Mid-day Mood | Nifty, Sensex shrug off Hindenburg charges, recover from day's lows as realty, metal stocks shine

JSW Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, Axis Bank, and Shriram Finance were the top Nifty gainers

After a slow start, the bulls regained momentum on August 12 as the Nifty and Sensex climbed, driven by a sharp rally in metal and realty stocks. Markets shook off early jitters from a new Hindenburg Research report alleging the SEBI chief's stake in offshore entities linked to the Adani Group.

At noon, the Sensex was up 219.11 points or 0.27 percent at 79,925.02, and the Nifty was up 55.80 points or 0.23 percent at 24,423.30. About 1,706 shares advanced, 1,746 shares declined, and 107 shares unchanged.

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India VIX, also known as the volatility index, rose over 3 percent to hover close to 16. The index assesses anxiety in the market.

The broader market, mainly the mid and smallcap indices, showcased a mixed performance. While the midcap index fell 0.2 percent, the smallcap index outperformed the headline indices after rising 0.6 percent. The broader market has been on a stellar run, rallying 23 percent year-to-date, outpacing the Nifty's 13 percent gains.

Also read: Adani stocks partly recoup losses after Hindenburg alleges SEBI chair Madhabi Puri Buch had conflict of interest

Sectoral Trend

The Nifty Realty index was the brightest spark in the afternoon after advancing over one percent. Stocks such as DLF, Prestige Estates, Brigade Enterprises and Oberoi Realty kept the sentiment in the sector upbeat.

Among the laggards, the PSU Bank index, led by SBI, Canara Bank and Union Bank, and the Energy index were the sentiment dampeners in the market.

Fundamental View

"Domestically, there is the Hindenburg report and its likely to fall out. It appears that this 'revelation' is unlikely to impact the market meaningfully. The buy-on-dips strategy which has been working well in this bull run is likely to work again," said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

"Globally, stock markets will be keenly watching the US consumer data and the core CPI numbers which will indicate the strength or weakness of the US economy. The stability in the Yen indicates that fears surrounding the Yen carry trade are behind us," he added.

Read more: Quant MF buys ITC shares worth Rs 3,669 crore in July, trims HDFC Bank stake

Technical View

Vaishali Parekh of Prabhudas Lilladher believes that Nifty needs to fill the gap, with the next initial target expected at 24,750. With improving bias, further gains are anticipated in the coming week. The Sensex, after finding support near the 50 DMA level, has witnessed a decent pullback, improving the bias once again. A decisive break above the critical resistance zone at the 20 DMA level of 80,500 is required. Support for the week is seen at 78,600 and 24,000, while resistance is expected at 81,000 and 24,800 levels.

Key Nifty gainers

JSW Steel, Hero MotoCorp, Infosys, Axis Bank, and Shriram Finance

Key Nifty losers

Apollo Hospitals, Adani Ports, Adani Enterprises, NTPC, and Power Grid Corp

Key Sensex gainers

JSW Steel, Infosys, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, and Tata Motors

Key Sensex losers

NTPC, Power Grid, SBI, M&M, and Nestle India

Stock Moves

Ola Electric: Shares of newly listed company surged 20 percent to hit an upper circuit of Rs 109.44 apiece on August 12, extending gains for a second consecutive session. This follows another 20 percent rally that triggered the upper circuit on its market debut on August 9.

Trent: Shares surged to a fresh 52-week high, higher by almost 2 percent, after reporting strong earnings for the quarter ended June 30, 204 amid industry-beating performance. It posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 392.6 crore in Q1, rising 126 percent from a profit of Rs 173.48 crore in the same quarter last year.

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