Informist, Wednesday, Sep 22, 2021

By Vivek Kumar

MUMBAI – Benchmark indices ended a tad lower today after a choppy session, as investors stuck to specific stocks and refrained from placing any aggressive bets on the benchmark indices ahead of the crucial outcome of the US Federal Reserve's policy meeting.

The two-day policy meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee will end today and the central bank of the world's largest economy will likely provide further clarity on its plans to taper bond purchases.

This, coupled with concern over default risk by China's major real estate developer Evergrande Group, has brought in some weakness in global equity markets. Benchmark indices in India too fell sharply on Monday, but saw a smart recovery on Tuesday.

Today, Nifty 50 and Sensex closed 0.1% lower each at 17546.65 points and 58927.33 points, respectively.

Even amid the global headwinds, Kotak Securities does not expect any major change to the short-term and medium-term drivers for the Indian market, as strong economic and earnings revival and a stable COVID-19 situation are seen providing support to the market.

However, given the rich valuations, it does expect a moderate correction.

Today, gains in information technology companies and heavyweight Reliance Industries were offset by losses in banks and financial services companies.

The Nifty IT index closed nearly 1% higher with the shares of HCL Technologies, MPhasis, Larsen & Toubro Infotech, Tech Mahindra and Mindtree rising 1-4%. The information technology companies have witnessed sharp gains in the past weeks amid optimism over strong corporate earnings.

Media companies, too, were in focus today on the back of a merger decision of Zee Entertainment Enterprises with Sony Pictures Networks India. Shares of Zee Entertainment Enterprises skyrocketed over 30%, while other media companies too gained as the merger has improved consolidation prospects for the sector.

On the list of top gainers today were shares of real estate and multiplex companies. 

Nifty Realty index jumped 8.5% and hit more than a decade high of 456.15 points. Godrej Properties was the top gainer, as the company said it saw sales of 5.75 bln rupees in just one day on the launch of a project in Noida.

Shares of other real estate companies too, rose sharply with all the constituents of the Nifty Realty index ending with gains.

On the other hand, multiplex companies also surged amid buzz in the market that the Maharashtra government was preparing to re-open cinema halls from Oct 1.

Given the gains in all these stocks, mid-cap and small-cap indices on the National Stock Exchange closed 1-3% higher.

Meanwhile, banks and financial services companies were the major laggards in the market today, which offset the gains in other stocks. Shares of HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, ICICI Bank and Housing Development Finance Corp fell 1-2% and were among the five worst hit stocks on the Nifty 50.

* Among Nifty 50 stocks, 28 rose and 22 fell 

* Among Sensex stocks, 16 rose, 13 fell and 1 was unchanged

* On the NSE, 1,325 stocks rose, 612 fell and 80 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 2,099 stocks rose, 1,140 fell and 164 were unchanged

* Nifty Media: Up 13.6%; Nifty Metal: Up 1.5%; Nifty Bank: Down 0.8%

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BSE                                             National Stock Exchange
Sensex: 58927.33, down 77.94 pts (0.1%)          Nifty 50: 17546.65, down 15.35 pts (0.1%)
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S&P BSE Sensitive Index                          Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 59737.32 (Sep 17)                : Lifetime High: 17792.95 (Sep 17)
Record Close High: 59141.16 (Sep 16)            : Record Close High: 17629.50 (Sep 16)
2021 1st day close: 47868.98 (Jan 1)            : 2021 1st day close: 14018.5 (Jan 1)
2021 Closing High: 59141.16 (Sep 16)            : 2021 Closing High: 17629.50 (Sep 16) 
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan 29)             : 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan 29)
2021 High (intraday): 59737.32 (Sep 17)         : 2021 High (intraday): 17792.95 (Sep 17) 
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 Mainak Moitra

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