Sensex Jumps 491 pts, Nifty Above 17,300; Electronics Mart up 42%

Sensex Today: Indian shares fell in early trading on Monday, dragged down by metal stocks and in line with Asian peers amid growing fears that aggressive rate hikes by central banks globally would lead to a slowdown and weigh on corporate earnings.

The Nifty50 index, meanwhile, shut shop with gains of 126 points, or 0.73 per cent, at 17,312. The index hit a high of 17,328 during the day. The gains in the benchmark indices were led by SBI, NTPC, RIL, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, SBI Life, Axis Bank, Bajaj Finserv, Dr Reddy’s Labs, IndusInd Bank, Maruti Suzuki, HUL, and Hero MotoCorp.

Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank index climbed 3.6 per cent, Nifty Bank index 1.6 per cent, Nifty Financial Services and Private Bank indices up to 1.5 per cent, and Nifty IT index 0.3 per cent.

In the broader market, the Nifty MidCap index was up 0.24 per cent, while the Nifty SmallCap index added 0.5 per cent. Given this, the overall market breadth was mildly tilted towards sellers.

Electronics Mart India (EMIL) made a strong market debut, with its shares getting listed with 53 per cent premium at Rs 90 as against its issue price of Rs 59 per share on the National Stock Exchange (NSE). On the BSE, the stock opened at Rs 89.40, a 52 per cent premium over its issue price. However, after hitting a peak of Rs 91, the shares slipped to close at Rs 83.6, up 41.6 per cent against issue price.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said: “Rallies triggered by market positioning will be temporary because there won’t be any follow-on fundamental support for the rally. This trend played out in the US market last Friday with sharp cuts in major indices. There are no major triggers to take the mother market much higher at least in the near-term. There are no major triggers for a crash also since almost all negative factors are known to the market. Such an uncertain scenario provides opportunities for long-term investors to slowly accumulate high quality stocks showing improving prospects.”

“After a decent set of Q2 numbers from the leading IT majors, the Q2 numbers for banking also have begun well with very good results from HDFC Bank. The improvement in Net Interest Margin and impressive loan growth augur well for this banking blue chip. Even though strong dollar and high bond yields in US may nudge FIIs to sell, strong flows into domestic mutual funds and optimistic retail investors can provide the counter to FII selling providing some stability to the market,” he added.

Rupee Opens

Indian rupee opened marginally higher at 82.33 per dollar on against Friday’s close of 82.36.

Asian share markets slipped on Monday following another drubbing for Wall Street as investors brace for further drastic tightening in global financial conditions, with all the risks of recession that brings.

Tokyo stocks opened lower Monday with investors disheartened by falls on Wall Street, where participants shrugged off mostly solid bank earnings amid worries over bond yields and rising recession risks.

US stocks dropped on Friday as worsening inflation expectations kept intact worries that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive rate hike path could trigger a recession, while investors digested the early stages of earnings season.