Market Movers: Metals, pharma stocks sink; 136 scrips blip sell

MUMBAI: The domestic benchmark equity indices got off to a weak start for the week as they saw deep losses in the session on hefty profit booking and weak cues from global equity markets.

The losses were widespread as smallcap and midcap stocks saw deeper cuts than their largecap peers amid signs of some cooling off in buying from foreign institutional investors.

The breadth of the market was extremely weak as nearly four stocks fell for every that rose on the National Stock Exchange. All sectoral indices on the NSE also ended in the red.


Nifty50 ended 152.4 points, or 1.1 per cent, lower at 14,281.30 while the 30-stock Sensex closed at 48,564.27, down 0.96 per cent, or 470.4 points.

Here are the major movers from today’s session:

UPL soars on strong Q3 earnings hopes
Shares of UPL ended 7.4 per cent higher and as the top gainer on the Nifty50 index on expectations of strong December quarter earnings performance. Market participants said the stock’s cheap valuations was also attracting interest from some high net-worth individuals.

RIL bucks the trend on Goldman Sachs’ view
The index heavyweight bucked the weak trend in the broader market and rose 2.4 per cent after brokerage firm Goldman Sachs issued a bullish note on the stock. Goldman Sachs believes that risk-reward is in the favour of investors as it sees 23 per cent upside in RIL going ahead.

Metals, pharma stocks sink
The heaviest correction today was seen in metal and pharma counters in the market. Nifty Metal plummeted 4.1 per cent to become the top sectoral loser. Nifty Pharma came in second as it tumbled nearly 3 per cent.

HDFC Bank rises on strong Q3 numbers
Like RIL, HDFC Bank stock also bucked the sell-off as the lender’s strong earnings for the December quarter helped the scrip rise 1.1 per cent.

Sell signals galore
As many as 136 stocks on the NSE gave a “sell” signal based on MACD readings. The list includes BHEL, ONGC, Tata Motors, RBL Bank, and HCL Technologies.

What’s ahead for market?
Nifty50’s Options chain did not make for a pleasant reading for the bulls as all out-of-money strike price Call options saw heavy selling suggesting that a sharp rebound may be unlikely in the coming days.

“We have broken the crucial support of 14,350 and should ideally be headed further south to levels closer to 14,150 and then 14,000. Markets have become volatile and strict stops must be placed on all trades. 14,500 has become a resistance zone and any rally up can be utilized to short the Nifty for lower targets,” said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst at Deen Dayal Investments.