Markets rebound after falling in early trade on buying in bank stocks, fresh foreign fund inflows

Mumbai, Feb 19 (PTI) Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty began the trade on a weak note on Wednesday, but later bounced back, driven by buying in blue-chip bank stocks and fresh foreign fund inflows.

The 30-share BSE benchmark Sensex declined 386.01 points to 75,581.38 in early trade. The NSE Nifty dropped 130.45 points to 22,814.85.

However, later both the benchmark indices recovered the early lost ground and were trading in the green. The BSE benchmark gauge quoted 134.16 points higher at 76,120.85, and the Nifty traded 38.60 points higher at 22,983.90.

From the Sensex pack, Zomato, Tata Steel, NTPC, IndusInd Bank, State Bank of India, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Titan, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and Bajaj Finance were among the biggest gainers.

Sun Pharma, Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Nestle and Hindustan Unilever were among the biggest laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Shanghai traded in the positive territory while Tokyo and Hong Kong quoted lower.

US markets ended in positive territory on Tuesday.

"Despite largecap valuations turning fair, and even attractive in segments like financials, the market continues to be weak. Seen in the context of new records being set by S&P 500 and Nasdaq, India’s underperformance is striking.

"News of Chinese authorities encouraging their top businessmen to invest is another headwind for India since Chinese stocks are cheap and may attract big inflows from FIIs, which means FIIs might continue selling in India," V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said.

FIIs will start buying when the dollar depreciates and the US bond yields start coming down, he said.

"This might take time. A strong fundamental factor that can turn FIIs into buyers is an indication of earnings recovery in India," Vijayakumar added.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Tuesday after unabated selling. They bought equities worth Rs 4,786.56 crore, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude went up 0.05 per cent to USD 75.88 a barrel.

After a day's breather, the Sensex ended 29.47 points or 0.04 per cent lower at 75,967.39 on Tuesday. The Nifty dipped 14.20 points or 0.06 per cent to settle at 22,945.30. PTI SUM DR

Source: PTI