After producing a new higher on Monday, equities ended Tuesday’s session on a flat note. The variety bound trading session was on account of profit-taking by the investors with Nifty ending the day down by 1.25 points (.01%) to close at 15313.45 whereas, Sensex declined by 49.69 points (.10%) to close at 52,104.17. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have pumped in capital worth $3.1 billion in total so far in February.
Metal stocks bucked the trend and gained on account of increasing metal rates globally. Besides, metal businesses also reported powerful quarterly final results with the brokerages stating that there is an upside to metal stocks left. The Nifty Metal rose by 2.89% on Tuesday, though shares of state-owned entities like ONGC and NTPC also rallied. Edelweiss Securities, its report, mentioned, “Going ahead, we expect a record quarter for ferrous companies as realisation is expected to increase by close to Rs 6,000/t; domestic volume is expected to grow; and stable cost for iron ore integrated players.” On the other hand, the shares of ONGC rose by 4.98% in the day’s trading session following the public sector giant announced its third quarter final results.
Shares of metal businesses and public sector businesses have been the prime gainers on the Nifty with Powergrid Corporation, ONGC, Tata Steel, Hindalco, and NTPC, rallying by 6.26%, 4.98%, 3.79%, 3.64%, and 2.78%. The greatest losers on the Nifty have been ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Eicher Motors, Nestle India, and Tata Motors, declining by 2.34%, 2.2%, 1.63%, 1.6%, and 1.3%.
The benchmark Nifty has rallied by 12.3% in February on account of a powerful Budget announcement and buoyant worldwide markets. While marketplace professionals think that the existing rally is anticipated to go on, helped by liquidity in the brief term and powerful corporate earnings in the medium term, they are also cautious on corrections and heightened volatility that could arise following a powerful upmove in the markets. “One should be prepared for increased volatility and correction after such an upmove. Overall, we are cautiously optimistic as direction of FII flows can be tricky and budget announcements are good but the real test is in implementation,” mentioned PGIM India MF.
Markets globally remained powerful with Asian bourses in South Korea, China, and Hong Kong rallying by .5% to 1.9%. The markets in Europe have been trading flat with benchmarks in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France up by .04% to .11%.