The market managed to eke out gains in yet another week of volatile and rangebound trade, and stayed in the green on the back of technology, metal, capital goods, oil and gas, and power stocks. Selling in healthcare, auto, and select FMCG stocks, however, capped the rise.
A mixed bag of quarterly earnings, no major expectations from the Union Budget 2023, continued FII selling, a hawkish tone by Fed officials and optimisim about China’s reopening kept the market rangebound for the week gone by. But still the market participants seem to be cautiously waiting for the Union Budget scheduled to be tabled by the finance minister on February 1, and also the outcome of the FOMC meeting due the same day.
On Monday, the market will first react to quarterly earnings announced by major companies like Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and UltraTech Cement. Overall the coming holiday-shortened week, too, is expected to be rangebound and volatile amid expiry of monthly derivative contracts, with continuing stock specific actions due to quarterly earnings season, and eye on the Budget, experts said.
The BSE Sensex climbed 361 points to 60,622, and the Nifty50 jumped 71 points to 18,028, while the broader markets underperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 indices falling 0.7 percent and 1.1 percent.
“Although we started the third quarter on a shaky note, the latest set of financial announcements from IT and banking blue chips are encouraging. Given the mixed undercurrents, the second line of Q3 and global market cues will determine the trend going forward,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial services, said.