Nifty heavyweights are now pulling the index to record highs on a sustained basis. Eight Nifty stocks — RIL, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC, ICICI Bank, TCS, HUL, Bajaj Finance — now account for 51 per cent weightage in the index. These stocks, which are doing well are positively impacting the index disproportionately, said an analyst.
“Some leading epidemiologists now believe that the feared third wave may not happen and even if it does, the impact will be insignificant since half of the population has received one dose. Further lockdowns may not happen at all. This can turn out to be more fodder to the bulls. But the present state of market stability and the steady uptrend is unlikely to last long. High volatility is not far away,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
How are the bluechips doing?
After opening in the green, benchmark indices slid below the flatline. At 9.35 am, BSE flagship Sensex was down 26 points or 0.04 per cent to 58,271. NSE benchmark Nifty declined 14 points or 0.08 per cent to 17,364.
“On the technical front, 17,450 level may act as immediate resistance for Nifty50 followed by 17,500, while 17,100 remains a crucial support for Nifty50,” said Mohit Nigam, Head – PMS, Hem Securities.
In the 50-share pack Nifty, Tata Consumer was the biggest gainer, up 1.59 per cent.
, Maruti Suzuki, JSW Steel, ITC, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement and Titan were among other gainers.
Axis Bank was the top loser in the pack, down 1.32 per cent. Kotak Mahindra Bank, Sun Pharma, , Infosys, ICICI Bank, Tata Motors and SBI were among those that traded in the red.
FACTORS DRIVING MARKETS
US jobs data: The US economy created 235,000 jobs in August, the fewest in seven months as hiring in the leisure and hospitality sector stalled, reducing expectations of an early tapering by the Fed.
Dollar at a low: The dollar hovered near recent lows as traders braced for a slew of central bank meetings from Australia to Europe and Canada this week, looking for any signs that they are making progress towards policy normalisation.
Broader markets
Broader market indices were trading mixed, outperforming their headline peers in morning trade. Nifty Smallcap was up 0.24 per cent, while Nifty Midcap fell 0.11 per cent. Broadest index on NSE, Nifty 500 was down 0.01 per cent.
CanFin Homes, JK Lakshmi Cement, APl Apollo, IRCTC, Polycab India and Godrej Agrovet were gainers from the space, while Prestige Estate Projects, Adani Total Gas, Varun Beverages, Ujjivan SFB, Fine Organics and Cyient were under selling pressure.
Global markets
Tokyo’s Nikkei rallied as much as 1.3 per cent, moving past the psychological barrier of 30,000 for the first time since April, helped by a reshuffle in the Nikkei.
Mainland Chinese shares were little changed in early trade, while MSCI’s ex-Japan Asian-Pacific index was down 0.1 per cent. The world’s shares, measured by MSCI’s gauge of 50 markets, tacked on 0.1 per cent to log its eighth consecutive day of gains to record highs.
US S&P 500 futures were 0.1 per cent higher from Friday’s close after the US holiday on Monday.
