Sensex ends 226 higher, Nifty near 16,500; IT stocks rally

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Benchmark equity indices ended near their day’s high as fresh buying was seen in index heavyweights while sell-off was witnessed in the broader markets. Sensex closed 226 points or 0.41% higher at 55,555 while Nifty 50 settled at 16,496, up 45 points or 0.28%.

“Despite the narrative on earnings being positive, the broader markets witnessed profit booking today and many HNI’s looking for listing gains have been caught on the wrong foot in the recent primary market offerings. As indices ruled firm on the back of IT stocks, several midcap names across sectors were seen wilting under selling pressure in late afternoon trade with the QSR basket too meeting with profit booking,” said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

Sectoral strand

On the sectoral front, indices ended mixed. Nifty Auto index lost the most declining 1.47%, while Nifty Metal, Nifty Realty, Nifty FMCG and Nifty Pharma indices ended in the red losing up to 0.99%. On the other hand, Nifty IT index advance 1.70% and Nifty Bank index ended with gains of 0.26%.

Broader market

Unlike benchmark indices, there was a sell-off in the broader markets as the BSE MidCap index declined 0.90% or 204 points to 22,475. While the pain in small caps was even severe as the BSE SmallCap index plunged 400 points or 1.55% and settled at 25,358.

Bears outpowered bulls in today’s trade as 2,472 shares declined compared to 779 advanced and 142 remained unchanged.

Economy

Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman will launch the National Monetisation Pipeline on Monday at New Delhi. The National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) comprises a four-year pipeline of the central government’s brownfield infrastructure assets. Besides providing visibility to investors, NMP will also serve as a medium-term roadmap for the asset monetisation initiative of the government. The Union Budget 2021-22 laid a lot of emphasis on asset monetisation as a means to raise innovative and alternative financing for infrastructure and included a number of key announcements.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve said that railways have suffered a loss of Rs 36,000 crore due to the corona pandemic. Railways is facing a 48% loss in passenger service. He was speaking in an event organised at Jalna Railway station in Maharashtra. Danve said, Mumbai-Nagpur High Speed train project is an ambitious project of the railway ministry and it is on priority list. Doubling of tracks between Manmad and Nanded will also be completed on priority basis. But other railway projects will be done after checking the feasibility of the project.

Global markets

Shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Monday, 23 August 2021, as traders sought to take advantage of last week’s selloff while weighing risks from the delta virus strain and China’s regulatory curbs.

Major U.S. stock averages rebounded on Friday boosted by tech stocks. Fed officials are set to gather for their annual meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyo., from Thursday. Market participants will be awaiting insights into the Fed’s “taper talks” as many central bankers aim to move away from easy policy.