Market Movers: Private banks continue to weaken; 46 stocks give buy signal

MUMBAI: Benchmark equity indices ended lower for the fourth successive session today as investors booked profits heavily amid emerging concerns over rise in Covid-19 cases in some parts of the country and lack of buying from large institutions, said dealers.

Cues from global markets were less supportive, too, as Asian equities closed on a tepid note, while European equities barely held onto their gains.

The Nifty50 index ended 137.2 points or 0.9 per cent lower at 14,981.75, while the BSE Sensex closed at 50,889.76, down 0.9 per cent or 434.9 points.

The selling in the market was broad-based as even the midcaps and smallcaps corrected despite showing resilience in the previous few sessions. The Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 index ended 1.6 per cent and 0.9 per cent lower respectively.

Here are the major movers in today’s session:

Private banks continue weakness
Shares of large private sector banks continued their weakness of recent sessions as investors booked profits given the sector’s recent rally. The Nifty Bank index ended 2 per cent lower led by weakness in Axis Bank, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank.

Some PSBs see profit booking
After a breathtaking rally in shares of Central Bank of India, Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra over the past three days on privatisation buzz, investors heavily booked profits in these stocks today. Shares of Central Bank of India, Bank of India and Bank of Maharashtra ended 7-10 per cent lower.

Raymond gains on capital raising buzz
Shares of the company soared 7 per cent in a weak market on market talk that the company could soon be looking at raising capital through a preferential allotment of shares. The stock has risen for the past three sessions.

FMCG stocks suffer the least
While all sectoral indices on the National Stock Exchange closed lower, Nifty FMCG index saw the least losses, helped by gains in shares of index heavyweight Hindustan Unilever, which likely saw buying from more risk-averse investors.

RIL bucks weak trend
Shares of index major Reliance Industries bucked the weakness in the broader market after reports said that the company’s talks with Saudi Aramco to sell a part of its energy business were back on track. The stock ended 0.6 per cent higher.

What gave the buy signal?
Despite the selling pressure in the market, as many as 46 stocks gave buy signals based on MACD indicators including Tata Motors, Marico, Dhani Services, Supreme Industries and Sanofi India.

What’s ahead for the market?
In the options segment, traders showed preference for buy out-of-money call options of the Nifty50 to hedge themselves against further correction in the coming sessions. In the futures segment, too, traders added short positions in the February contract of the Nifty50 index.

“Nifty has critical support at 14,800 and a decisive break may result in further fall; else, consolidation will continue. We reiterate our cautious stance and suggest focusing more on position management during the corrective phase,” said Ajit Mishra, vice president of research at Religare Broking.