Banks, auto stocks lift Nifty above 8200; Sensex, Midcap gain 1%
Equity benchmarks as well as broader markets gained for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday with the Nifty closing above 8200 for the first time since November 11 despite continued selling by FIIs.The easing of demonetisation impact, appreciation in rupee, positive global cues and hopes of oil production cut by OPEC boosted the market sentiment. Banks and auto stocks led the charge.
The 30-share BSE Sensex surged 258.80 points or 0.98 percent to 26652.81 and the 50-share NSE Nifty jumped 82.35 points or 1.01 percent to 8224.50 ahead of October core sector and Q2 GDP data due later today.
Investors are gradually showing interest in equities with a bottom up approach, Vinod Nair of Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services feels.
According to Anand James of Geojit BNP Paribas, uniquely enough, being at the month’s end salary disbursals are also in focus, which is expected to inject more life into the cash starved economy.
Thursday’s session is going to be a decisive one for the equity markets. Markets will first react to the GDP data and outcome of OPEC meeting in early trades tomorrow. Besides, data of auto sales will also start pouring in, Jayant Manglik of Religare Securities says.
He feels the Nifty has immediate hurdle at 8300 and continuous recovery in banking pack is essential for any sustainable move ahead. So, he suggests keeping close eye on the banking space for further cues.
The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices also gained a percent as about two shares advanced for every share falling.
European markets were marginally higher with investors closely following political developments in Italy and a potential OPEC deal. France’s CAC, Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE were up 0.2-0.6 percent, at the time of writing this article. Asia ended mixed.
Brent and US crude oil futures surged more than 6 percent after the Saudi oil minister said an agreement among OPEC members on cutting output was close, putting the price on course for its biggest one-day move since April.
Meanwhile, the rupee appreciated sharply in later part of the session. It closed at 68.38 against the US dollar, up 27 paise from last close.
Nifty Bank posted the biggest 1-day gain in last 3 weeks, up 2.2 percent. It regained losses seen in previous two sessions due to surprise CRR hike by RBI. ICICI Bank was the top gainer, up 3.6 percent followed by SBI, HDFC Bank, PNB, Bank of Baroda and Axis Bank with 1-2 percent upside.
Nifty Auto index gained more than 1 percent ahead of November auto sales data due tomorrow. Nomura expects retail sales to be weak due to currency demonetisation and post festive demand moderation. Maruti Suzuki surged 3.4 percent and TVS Motor climbed over 5 percent. Eicher Motors rose 2 percent and Bajaj Auto gained 1 percent.
Among others, L&T, ONGC and Tata Steel were up 1 percent each while Lupin, Reliance Industries, GAIL and Cipla were losers.
