Sensex ends rangebound session mildly higher; Infosys, HDFC lead; Biocon up 15%
The market ended rangebound session with mild gains on Monday as investors await the mid-term review of foreign trade policy tomorrow and RBI policy decision on Wednesday.
Infosys, HDFC and Tata Motors helped the market close higher but gains were capped by Reliance Industries and private banks.
The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 36.78 points to 32,869.72 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 6 points at 10,127.80 despite weak market breadth. About three shares declined for every two shares rising on the BSE.
The next two days would be important as RBI will announce its policy decision on December 6, Jayant Manglik President Retail Sales Religare Securities said.
He expects RBI to maintain status quo citing incoming data dependency over the next few months, as a firm inflation trajectory limits the room for further monetary easing for now.
He advises traders to hedge their positions until RBI policy decision.
Ratnesh Kumar, MD & CEO, BOBCAPS said, “With the year end approaching, last two-three weeks of December could see slowdown in foreign flows due to holiday season. So, there could be stagnation, but not a deep correction.”
Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu will unveil the mid-term review of the foreign trade policy on Tuesday, which is likely to address exporters’ concerns to arrest the declining trend of shipments.
The Nifty IT index was biggest gainer among sectoral indices, rising 1.2 percent driven by Infosys that rallied 2.77 percent after the board of directors appointed Salil Parekh as new Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director (CEO & MD) of the company.
Tata Motors rose 1.2 percent on strong commercial vehicle sales in November. Biocon surged 15 percent after the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Ogivri, the first biosimilar for Trastuzumab, for the treatment of HER2-positive breast and gastric cancers.
Dr Reddy’s Laboratories was up 0.4 percent as the company received establishment inspection report for Miyapur facility in Hyderabad. The facility had received zero observations in September.
HDFC, HUL, Vedanta, Indiabulls Housing, HCL Technologies, ONGC and Hindalco Industries among others gained 1-3 percent whereas Reliance Industries, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Infratel, Maruti and Yes Bank were down 0.8-2.5 percent.
63 Moons Technologies was locked at 5 percent lower circuit after the Bombay High Court dismissed a petition filed by the erstwhile Financial Technologies challenging a 2016 decision of the Union government ordering its merger with its subsidiary, National Spot Exchange.
In broader space, Shankara Buildcon Products, Inox Wind, Kesoram Industries, TTK Prestige, Nitco Tiles and Madras Fertilizers gained 6-20 whereas Reliance Naval, Reliance Communications, Grahpite India, HEG, Titagarh Wagons, Texmaco Rail, Just Dial, Ashok Leyland, Delta Corp, Tata Coffee, Tata Global and Mirc Electronics were down 1-8 percent.
On the global front, Asian markets ended mixed while European stocks were higher, as investors digested news the US Senate narrowly passed a major tax bill over the weekend. France’s CAC, Germany’s DAX and Britain’s FTSE were up 0.8-1.2 percent at the time of writing this article.
