The market slipped for the second consecutive week ended on April 16 amid mixed cues including weak macro numbers, better start of earning season and expectations of a normal monsoon. However, investors remained worried after restrictions by various state governments amid surge in COVID-19 cases that offset positive global sentiment. Last week, BSE Sensex fell 759.29 points or 1.53 percent to finish at 48,832.03. The Nifty50 shed 216.95 points or 1.46 percent to close at 14,617.9 levels. March WPI inflation was at 7.39% versus 4.17%. The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) in February shrank to 3.6 percent, while Consumer Price Index-based inflation (CPI) for the month of March came in at 5.52 percent, rising from February's 5.03 percent. “Technically, Nifty formed a Hammer candle on weekly scale which indicates that declines are being bought but follow up is missing at higher zones,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “Now, it has to continue to hold above 14,500 for an up move towards 14,700-14,850, while support exists at 14,350 and 14,250 zones,” Khemka added.
BSE Mid-cap Index slipped nearly 3 percent with RBL Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services, Indian Hotels Company, Bharat Heavy Electricals, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail, AU Small Finance Bank and Motilal Oswal Financial Services shed 8-11 percent. However, Glenmark Pharma, ICICI Securities, Procter and Gamble Hygiene, Emami and Gland Pharma ended with 4-8 percent gain.
BSE Small-cap index shed 2.6 percent. Yaarii Digital Integrated Services, Lemon Tree Hotels, V2 Retail, Future Enterprises, Ramco System, Indiabulls Housing Finance, Simplex Infrastructures, Shankara Building Products lost more than 13 percent each. Tamilnadu Petroproducts, DCM Shriram, 63 Moons Technologies, Praj Industries and Computer Age Management Services added 12-32 percent.
The BSE Large-cap Index fell 1.5 percent dragged by the Bandhan Bank, DLF, Bank Of Baroda, Adani Ports, Punjab National Bank, IndusInd Bank, Infosys and Grasim Industries. Cipla, Wipro, Mahindra and Mahindra, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories ended in the green.
On the BSE Sensex, Tata Consultancy Services lost (Rs -47,680.78 crore) the most in terms of market value, followed by Infosys (Rs -37,579.03 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs -31,355.4 crore) and Bajaj Finance (Rs -15, 465.4 crore), while HDFC Bank (Rs 10,697.4 crore), ONGC (Rs 4403.1 crore) and Mahindra and Mahindra (Rs 3,822.82) added some of their market value. (Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.)
On the sectoral front, except Nifty Pharma (up nearly 2 percent), all other sectoral indices ended in the red. Nifty PSU Bank index fell 7 percent dragged by Indian Bank, Canara Bank, Union Bank of India, Bank Of Baroda, Jammu and Kashmir Bank and Punjab National Bank. Nifty Realty and Media indices shed over 5 percent each and Nifty IT index slipped nearly 4 percent.
In the past week, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 1,060.03 crore. Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth of Rs 607.48 crore. In the month of April till now, the FIIs sold equities worth Rs 2,596.76 crore and DIIs purchased equities worth Rs 1,736.57 crore.
In the last week, the Indian rupee gained against the US dollar. It ended higher by 39 paise at 74.35 per dollar on April 16, against its April 9 closing of 74.74 per dollar. "The weakness in dollar and Fed’s willingness to tolerate more inflation will keep the USDINR spot lower and we expect it to trade in between 74-75.50 next week," said Rahul Gupta, Head Of Research- Currency, Emkay Global Financial Services.