Market Bizzz

The Nifty50 index remained within a narrow trading range, and closed with a slight gain of 29.30 points on a weekly basis, despite flirting with important resistance zones. Weak market breadth and the very low level of the India VIX are delaying an otherwise imminent breakout, and if the breakout occurs in these conditions, a questionable rally is expected. The RRG analysis shows Nifty Consumption, Auto, and MidCap 100 indices are inside the leading quadrant and may outperform broader markets, while Nifty Financial Services and BankNifty have shifted to the weakening quadrant.

Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has raised its stake in state-owned steel production firm SAIL by about 2 per cent through an open market acquisition. LIC bought 8.26 crore shares or 2.001 per cent of equity capital at an average price of Rs 66.18 per unit, the insurer said in a regulatory filing

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has cancelled the registration of Emkay Commotrade for giving access to illegal ‘paired contracts’ on the defunct National Spot Exchange (NSEL). SEBI said it raised doubts on the company’s competency to act as a registered securities market intermediary and that the company cannot be called a ‘fit and proper person’ for holding the certificate of registration. The NSEL’s ‘paired contracts’ trading scheme saw investors incur a loss of INR 5,500 crore ($736.8m). Emkay’s clients must withdraw or transfer their securities or funds within the next 15 days.

Indian electric scooter maker Ola Electric is kicking off meetings with potential investors in Singapore and the US to gauge interest in its planned $1bn initial public offering. The fundraising drive, expected in late 2023, will target $600m to $1bn. CEO Bhavish Aggarwal will hold talks including with BlackRock, Singapore’s GIC, and T Rowe Price. Though Ola is yet to file regulatory papers for approval, it is thought to be planning to do so by August. It wants to explain the growth and potential of India’s nascent electric vehicle market to investors.

Equities across the Asia-Pacific region soared to their highest point since mid-February after an overnight rally on Wall Street, with investors betting that the US Federal Reserve would not raise rates this coming week. The positive speculation was supported by falls in Australian and Japanese bond yields in line with those in US Treasury bonds, and the US dollar remained subdued during early Asian trading. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares rose by 0.6%, boosted by a 1.66% jump in Japan’s Nikkei. However, traders’ fears over future rate hikes were not eliminated, with the odds still holding at one in four for a rate increase on 14 June.

Equity benchmarks, BSE Sensex and Nifty, ended in negative territory after RBI kept the interest rate unchanged. Paytm gained 6%, Nestle was up 4%, while Bajaj Finserv’s shares fell nearly 1% on Thursday. Amol Athawale, VP-Technical Research Analyst at Kotak Securities has suggested 740-735 is the level to watch out for Key trades for Paytm while Inox Wind could rally towards 155-160. Bajaj Finserv still has a positive medium-term texture with a sacrosanct support zone of 20-day SMA or 1440 for trend following traders.