Nifty extends gains to fourth day as financial, IT stocks lift Dalal Street

NEW DELHI: Domestic equity benchmarks clocked sharp gains on Wednesday amid buying interest seen in financial and IT stocks. Strong global cues also helped lift investors' sentiments on Dalal Street. Selling pressure witnessed in the metals pack, however, played spoilsport.

D-Street started on a cautiously positive note and made a strong rebound, taking support from expectations of another set of relief measures. Volatility gauge India VIX soared ahead of the monthly F&O expiry due on Thursday.

The 30-share pack Sensex advanced 379.99 points or 0.75 per cent to close at 51,017.52. Its broader peer NSE Nifty advanced 93 points or 0.61 per cent to settle at 15,301.45, taking its winning run to the fourth session in a row.


“The new stimulus package is expected to focus on boosting the worst hit sectors like tourism, aviation and hospitality along with MSMEs. Value buying was seen in the IT sector while metal stocks remained in the correction phase due to muted international commodity prices,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Market at a glance:

• Volatility gauge VIX surges 11%
• Metal stocks drop after Credit Suisse downgrades sector
• Godawari Power jumps 4% after co reports manifold jump in Q4 profit
• Lux Industries rallies 16% as co's Q4 profit doubles
• Bayer Crop Science shares rise 1% as co's Q4 profit doubles

Among the blue-chip names, Bajaj Finserv was the top gainer, rising 4.61 per cent. Bajaj Finance, Infosys, Grasim Industries, Wipro, UPL, HDFC, Maruti Suzuki and L&T were among other gainers.

Power Grid was the top loser in the Nifty50 pack, falling 3.01 per cent. Hindalco, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, NTPC, Tata Consumer Products, Coal India, ONGC and BPCL were among other stocks that ended in the red.

Broader market indices ended lower, underperforming their headline peers. Nifty Smallcap added 0.60 per cent and Nifty Midcap added 0.08 per cent. Nifty 500, the broadest index on NSE, ended 0.46 per cent higher.

Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, Endurance Tech, V-Guard, Just Dial, Wockhardt Pharma and Birlasoft were top gainers from midcap and smallcap indices, climbing in the range of 4-10 per cent.

Vakrangee, Fine Organics, Graphite India, SAIL, Jindal Steel and Indian Hotels were major losers from the broader market space, falling in the range of 2-5 per cent.

The sectoral matrix on NSE was mixed. Nifty Realty was the biggest gainer, rising 2.84 per cent. It was followed by Nifty Media and Nifty, which rose nearly 2 per cent each. Nifty Metal was the biggest loser, down 1.86 per cent.

We believe the undertone is positive and any correction should be used as an opportunity to accumulate. We see value in IT, auto and select BFSI stocks.

-Sahaj Agrawal, Kotak Securities

Market breadth was in favour of bulls as 1,950 stocks ended in the green while 1,185 counters settled with cuts. As many as 374 securities hit 52-week highs, mostly from the smallcap space. Meanwhile, 32 scrips hit 52-week lows, mostly from the microcap space. About 500 stocks hit upper circuit limits and 165 lower circuit limits.

European markets were trading lower at the last count. London-based FTSE was down 0.19 per cent while Frankfurt declined 0.12 per cent. Paris advanced 0.07 per cent. In Asia, barring South Korea, all markets ended with gains while some remained closed for a holiday.