Trading was halted on the National Stock Exchange for more than three hours today after a technical glitch freezed price feeds. Ultimately, trading resumed at 3:45 pm till 5 pm to allow for an orderly close of the session.
The Nifty50 index ended 1.9 per cent, or 274.20 points, higher at 14,982, while Sensex closed at 50,781.69, up 2.1 per cent or 1,030.3 points.
In the broader market, the gains were milder as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 ended 1 per cent and 0.9 per cent higher, respectively.
Here are the major movers in today’s trade:
Banks soar on short squeeze
If any sector benefitted from the resumption of trading it was banks as the Nifty Bank index soared 3.8 per cent, largely because of covering of short positions by traders ahead of futures and options expiry on Thursday. Further, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s announcement that embargo on private banks for grant of government business is being lifted also boosted the mood.
Aditya Birla Fashion jumps on Tahiliani link
Shares of the retailer rose 8 per cent after it announced a tie-up with famous designer Tarun Tahiliani for its couture business and launched a new line of affordable premium men’s ethnic wear.
Jet Airways flies on revival hopes
Shares of Jet Airways India hit their 5 per cent upper circuit as investors were enthused by Karlock Capital and Murari Jalan’s plan to take over the defunct airline and repay its creditors, which will allow it to resume flight services once again.
Defence stocks gain on government’s move
Shares of defence companies rose after the government approved capital acquisition proposals for weapons and equipment worth around Rs 13,700 crore. Shares of L&T, Hindustan Aeronautics, Bharat Dynamics, and BEML ended 2-3 per cent higher.
What gave buy signal?
Despite the disrupted trading, as many as 64 stocks on the NSE gave buy signal based on MACD indicators including IIFL Securities, Karnataka Bank, BEML and RITES.
What’s ahead for the market?
While volumes were thin, traders still bought out-of-money call options of Nifty50 expiring on March 4, suggesting that they expect today’s bounceback to sustain in the coming sessions.
“We expect volatility to remain high on Thursday due to the scheduled derivatives expiry of February month contracts. It would be prudent to avoid naked leveraged positions in early trades and prefer hedged bets,” said Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking.
