On the stock-specific front, 45 smallcap stocks logged gains in the range of 15 per cent – 50 per cent last week, outperforming the index. Sharda Motor, RattanIndia Power, Orient Green Power, MSP Steel & Power, 63 Moons Tech, Tata Investment, Nesco, Varrox Engineering, Dilip Buildcon, Antony Waste Handling, GE Power India, DB Realty, KPI Green Energy, Jain Irrigation, DCX Systems, IFB Industries, SMC Global, Solar Industries, and others are among the smallcaps that logged a double-digit rise in their share prices last week.
Markets’ Weekly Print
Domestic markets extended their bullish tone for the third successive week and gained over a percent. The beginning was downbeat but the bias changed in the following sessions with a surge in the US markets.
The NSE Nifty 50 index gained 1.58 per cent this week, its best in two months, while the Sensex rose 1.37 per cent. Stocks of IT companies, which earn a significant share of their revenue from the US, climbed 5.07 per cent, their best week in 16 months.
The more domestically-focussed small- and mid-caps hit fresh record highs, and outperformed the benchmarks on the week, aided by retail inflows.
The rise follows softer-than-expected US inflation data on October 14, which bolstered expectations that the US Federal Reserve will not hike rates and may start cutting rates in May 2024.
US Treasury yields also fell after the inflation data, while foreign investors snapped a 15-session selling streak in the week. The fall in oil prices is also a positive for net importers like India, analysts said. Brent crude futures hit four-month lows and were set to decline for the fourth straight week. The Nifty oil & gas index gained 1.40 per cent, rising for the third week in a row.
Shares of bank and NBFC firms fell sharply after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tightened norms for consumer credit as it asked them to assign a higher risk weight for unsecured personal loans, a move aimed at making the lenders more cautious about such advances.
Previous Session
On Friday, frontline indices indices ended in red over weak cues from the Asian markets and witnessed extremely volatile trading trends. However, the broader market outperformed the benchmark indices in today’s session.
The 30-share BSE Sensex ended lower by 187.75 points or 0.28 per cent at 65,794.73 level while the Nifty 50 closed at 19,731.80 level, down 33.40 points or 0.17 per cent. The broader market closed inched higher than the benchmark indices on Friday’s session, the Nifty Midcap 100 closed 0.20 per cent higher and Nifty Smallcap ended flat or 0.09 per cent higher.
Banks, financial services, public sector banks and private banks lost between 0.9 per cent and 2.5 per cent, amid concerns over the sector’s loan growth and profitability after the RBI tightened rules for personal loans and credit cards.
Bajaj Finance, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Infosys, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Wipro, and Reliance Industries were among the other laggards. On the other hand, Larsen & Toubro, Hindustan Unilever, Power Grid, Asian Paints, Nestle and Mahindra & Mahindra were the major gainers.
“Selling in banking and oil & gas stocks led the fall in key benchmark indices, even as most of the global indices ended on a higher note. Investors booked profit in banking stocks on concerns that RBI’s new norms on personal loans would hurt lending growth going ahead. Although risk on sentiment had returned to the markets in recent sessions, global uncertainty would continue to dictate trends and keep investors on tight leash,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.
Where are markets headed?
‘’In a truncated week, Nifty took support from sharp decline in oil prices, moderation of US yield and foreign institutional investors (FIIs) turning net positive. We expect this up trend to sustain with every dip being bought in,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd
Technically, the gates are still open for fresh highs despite today’s profit-booking. Nifty needs to reclaim the 19,889 mark to unleash fresh upside, while the biggest supports are placed at 19,471 mark, according to Tapse.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
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Updated: 18 Nov 2023, 09:31 PM IST
