Sensex breaks nine-session losing streak
MUMBAI: Indian stocks advanced, snapping their longest stretch of losses since February, as some investors felt nine days of declines to be excessive.
The S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.6%, or 227.71 points, to 37,318.53 in Mumbai after falling as much as 0.4% earlier in the session. That avoided the longest ever losing streak for the benchmark gauge. The NSE Nifty 50 Index gained 0.7%, or 73.85 points, to end the session at 11,222.05. Stocks have been weighed down in recent days as investors weighed their positions ahead of next week’s national ballot results and fretted over the escalating Us-china trade dispute.
The seventh and last phase of voting for India’s marathon elections takes place on May 19, with vote counting and results scheduled for release on May 23. On the earnings front, 17 of the 27 Nifty companies that have reported so far have either met or exceeded estimates.
“The market is in an oversold territory but it will be too early to say that we are out of the woods after this gain,” said Jitendra Panda, managing director at Peerless Securities Ltd. in Kolkata. “Foreign investors have been selling and we will have to see how it pans out over the next couple of days.” “There was a build-up of positions in the run-up to the elections and it’s natural that some investors may wish to book profits as the event is close,” said Joseph Thomas, head of research at Emkay Wealth Management. “Amid this, the Us-china trade dispute is further adding to the negative environment.”
All but two of 19 sector indexes compiled by BSE Ltd advanced, led by a gauge of telecom companies. Reliance Industries Ltd contributed the most to the index advance, increasing 2.3%. Sun Pharma had the largest gain, rising 5.4%. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd was the biggest drag on the index and had the biggest drop, declining 1.7%.
Jet Airways slumped 7.3% after its chief financial officer resigned.
India’s retail inflation in April was 2.92% and it remained below the central bank’s target for the ninth month, raising hopes of a RBI rate cut and helping investor sentiment to revive.
In the last nine sessions, the Sensex had lost 1,940.73 points and the Nifty has given away nearly 600 points.
The Tuesday’s trade, mainly the first half of the session, was marked by intense volatility as investors appeared cautious weighing a host of headwinds like concerns on macroeconomic front, Us-china trade war tensions and uncertainty over election outcome.