.
On Thursday, the domestic equity benchmarks ended with modest gains. The Nifty closed above the 17,050 mark after hitting the day's high of 17,118.65 in afternoon trade. Trading was volatile due to expiry of weekly index options on the NSE today.
On Friday, the benchmark indices snapped a three-day winning run. Traders became cautious after many states in India started placing curbs. IT stocks saw buying while the rest of the sectors were under selling pressure. Nifty 50 ended 0.01% up this week
Top gainers and losers
- IT gains the most amongst indices while PSU bank is top losing index.
- 28 Nifty stocks have negative returns; Grasim, NTPC, BPCL, HDFC top losers.
Here is a quick recap of the market moving developments:
Omicron and Restrictions: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare preemptively advised States on 21st December -to impose restrictions like night curfew, regulating large gatherings. increase bed capacity and other logistics and strict enforcement of Covid appropriate behavior. People also started buying and hoarding essential goods in anticipation of long lockdowns. This resulted in good performance in FMCG stocks. However, shares in Europe rose across the board on Thursday, as traders looked for signs that the omicron coronavirus variant is not as severe as previously feared.
IPOs see traction:
CMS Info Systems IPO was subscribed 1.95 times at the end of day 3.
Supriya Lifescience IPO was subscribed 71.47 times at the end of day 3.
Shares of Metro Brands listed at Rs 493.55 on the BSE, at a discount of 1.29%.
Shares of Shriram Properties settled at Rs 99.40 on the BSE, at a discount of 15.76%
RBI’s prompt corrective framework: The Reserve Bank of India's prompt corrective action framework for non-bank finance companies is unlikely to hurt major lenders but may weigh on capital and growth of smaller NBFCs and microfinance companies. The banking regulator has released a new framework intended to take early action against weakness building across NBFCs. The framework will kick-in starting October 2022, based on March 2022 financials. Just like in the case of banks, risk thresholds have been laid down and NBFCs breaching these will face restrictions till the institutions course-correct. Only a handful of large non-bank lenders are currently in breach of the triggers laid down by the RBI. To be sure, the financials of these lenders and others may vary by March 2022.
That’s all for this week’s market wrap. We will be back with more interesting market insights in the next week!