Informist, Thursday, Sep 23, 2021
By Vivek Kumar
MUMBAI – Benchmark equity indices scaled record highs today, tracking positive cues from global equities that shrugged off the anticipated US Federal Reserve's decision to adhere to its tapering plan. Further, hopes of a resolution to Evergrande Group's debt crisis was a shot in the arm for global markets.
Announcing its policy decision on Wednesday, the Fed said that if the economy continued to make progress as expected, it might have to moderate its pace of asset purchases soon. The central bank has only one meeting left for the year, which is in November, and may begin reducing its asset purchases from then.
The central bank could adjust the pace of tapering as needed, but it would likely be sped up if the conditions warrant rate hike sooner than currently expected, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said.
The Fed is comfortable with the current state of economy and inflation, and they are unlikely to be in a hurry in raising the interest rates, said Deven Choksey, managing director at KRChoksey Shares and Securities.
Even if they raise rates, it will be gradual and in lower basis points, he added.
Also, China's troubled real estate developer Evergrande Group, which sent waves of caution in global equities earlier this week amid its debt crisis, struck an agreement with its bondholders in China for the interest payment that was due today. This provided some relief to investors and helped global equities bounce back.
The company has a debt of over $300 bln, which is the highest for any real estate developer in the world, as per reports.
With positive global cues and robust sentiment in domestic equities, Nifty 50 and Sensex closed 1.6% higher at 17822.95 points and 59885.36 points, respectively. During the day, the indices also hit their lifetime highs of 17843.90 points and 59957.25 points, respectively.
The market breadth was positive today with almost all the major sectoral indices on the National Stock Exchange ending with gains. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services closed more than 2% higher and led the gains in large-caps, while real estate companies were the top gainers in the broader market.
The frontline banks—-Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, IndusInd Bank and Axis Bank—-rose 1-3%. Heavyweight Reliance Industries too closed 2.4% higher and hit its lifetime high today and added to the gains.
Among other top gainers on the Nifty 50 were Bajaj Finserv, Hindalco Industries, Tata Motors, Larsen & Toubro, Coal India and Housing Development Finance Corp.
The broader market continued the rally with small-cap and mid-cap indices on NSE rising 0.7-1.5%. The mid-cap 150 and small-cap 250 indices were up for the third session in a row.
Choksey said that the broader market was 'overheated' and 'running ahead of the fundamentals', and hence one should be selective in their bets in this segment.
Among laggards, shares of Nestle India fell for the third consecutive session today as the company said 2022 is going to be a difficult year due to higher commodity prices. The stock closed 0.4% lower today and is down 2.4% in three days.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises too succumbed to profit-booking after hitting a two-year high earlier in the day, which followed the stellar gains made on Wednesday amid the merger deal with Sony Pictures Networks India. Today, the stock closed 5.5% lower.
* Among Nifty 50 stocks, 39 rose and 11 fell
* Among Sensex stocks, 23 rose, 6 fell and 1 was unchanged
* On the NSE, 1,201 stocks rose, 743 fell and 101 were unchanged
* On the BSE, 1,974 stocks rose, 1,266 fell and 163 were unchanged
* Nifty Realty: Up 8.7%; Nifty Metal: Up 1.7%; Nifty Media: Down 1.7%
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BSE National Stock Exchange
Sensex: 59885.36, up 958.03 pts (1.6%) Nifty 50: 17822.95, up 276.30 pts (1.6%)
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S&P BSE Sensitive Index Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 59957.25 (Sep 23) : Lifetime High: 17843.90 (Sep 23)
Record Close High: 59885.36 (Sep 23) : Record Close High: 17822.95 (Sep 23)
2021 1st day close: 47868.98 (Jan 1) : 2021 1st day close: 14018.5 (Jan 1)
2021 Closing High: 59885.36 (Sep 23) : 2021 Closing High: 17822.95 (Sep 23)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan 29) : 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan 29)
2021 High (intraday): 59957.25 (Sep 23) : 2021 High (intraday): 17843.90 (Sep 23)
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 Arshad Hussain
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