Sensex Today: Domestic equities were on a backfoot on Friday as hawkish statement by the US Fed chair, Jerome Powell, overnight hit sentiment. The S&P BSE Sense fell 224 points to 64,608 levels, while the Nifty50 opened below 19,350 levels, down 53 points.
In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap index dropped 0.2 per cent, but the BSE Smallcap index added 0.02 per cent.
Among individual stocks, shares of Muthoot Finance tumbled 7 per cent after the lender’s net non-performing assets increased in q2Fy24, while maegins contratced sharply.
Those of Tata Motors, meanwhile, gained 0.3 per cent after Moody’s upgraded Tata Motors corporate family rating (CFR) from ‘B1’ to ‘Ba3’, reflecting continued improvement in the company’s credit profile.
Piramal Enterprises shares dropped 2 per cent even as the company turned back to black with a net profit of Rs 48 crore in Q2FY24 quarter as compared to a net loss of Rs 1,536 crore in the year-ago period.
Among sectors, the Nifty Bank, Auto, Financial Services, FMCG, Media, Pharma, and PSU bank indices fell between 0.2 per cent and 0.4 per cent. The Nifty Metal index was the only gainer, up 0.02 per cent.
Stock Market View: Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
The 8-day winning streak in S&P 500 was halted by a slightly hawkish statement from the Fed chief Jerome Powell that “the Fed will not hesitate to tighten policy if needed.” The lingering concern that ‘the rates may remain higher for longer’ will continue as a headwind for stock markets for some time, but is unlikely to drag it down meaningfully. The Indian market texture indicates that the ‘buy on dips’ strategy will continue to work. In Samvat 2080, Financials are likely to do well supported by attractive valuations and impressive growth. Sustained FII selling in financials, which is impacting the sector, will be only temporary. For investors with a 2-year time horizon, the leading private banks and 3 or 4 PSU banks are good buys with good return potential.
The mid and small-cap rally is partly driven by retail exuberance and since the valuations in this broader market is high, investors have to exercise some caution.
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