Equity markets which started off lower on account of weak rupee were seen recovering in the second half of the trading session on news that life Insurance Corporation which is India’s biggest institutional investor was considering buying in equities at this level. This news brought a wave of recovery which erased all the intraday losses enabling markets to end marginally higher. The key indices had started the day lower tracking the rupee which breached 68 level. Global markets too were seen dwindling as investor sentiment remained nervous over the ongoing tension in Syria and the possibility of a U.S. military intervention. FII selling continued which too contributed to the intraday fall. Markets were also marked with volatility on the upcoming F&O expiry. Market breadth was weak. On BSE, 1,362 shares fell and 849 shares rose.
The S&P BSE Sensex touched an intraday high of 18,101 and a low of 17,448 before it ended 0.2% or 28 points higher at 17,996. Mid cap and small cap stocks remained in red thereby underperforming their large cap counter parts. Both the S&P BSE Mid-cap and S&P BSE Small-cap indices ended 1% lower each. The Nifty too ended flattish after the intraday mayhem. The index fell 2 points lower at 5,285.
It was a mixed performance on the S&P BSE sectoral space. IT stocks were the highest gainer as they benefitted the most out of the fall in the rupee. The S&P BSE IT index gained 2.7%. This was followed by the metal and Teck stocks. The S&P BSE Metal and S&P BSE Teck indices gained 1.9% and 1.8% respectively. On the other hand, the highest loser was the S&P BSE Consumer Durables index which fell close to 3%. This was followed by the interest sensitive stocks. The S&P BSE Realty and S&P BSE Bankex were the other key losers which fell 2.2% and 1.4% respectively.
Among the BSE – 30 stocks, 19 stocks gained while the rest ended in lower. Jindal Steel, TCS, Wipro, Tata Power and Hindalco were among the top five gaining stocks which each grew 3.7%, 3.7%, 3.6%, 3.3% and 2.9% respectively. On the other hand, only two stocks which ended in red were ONGC, HDFC, Gail, Coal India and Bharti Airtel which each fell by 6%, 4.8%, 3.5%, 2.3% and 2.2% respectively.
As per the data released by SEBI, Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers in equity to the tune of Rs 1,366 crores. Similarly, they were net sellers in debt segment to the extent of Rs 349 crores.