Markets Weekly: Sensex sheds 595 points; Ashoka Buildcon, Coal India hit new 52-week low

Domestic benchmark indices BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty plunged over 2 per cent this week despite a rate cut of 25 basis points by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). For the week ended April 8, the 30-share index shed 595.80 points at 24,673.84, while the 50-share index lost 157.85 points at 7,555.20.

Among the 51 stocks in the Nifty pack, 34 components ended the week in red with Adani Ports falling 9.82 per cent. It was followed by Maruti Suzuki (down 7.69 per cent) and ICICI Bank (down 7.05 per cent).

On the other side, shares of Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Lupin and Aurobindo Pharma advanced 5.45 per cent, 4.92 per cent and 3.70 per cent, respectively.

Sectorwise, the BSE Bankex plunged the most — 4.07 per cent. The BSE Auto and BSE FMCG index also slid by 2.35 per cent and 2.15 per cent, respectively, during the week under review. On the other hand, BSE Healthcare and BSE Power gained 0.71 per cent and 0.63 per cent.

Jimeet Modi, chief executive officer, SAMCO Securities said, “Market opened the week with positive mood but later sold off on account of lower-than-expected interest rate cut of 25 basis points. However, monetary policy statement was encouraging which gave lot of hopes for further rate cuts in the coming months.”

During the week, Blackstone agreed to buy majority stake in Mphasis giving an open offer to public at Rs 457 per equity share making the M&A transaction one of the biggest in recent times in the IT sector.

Also, preliminary monsoon forecasts suggest normal rains, the success of which will go a long way in pushing the economy.

In the BSE 500 index, Infosys, Ashok Leyland, Hero MotoCorp, Geometric, JSW Steel, Marico, EID Parry, Biocon and Cholamandalam Investment and Finance hit their new 52-week high.

However, Ashoka Buildcon, J Kumar Infraproject, The Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Coal India and Tree House Education hit their fresh 52-week low during the week ended April 8.

The 2,200 crore-IPO of Equitas Holdings, which hit markets this week, got robust investor response with the issue getting oversubscribed 17.21 times on the last day of the offer on April 7.

Rupee depreciated marginally 0.21 per cent to 66.46 on April 7 from 66.33 on March 31. Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers as they bought shares worth Rs 3,469 crore in the past four trading sessions till Thursday.

For upcoming trading sessions, Venu Madhav, chief operating officer, Zerodha said, “The daily Nifty Candlestick chart seems to have formed a bearish belt-hold pattern which is most often seen as a short-term reversal pattern. The options data indicates high concentration of open interest at 7,500 Puts which signifies that 7,500 could be the intermediate strong support level which is also backed technically and psychologically. While it’s not the best time to initiate new longs, people who are long could continue to hold on to longs with strict stop loss at 7,500 on closing basis and initiate fresh shorts below such levels.”