Mumbai: Wednesday’s trading session remained highly volatile as investors faced panic selling in the morning. The biggest concern was the sharp fall in the rupee. During intraday trade, the Indian currency touched a record low of 96.96 against the US dollar.
This increased fears that foreign investors could continue selling Indian equities. Weak global signals and pressure on the rupee kept markets under stress during the opening hours.
Selling Seen In Several Stocks
Investors stayed cautious and selling was visible in many stocks, especially companies that reported weak quarterly earnings.
Market breadth also remained mixed throughout the day. On the NSE, the advance-decline ratio stayed close to 1:1, showing uncertainty among investors.
However, the mood slowly improved during the second half of trading.
Heavyweights Lead Recovery
The market recovery was mainly supported by buying in large-cap stocks like Reliance Industries, Axis Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra and Hindalco Industries.
As buying increased in these stocks, investor confidence also returned.
Hindalco emerged as the top Nifty gainer after rising more than 3%. Investors reacted positively to strong Q4 results from Novelis, improving hopes for future growth.
Midcap Stocks Remain Active
Midcap counters also witnessed strong action.
Tata Communications gained over 7 percent after appointing Ganapati S. Lakshminarayanan as its new MD and CEO.
IRB Infrastructure Developers also recovered sharply after reporting strong Q4 earnings and margin improvement.
Avalon Technologies jumped nearly 8 percent after Nomura initiated coverage with a “Buy” rating.
Weak Earnings Hurt Some Stocks
Not all stocks participated in the rally.
PI Industries fell over 7% after weak quarterly earnings.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises declined around 6% after reporting a net loss of Rs 104 crore.
After sharp swings during the day, Sensex closed 117.54 points higher at 75,318.39.
Nifty ended 41 points higher at 23,659, while Bank Nifty gained 153 points to close at 53,562.
The Midcap Index also rose 301 points to settle at 61,323.
Despite the recovery, the rupee closed at a record low of 96.82 against the US dollar, keeping currency concerns alive in the market.
