Closing Bell: Nifty ends near 16,500, Sensex gains 226 pts led by IT stocks; auto, metal stocks drag
]
August 23, 2021 / 03:34 PM IST
Market Close: Benchmark indices ended on positive note in the volatile session on August 23 led by the IT stocks.
At close, the Sensex was up 226.47 points or 0.41% at 55555.79, and the Nifty was up 46 points or 0.28% at 16496.50. About 745 shares have advanced, 2438 shares declined, and 135 shares are unchanged.
HCL Technologies, Nestle, TCS, Bajaj Finserv and Bharti Airtel were the top Nifty gainers. Grasim Industries, Adani Ports, M&M, Eicher Motors and Bajaj Auto were among the top losers.
Among sectors, the Nifty IT index gained 1.7 percent each, while metal, auto and PSU bank indices lost 0.5-1.5 percent. BSE midcap index fell 0.90 percent and smallcap shed 1.5 percent.
Hong Kong stocks surge 3% in afternoon trade
]
Hong Kong stocks rose three percent in the afternoon session Thursday, clawing back some of the hefty losses suffered earlier in the week, after Chinese officials sought to soothe concerns about Beijing’s recent crackdown on a range of industries.
The Hang Seng Index rose 3.00 percent, or 764.02 points, to 26,237.90.
Mainland shares also rallied, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index closing up 1.49 percent, or 50.13 points, at 3,411.72, while the Shenzhen Composite Index on China’s second exchange jumped 3.07 percent, or 70.97 points, to 2,384.17.
Top 10 things to know before the market opens
]
The Indian stock market is expected to open in the red as trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-down opening for the index in India.
The BSE Sensex settled at 55,629.49, down 162.78 while the Nifty50 slipped 45.80 points to 16,568.80, forming a bearish candle on the daily charts as the closing was lower than opening levels.
According to pivot charts, the key support levels for the Nifty are placed at 16,502.47, followed by 16,436.13. If the index moves up, the key resistance levels to watch out for are 16,668.47 and 16,768.13.
Stay tuned to Moneycontrol to find out what happens in the currency and equity markets today. We have collated a list of important headlines across news platforms which could impact Indian as well as international markets:
US Markets
The S&P 500 ended modestly higher in a choppy session on Thursday with gains in tech shares countering losses in cyclical sectors, as investors took the pulse of the economic rebound and gauged when the Federal Reserve might temper its monetary stimulus.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 66.57 points, or 0.19%, to 34,894.12, the S&P 500 gained 5.53 points, or 0.13%, to 4,405.8 and the Nasdaq Composite added 15.87 points, or 0.11%, to 14,541.79.
Asian Markets
Shares in Asia-Pacific mostly fell in Friday trade as China left its benchmark lending rate unchanged. Mainland Chinese stocks fell as the Shanghai composite declined about 1% and the Shenzhen component slipped 1.013%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index shed dropped 1.18%.
The Nikkei 225 in Japan fell 0.74% in morning trade while the Topix index shed 0.5%.
SGX Nifty
Trends on SGX Nifty indicate a gap-down opening for the index in India. The Nifty futures were trading at 16,373 on August 20 against August 18 close of 16,572 .
Oil slumps over 3%, hits May lows as losses extend to a sixth day
Oil prices skidded on Thursday for a sixth session, hitting lows not seen since May, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar and concerns about weaker demand as COVID-19 cases rise.
The oil market rallied throughout the first half of 2021, but the newest wave of coronavirus infections throughout the world has sapped global travel and threatens economic activity. That comes just as major oil producers are readying supply increases and as U.S. drilling activity edges up.
Brent crude was down $2.42, or 3.6%, to $65.82 a barrel by 11:32 a.m. EDT (1532 GMT), after touching $65.57, lowest since May 21.
US jobless claims hit a pandemic low as hiring strengthens
The number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell last week for a fourth straight time to a pandemic low, the latest sign that America’s job market is rebounding from the pandemic recession as employers boost hiring to meet a surge in consumer demand.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that jobless claims fell by 29,000 to 348,000. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week volatility, also fell — by 19,000, to just below 378,000, also a pandemic low.
The weekly pace of applications for unemployment aid has fallen more or less steadily since topping 900,000 in early January. The dwindling number of first-time jobless claims has coincided with the widespread administering of vaccines, which has led businesses to reopen or expand their hours and drawn consumers back to shops, restaurants, airports and entertainment venues.
CarTrade IPO shares to debut today
Leading multi-channel auto platform CarTrade Tech is expected to make a decent debut on the bourses considering its business model, the first-mover advantage in the sector and future growth prospects. Equity shares will list on the BSE and NSE on August 20.
The initial public offering of CarTrade saw a strong subscription during August 9-11, getting subscribed 20.29 times driven by institutional and non-institutional investors. The reserved portion of qualified institutional buyers was subscribed 35.45 times and that of non-institutional investors witnessed 41 times subscription. The retail portion was booked 2.75 times.
Emcure Pharmaceuticals files DRHP for proposed Rs 4,500-Rs 5000 crore IPO
Emcure Pharmaceuticals, on August 19 filed its Draft Red Hearing Prospectus (DRHP) with market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for its proposed initial public offer (IPO).
Market sources told Moneycontrol that the IPO size would be in the range of of Rs 4500 crore - Rs 5000 crore.
The initial public offering comprises a fresh issue of equity shares aggregating up to Rs. 1,100 crore and an offer for sale of up to 18,168,356 equity shares that include promoters - Satish Mehta selling up to 2,030,000 equity shares and Sunil Mehta aggregating up to 2,50,000 equity shares. Other selling shareholders include private equity investor Bain Capital, as well as certain individual selling shareholders.
US dollar climbs to 9-month peak on Fed taper view, Delta virus
The US dollar advanced to a nine-month high on Thursday, as worries about widespread coronavirus infections and Federal Reserve meeting minutes showing policymakers considering reducing pandemic-era stimulus this year hit global stocks and commodity-linked currencies.
The dollar index , which measures its performance against six currencies, hit 93.434, its highest since early November last year. It was last up 0.2% at 93.273.
FII and DII data
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) net sold shares worth Rs 595.32 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) net offloaded shares worth Rs 729.49 crore in the Indian equity market on August 18, as per provisional data available on the NSE.
Stocks under F&O ban on NSE
Seven stocks - Cadila Healthcare, Canara Bank, NALCO, Punjab National Bank, SAIL, Sun TV Network and Vedanta - are under the F&O ban for August 20. Securities in the ban period under the F&O segment include companies in which the security has crossed 95 percent of the market-wide position limit.
With inputs from Reuters & other agencies