Sensex, Nifty recover from intraday losses to end flat

Benchmark indices recovered from intraday losses during closing hours to end flat on Wednesday. Market witnessed further correction during the day after a weak opening amid tepid global cues. IT, auto and pharma stocks witnessed significant pressure during the day.

Indices recovered during closing hours led by sharp rebound in bank stocks along with gains in Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables.

The BSE Sensex closed at 58,250.26, down 29.22 points or 0.05 per cent. It hit an intraday high of 58,372.94 and a low of 57,924.48. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,353.50, down 8.60 points or 0.05 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 17,383.40 and a low of 17,254.20.

Breadth turns positive

The breadth of the market turned positive with as many as 1,812 stocks advancing on the BSE, as compared to 1,366 stocks that were declined while 165 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 358 stocks hit the upper circuit as compared to the 177 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 199 stocks touched a 52-week high level and 26 touched a 52-week low.

Textile stocks zoom

Textile stocks gained focus today as the government approved PLI scheme worth ₹10,700 crore for the sector.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities said, "In a volatile session of trade today the Bulls managed to stage a smart comeback led by the pace of vaccinations and accumulation witnessed in Kotak Bank.”

“The broader markets witnessed interest in Textile stocks on the back of the PLI scheme announced today. The late afternoon session saw Advances gain ground over Declines as several Midcaps were seen buzzing around," added Ranganathan.

Kotak Bank, Powergrid, Grasim, BPCL and Coal India were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Divi’ Lab, Nestle India, Wipro, SBI Life and Hindalco were the top laggards.

According to S Hariharan, Head - Sales Trading, Emkay Global Financial Services, “There are a number of developed market central bank meetings scheduled this week, which would provide greater insight into plans for tapering of asset purchases, which in turn would have implications for currency markets as well as risk assets. As a result, we have seen a trend of increase in long stock futures positioning by FIIs start to come down over the last 3 sessions.”

“Since mid & small cap indices are trading close to resistance levels despite Nifty making new highs, overall market sentiment remains cautious, and the market advance still dominated by a handful of stocks. Cement and PSU indices appear to have highest relative strength while Autos are the weakest sector in the market overall,” added Hariharan.

Bank stocks rebound

On the sectoral front, bank stocks rebounded sharply. Consumer durables and oil & gas stock too gained. However, IT, auto and pharma recorded the highest losses.

Nifty Bank was up 0.82 per cent at closing. Nifty Private Bank and Nifty PSU Bank were up 0.78 per cent and 0.71 per cent, respectively. Nifty Consumer Durables ended 0.70 per cent higher while Nifty Oil & Gas was up 0.51 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty IT was down 0.78 per cent. Nifty Auto was down 0.52 per cent. Nifty Pharma was down 0.26 per cent while Nifty Healthcare Index was down 0.28 per cent.

Broader indices

Broader indices closed in the green.

Nifty Midcap 50 was up 0.43 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.70 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.81 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.55 per cent.

The volatility index softened 3.25 per cent to 14.41.

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