Market Movers: Metal stocks soar, SRF slumps; 39 scrips give buy signals

MUMBAI: Benchmark equity indices ended higher for the second successive session today, helped by strong cues from global markets and rise in some index heavyweights.

The optimism was also aided by hopes that the ongoing second wave of Covid-19 in India may soon see its peak and that vaccination may increase in the coming weeks as supply situation normalizes.

The Nifty50 index ended 0.7 per cent or 98.4 points higher at 14,823.2, while the BSE Sensex closed at 49,206.47, up 0.5 per cent or 256.7 points.

Here are the major movers in today’s market:
Metal’s bull run continues
The gains in shares of metal stocks in the country appear unstoppable at the moment as the sector continues to rally on the back of soaring global metal prices and hopes of strong profitability in the coming quarters. The Nifty Metal index ended nearly 5 per cent higher.

Tata Steel hits record high
Shares of Tata Steel hit its record high and rose 7.4 per cent as investors continued to reward the company for reporting firm earnings for the quarter ended March. The surge in steel prices in China also aided the sharp jump in the stock in today’s session.

SRF slumps on conservative guidance
Shares of SRF sank over 8 per cent today as investors were unimpressed by the management’s conservative guidance for growth in 2021-22. SRF said that it expects sales to grow 10-15 per cent in the current financial year, which was much lower than analysts’ estimates.

Tata Consumer falls over weak earnings
Shares of the company fell nearly 4 per cent after reporting weak earnings for the quarter ended March. The significant compression in the company’s operating and gross margins in the quarter due to substantial input cost inflation worried analysts over the outlook for the coming quarters.

HDFC surges on strong numbers
Shares of Housing Development Finance Corporation rose nearly 3 per cent and helped the benchmark indices end higher as investors cheered the company’s March quarter numbers. The company’s net profit beat Street’s estimates, while its assets under management growth was also strong.

What gave the buy signals?
As many as 39 stocks listed on the National Stock Exchange gave buy signals based on MACD indicators including ITC, Zee Entertainment, Escorts, Adani Total Gas, and MSTC.

What’s ahead for the market?
Buying in the out-of-money call options of the Nifty50 was limited to the 15,000-strike price, indicating that traders do not see much upside from current levels for the index. In the futures segment, traders continued to long positions in the May contract of the index as open interest rose 1.4 per cent on a provisional basis.

“We suggest traders maintain a neutral bias on the market and keep strict stop loss below immediate support,” said Nirali Shah, head of equity research at Samco Securities.