The tepid performance of the blue-chip indices was contrary to the strength seen in other Asian markets and European equities.
The broader market’s performance was much better than their large-cap peers as the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 ended 0.8 per cent and 0.7 per cent higher, respectively.
The breadth of the market, however, was negative as declining stocks on the National Stock Exchange outnumbered advancing ones.
Here are the major movers in today’s trade:
Max Financial soared on strong earnings
Shares of the company rose nearly 5 per cent today as brokerages were impressed by its strong December quarter earnings performance. “Our call on the business remains constructive, assuming the partnership with Axis Bank remains strong,” said Kotak Institutional Equities.
TTK Prestige rides earnings growth
Shares of the company surged 16 per cent after reporting strong earnings for the quarter ended December. The company reported a 39 per cent growth in consolidated net profit and a near 24 per cent rise in revenues.
Bharti underwhelms
The increase in weight of the stock in MSCI indices after the index aggregator’s quarterly review on Tuesday triggered profit booking as the stock fell 1.4 per cent. Prior to the announcement by MSCI, the stock had risen almost 9 per cent in 30 days.
Banks see selling pressure
Shares of some major banks saw selling as investors booked profits given the sector’s stellar rally since the beginning of the month. Nifty Bank ended 0.8 per cent lower, led by losses in shares of HDFC Bank, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.
What gave buy signal?
Despite the overall tepid market, as many as 53 stocks gave a buy signal based on MACD indicators including Tata Motors, HDFC Life Insurance, NHPC, and Granules India.
What’s ahead for the market?
More lackluster performance awaits the benchmark indices on Thursday as traders sold both the out-of-money Call and Put options of Nifty50. The positioning by traders reflected their indecisiveness over the market’s direction going ahead.
“We’re seeing a healthy pause after the Budget up move and it’s more of a time-wise consolidation so far. We suggest keeping a close watch on the banking index for cues on the further directional move in Nifty,” said Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking.
