Due to weakness in most of the markets in Asia on weak inflation data out of China, subdued start in Europe ahead of the ECB’s policy review, and on cautious moves by investors ahead of the exit polls of recently held state elections scheduled later in the day, the Indian stock market turned in a sluggish performance on Thursday.Also, with a hike in U.S. interest rates looming large and the results of assembly elections in five states due on Saturday, investors were quite wary of building up positions.The BSE benchmark Sensex, which rallied to 28,986.72 around mid afternoon, after having declined to 28,815.02 early on in the session, ended at 28,929.13 with a marginal gain of 27.19 points or 0.09%. The Nifty50 of the National Stock Exchange ended up 2.70 points or 0.03% at 8927.00, after scaling a low of 8899.50 and a high of 8945.80 intraday.In the forex market, the rupee was trading at 66.75 against the U.S. dollar around late afternoon, down 8 paise from its previous close 66.67.Healthcare, metal and oil stocks were mostly weak. Realty, power, information technology, bank, FMCG, capital goods and power stocks ended on a mixed note.Maruti Suzuki, State Bank of India, Axis Bank and Tata Motors gained 1% – 1.7%. Asian Paints, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, NTPC, Infosys and Hero Motocorp posted modest gains.Ambuja Cements, Bosch, Grasim Industries, UltraTech Cement, Zee Entertainment Enterprises and Tata Power gained 0.4% – 1.2%.Dr Reddy’s Laboratories declined to a 31-month low and ended more than 5% down after the company said it received 13 observations from USFDA for Duvvada oncology formulation facility.GAIL India, trading ex-bonus, settled at Rs 279.50, losing about 2.4%. Idea Cellular, Wipro, Adani Ports, ONGC, Bharti Infratel, Aurobindo Pharma and BPCL declined by 1.2% – 2.2%. Tata Steel, BHEL, Hindalco, Cipla, Yes Bank, Power Grid Corporation, Tech Mahindra, Coal India and Reliance Industries also ended weak.Shilpa Medicare saw some strong buying after the company said that it is identifying and evaluating opportunities and ideas for organic and inorganic growth including acquisitions in similar and adjacent businesses. Shreyas Shipping, Dilip Buildcon and Dish TV also moved up on stock specific news.The market breadth was weak. Out of 2969 stocks traded on BSE, 1611 stocks declined. 1188 stocks advanced and 170 stocks ended flat.
July 26, 2024
