Nifty declined nearly 2 per cent since Diwali 2021, closes just below 17,600 today; banks shine

Anant Raj, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Federal Bank, Indian Bank, ITC, and Sun Pharma are some of the key stocks that have hit their respective fresh 52-week highs.

Market update at 3.30 PM: Nifty and Sensex managed to put up minor gains ahead of Diwali weekend. The benchmark index closed at 17,576 while Sensex gained 100 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap closed lower by 0.14 per cent & 0.68 per cent, respectively. 

NSE Nifty 50 index has declined 1.5 per cent since Diwali 2021 amidst rising inflation, the Russia-Ukraine war, aggressive rate hikes, and soaring crude prices.   

On Friday, banks emerged as the top performers while metals remained weak.   

Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank & ICICI Bank were the top gainers from Nifty 50 stocks while Bajaj twins and Adani Ports were the top losers.   

Heading into Diwali week, global economic cues shall be in focus while corporate results may evaluate macro performances.   

Market update at 2.20 PM: Indices have witnessed selling pressure at higher levels and are off their day's high. Nifty has lost over 100 points from its intraday high while Sensex is currently up by 110 points. Besides, Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap remained weak.  

Media and metals are the prominent sectors dragging the market while banks continue to shine. 

Market update at 11.25 AM: Indices have been trading higher as Nifty climbed above the 17,600 level. The benchmark index has jumped 0.40 per cent while Sensex soared 300 points. Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap also advanced by 0.20 per cent & 0.35 per cent, respectively.   

Banks continue to shine and remained the top performer. Nifty PSU Bank has climbed 2.86 per cent. Meanwhile, metal and media remained weak.   

Axis Bank has jumped over 5 per cent amid stronger-than-expected quarterly results. Kotak Mahindra Bank and Apollo Hospitals are also among the top gainers. Bajaj Finance, Asian Paints, and Eicher Motors are among the top losers from Nifty 50 stocks.   

The advance-decline ratio is at 1062:845, indicating positivity in the market.   

Anant Raj, Axis Bank, Bank of Baroda, Federal Bank, Indian Bank, ITC, and Sun Pharma are some of the key stocks that have hit their respective fresh 52-week highs. 

Market update at 9.30 AM: Indices have opened higher at the beginning of the session. Nifty has jumped above 17,600 and is up by 0.46 per cent. Sensex has climbed 325 points while Nifty Midcap and Nifty Smallcap also opened on a higher note. 

Banks are the top performer while metals turned out to be weak. Meanwhile, India VIX has slipped nearly 3 per cent. 

Pre-market update: The US indices turned strongly volatile on Thursday but closed negatively at the end of the day. Nasdaq slipped 0.61 per cent while Dow Jones lost 90 points as the expectations of aggressive rate hikes from Fed weighed investors' sentiment. With this, most of the Asian markets have opened lower, and SGX Nifty indicates a loss of 50 points.  

Liz Truss, the newly-elected Prime Minister of England, announced her resignation within just six weeks of appointment amid mounting pressure to quit on launching an economic policy that routed the bond market.  

ITC and Bajaj Finance beat Street estimates and are likely to be in focus. The key companies that are set to declare their results today as well as during the weekend include Reliance Industries, HDFC Life, HUL, SBI Life, and Ambuja Cements.  

The FIIs turned net buyers and bought shares worth Rs 1,864 crore while the DIIs sold for about Rs 886 crore worth of equity.  

Nifty is likely to open around the level of 17,500 while stock-specific action shall be in the limelight.