Public sector banks were on the forefront of Friday’s stocks rally as the government infused capital in three lenders. Traders pushed up stock prices, expecting positive news from Saturday’s scheduled meeting between PSU bank chiefs and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
Dishman Carbogen continued its volatile movement and shed 4 per cent, a day after recording a 10 per cent jump. BSE flagship Sensex added 411 points to close at 41,575, while 50-share Nifty rose 119 points to 12,245.
“Public sector banks helped the market trade higher after seeing weakness for several days. Another bond sale announcement by RBI for next week lifted financial stocks higher, while positive sentiments in global markets on easing trade tensions fuelled a broadbased rally. Investors are likely to stay focused on continuity of government policies and solid liquidity, while momentum is expected to shift from premium stocks to value stocks,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Here is a lowdown of the movers and shakers of Friday’s session:
Order win lifts HG Infra shares
Shares of HG Infra Engineering climbed over 5.68 per cent to Rs 257.60 after the company informed the stock exchanges that it had bagged a highway project worth Rs 522 crore in Haryana from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI).
Dishman Carbogen drops 4 per cent
Shares of Dishman Carbogen Amcis skidded 3.59 per cent on profit booking following Thursday’s 10 per cent jump. Raids by the income-tax department on the company offices concluded on December 25.
PSU bank stocks surge
Barring a few, all PSU bank shares registered gains ahead of a meeting between Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with PSU bank chiefs. Government’s capital infusion in certain banks and RBI’s second round of ‘Operation Twist’ also helped these stocks. Nifty PSU Bank index advanced 2.92 per cent to 2,568. The biggest gainer on the index was Punjab and Sind Bank, up 8.85 per cent. Indian Overseas Bank and Bank of Baroda added 5 per cent each.
India VIX plunges 6 per cent
India VIX, the measure of volatility in the market, plunged 6.06 per cent to 10.44.
RIL, bank stocks lift Sensex
Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and HDFC together added 240 points to Sensex’s 411-point rise. Other major contributors included Infosys, SBI and L&T. Only four stocks ended in the red and they cut about 11 points from Sensex gains.
Most active stocks
Reliance Industries was the most active stock on NSE in terms of transaction value. It was followed by Indiabulls Housing Finance, SBI, Axis Bank and YES Bank. In terms of transaction volume, YES Bank topped the charts, followed by Vodafone Idea, Bank of Baroda, Indiabulls Housing Finance and SBI.
Smallcaps outperform
The BSE Smallcap index outperformed for the day, climbing 1.28 per cent to 5,757. Nifty Midcap index gained 0.85 per cent to 17,006 while Nifty500 added 0.93 per cent to 9,908.
All sectoral indices gain
All sectoral indices on NSE were in the green. Nifty PSU Bank was the biggest gainer, jumping 2.92 per cent to 2,568. Nifty Realty, Nifty Bank, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Private Bank indices added over 1 per cent each.
132 stocks give ‘buy’ signals
As many as 132 stocks flashed ‘buy’ signals, as they crossed above their MACD lines. They included Bank of Baroda, IDFC First Bank, Axis Bank, Indian Hotels Company, Apollo Hospitals, Spicejet, Havells India and Shree Renuka Sugars, among others. MACD is a momentum indicator used by technical analysts to predict price movement trends.
Source: Economic Times
