Mid-day Mood | Autos, metals shine in subdued market amid spike in US bonds, weak Asian cues

The market witnessed another session of lacklustre action, but analysts do not foresee a significant fall until the benchmark Nifty holds above 19,600.

The Indian market was lacklustre yet again in the afternoon trade on September 26, dampened by a spike in US bond yields to a fresh 16-year peak, the dollar index at a 10-month high and weak Asian cues. However, strong buying across automobile and metal names helped limit the downside.

Around noon, the Sensex was down 6.38 points or 0.01 percent at 66,017.31, and the Nifty was up 11.50 points or 0.06 percent at 19,686.00.
About 1,777 shares advanced, 1220 declined, and 106 were unchanged.

"Fresh uptick in US treasury yields is making investors jittery as FIIs (foreign institutional investors) continue to offload shares in local equities," Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities said.

"Technically, on daily charts the Nifty has formed a Doji candlestick formation, which is indicating incisiveness between the bulls and bears. However, a quick pullback rally is not ruled out from the current levels."

For the bulls, analysts pegged the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) which sits at 19,600 as a key support zone. Above that level, the market could move up till 19,800-19,850, they believe. On the flip side, analysts foresee a fresh sell off in the benchmark Nifty till 19,525-19,500 if its breaks below 19,600.

Stocks and sectors

Eicher Motors was the talk of the market, soaring over 3 percent in trade, topping the Nifty50 gainers after global brokerage firm Jefferies raised its target price for the stock to factor in a 22.5 percent upside potential and chose it as their preferred pick within the sector.

Jefferies analysts alleviating competitive concerns, along with tailwinds of two-wheeler demand recovery, industry premiumisation and exports for Eicher Motors' robust growth prospects. Gains in the two-wheeler company also rubbed off on its peer Bajaj Auto, which rose around 2 percent.

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Tata Steel was another major gainer, as it jumped around 2 percent after Moody’s Investors Service revised the company's outlook to "stable" and upgraded its long-term rating in the hope of an improvement in profits and its debt reduction efforts.

Among laggards, profit booking seeped into shares of Bajaj Finserv after strong gains in the previous session, pulling it 1.5 percent lower.

Voltamp Transformers plunged around 6 percent following a block deal worth Rs 603 crore on the bourses.

Strides Pharma slipped from its 52-week high, touched in the previous session, and declined 3 percent after the company announced plans to spin off its CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisation) and soft gelatin businesses into a new entity, likely to be listed in the next 12-15 months.

Around 13 lakh shares or 12.9 percent equity changed hands in a block deal at an average price of Rs 4,650 a share. Moneycontrol could not immediately ascertain the parties involved in the transaction, however, CNBC Awaaz reported a day earlier that the company's promoters were looking to sell a combined 10 percent stake, or 12 lakh shares, through a block deal.

On the sectoral front, FMCG, metals, automobiles, energy, infra, PSU banks and pharma posted 0.1-0.8 percent gains, while banks and information technology remained under pressure.

In the broader market, the Nifty Smallcap 100 was up 0.7 percent and the Nifty Midcap 100 0.3 percent.

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