Here are the key factors that shaped Thursday’s market action:1. Financials and insurance stocks weighed on benchmarks
Financial stocks dragged the Nifty lower, while insurance shares saw sharp declines following earnings. ICICI Prudential fell 3%, while ICICI Lombard dropped more than 10% after reporting a sharp increase in its combined ratio.ALSO READ | This HDFC group stock has no ‘sell’ rating among 30 analysts who cover it, but they want more
2. IT stocks provided support
Buying in information technology stocks helped limit losses in the benchmark indices, even as weakness in financial shares capped the upside.
3. Corporate earnings drove stock-specific moves
BHEL gained 4% after reporting a healthy set of quarterly results. ABB surged 7% after ABB Plc reported an 81% jump in India order inflows.
On the downside, Prestige Estates fell 3% after reporting a sequential decline in pre-sales, while Angel One slipped 3% after reporting a decline in client acquisition during the first quarter.
4. PLI 2.0 lifted EMS stocks
Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) stocks advanced after developments related to PLI 2.0, with Dixon Technologies, Kaynes Technology, and Amber Enterprises posting gains.ALSO READ | HDB Financial shares rise 3% after strong Q1 results but Motilal Oswal awaits better execution
5. Select large-cap and mid-cap stocks outperformed
IndiGo emerged as the top Nifty gainer, rising nearly 2%, while Maruti Suzuki and Mahindra & Mahindra also ended higher.
Gurmeet Chadha, Managing Partner & CIO, Complete Circle, on Polycab, said, “I think we’ve been invested in Polycab since the IPO, so it’s been a good journey, and there have been hiccups, including the tax issue which happened, and then competitors getting into cables and wires, including Adani and Birla.
But I think the structural demand remains intact. There has also been a bit of pressure because of copper prices, but Polycab has done a lot of work on backward integration. I probably need to see the FMEG numbers in more detail. I think that’s one area I think the market would be looking at, and the promoter ownership is still in the high 60%.
So, a little bit of block selling coming here and there would basically be a temporary event. But housing demand, infrastructure demand, the optical fibre vertical, and the overall AI-led infrastructure spend driving demand for cables and wires—I think it structurally looks good. This is one company which is consistently exceeding the estimates they’ve given. So we’ll be a buyer in case there is any reasonable dip in the stock.”
From the Sensex basket, Wipro Ltd, HCL Technologies Ltd, Bajaj Finance Ltd, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd, Titan Company Ltd and ITC Ltd were the major gainers.
Eternal Ltd, SBI Life Insurance Company Ltd, TVS Motor Company Ltd, Bharat Electronics Ltd, Shriram Finance Ltd and Axis Bank Ltd were the biggest laggards.
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Pashupati Advani, Founder and Chairman, @globalforay, on markets, said, “I think one has to be a little more optimistic on Indian markets simply because the RBI has taken some steps to introduce a new set of FCNR(B) [deposits]and I think a lot of people are waiting on the sidelines to watch that money flow.
I think once they get the programme right, it will actually bring in quite a lot of money. I would say at least, you know, $100-200 billion more, maybe more, in terms of money, and that money has to come somewhere. Some of it will come into the market. Some of it will come into real estate. But it will push up things in general.
And I think I’m optimistic that that’s going to happen in the next 30 to 60 days. As a result, I am optimistic on the Indian markets because you’ve got this money and it has to come into the markets, and we’re going to benefit from it.”
