Investors go cherry-picking in broader market; Voda, ALL, GMR climb 10%

Investors on Dalal Street breathed a sigh of relief on Friday, as benchmark equity indices reported gains for the first time in seven sessions.

With a rally of over four per cent, Nifty Midcap 50 index outperformed other major indices on NSE. While Nifty closed 231 points, or 2.26 per cent, higher at 11,037, the Midcap50 gained 177 points to 4,532.

Overall, the market remained in favour of the bulls on the last day of the week amid low-level buying by investors.

“It was heartening to see the broader market participate in the rally with a host of companies across multiple themes, as investors chose to cherry-pick stocks,” said S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities.

Some 49 components in the Midcap50 index ended in the green with Ashok Leyland gaining the most at 13.34 per cent, Vodafone Idea 12 per cent, GMR Infra 10.64 per cent) and Coforge 9 per cent.

Telecom player Vodafone Idea hogged the limelight amid reports that the company has won an arbitration case against the government over the Rs 20,000 crore retrospective tax demand.

Among other top movers, IDFC First Bank, Jindal Steel, Manappuram Finance and M&M Financial Services gained over 5 per cent each. Union Bank (down 0.55 per cent) was the only loser on the index.

Other major indices including Nifty Next 50, Nifty 100, Nifty 200 and Nifty 500 gained between 2.35 per cent and 2.75 per cent. Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 also gained 2.66 per cent and 2.81 per cent, respectively.

“This relief rally seems to be based on the hope of more stimulus measures from the government. FPIs have net sold close to Rs 2,000 crore so far this month, which indicated an uncertain trend after huge inflows in August,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

The rally came after six days of bloodbath on Dalal Street, in which Nifty50 cracked nearly 7 per cent to 10,805 on September 24 from 11,604 on September 16. Nifty Midcap50 index had tanked nearly 9 per cent in this selloff.