Nifty recovers in second half to close with gains

Mumbai, March 18 (SocialNews.XYZ) The Nifty recovered in the second half of the session to close with gains of 32.35 points, or 0.15 per cent, at 22,055.70 levels on Monday.

The broader market underperformed with Nifty Midcap 100 down 0.3 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 down 0.6 per cent, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Sector-wise, it was a mixed bag with buying seen in metals, realty, and auto stocks, while IT and FMCG stocks were the laggards, Khemka said.

This week, the market will focus on major central bank meetings with the Bank of Japan scheduled to announce its outcome on Tuesday.

Investors will also track economic data like European CPI data, which will be released later on Monday.

“Overall, we expect the markets to consolidate over the next few days while the broader market may continue to remain subdued," he said.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said the Indian market followed the positive Asian peers with a mixed bias on Monday.

Domestic issues, like mutual fund stress tests, hardly brought any negative views, but premium valuation remains a concern. The midcaps and smallcaps are attempting to scroll up though consolidation persists.

Both DII and FII inflows are strong for largecaps, hence sustaining their outperformance, Nair said.

Vaibhav Vidwani, Research Analyst at Bonanza Portfolio, said the Nifty closed on a positive note at 22,055, up by 0.15 per cent, whereas the Sensex closed at 72,748, up by 0.14 per cent on Monday.

Nifty Metal and Nifty Auto were among the top gainers, up by 2.49 per cent and 1.26 per cent, respectively.

On the back of China's strong growth in industrial output, investors were attracted towards the metal sector on Monday, Vidwani said.

Source: IANS