Equities gain for fifth consecutive trading day

The markets started the day with gains, most of which were fizzled out in the last hour of trading.

Equities pared most of their intra-day gains to end marginally higher on Thursday, rising for the fifth straight day, amid profit taking and lacklustre global cues. The Nifty rose 9.65 points or 0.08% to close at 11,559.25 while the Sensex gained 39.5 points or 0.10% to close at 39,113.47.

The markets started the day with gains, most of which were fizzled out in the last hour of trading. On the day of the weekly expiry, the markets rose on strong volumes, with the futures and options segment on the NSE witnessing a turnover of Rs 35.09 lakh crore, against the six-month average of Rs 14.9 lakh crore.

The cash market saw a turnover of Rs 62,976.55 crore, against the six-month average of Rs 51,793.2 crore. Foreign portfolio investors on Wednesday bought equities worth $208.06 million while domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth $157.18 million.

The markets, which had witnessed a strong gap-up opening, eventually witnessed selling in line with negative global cues. Deepak Jasani, head – retail research, HDFC Securities, said: “Indian benchmark indices opened with an up-gap, but gradually eroded during the day as news of Beijing firing missiles into the South China Sea and uncertainty ahead of the US Fed Chair’s address at Jackson Hole Conference led to profit taking.”

The Asian markets traded in the red with bourses in Taiwan, Hong Kong and South Korea ending the day lower between 0.28% and 1.05%.

The markets were helped by financials and automobile stocks. The Nifty Bank and Nifty Auto were up by 0.8% and 1.02%, respectively.

According to a report by Kotak Institutional Equities, the rally in automobile stocks may be overdone. The brokerage said, “The rally in two-wheeler and four-wheeler stocks may be overdone given likely continued weak household income growth in the medium term and rich valuations that leave little room for disappointment in volumes and earnings. In our view, the key issue is long-term household income growth and not near-term volumes that may reflect desire for personal transportation and pent-up demand.”

Major gainers on the Nifty were IndusInd Bank, M&M, Tata Motors, SBI and HDFC, up by 6.53%, 4.17%, 4.1%, 2.93%, and 2.62%.

ONGC, RIL, Bajaj Auto, Zee Entertainment, and Coal India were among significant losers.