Markets snap 8-session winning run despite new stimulus

The equity markets took a breather on Thursday after gaining for eight sessions in a row, as investors paused to book profits. During each of the previous three trading sessions, the markets hit new highs. On Thursday, the Sensex ended lower by 236.48 points (0.54%) to close at 43,357.19 while the Nifty declined 58.35 points (0.46%) to close at 12,690.8.

The markets traded in losses throughout the session and the announcements by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman did little to enthuse the markets. The FM announced a stimulus package of Rs 2.65 lakh crore under the Atma Nirbhar 3.0 scheme.

The Nifty Bank fell 1.96% and the biggest losers on the index were Bank of Baroda, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, and ICICI Bank, down by 3.07%, 3.05%, 2.85%, 2.6%, and 2.06%.

The global markets too were down because of profit taking. The markets in Germany, the UK and France fell between 0.7% and 0.8%. Bourses in the Asian countries, too, closed the day in the red, with markets in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea declining by 0.1% to 0.4%.

According to provisional data on the exchanges, foreign portfolio investors bought stocks worth $838 million on Wednesday while domestic institutional investors sold stocks worth $461.8 million. FPIs have pumped $3.6 billion in stocks so far in November.

Shrikant Chouhan, executive vice president – equity technical research, Kotak Securities, said: “The Nifty50 remained in a narrow range of 120 points. We can say this is a consolidation window that the Nifty has opened up. As long as the market does not break the 12530 level, we should stick to the strategy of buy on dips. Another round of buying in financial stocks is more likely in the near future.”

The futures and options segment saw a turnover of Rs 55.3 lakh crore while the cash market saw volumes of Rs 63,735.4 crore.