Mid-market commentary July 21

Indian markets remained subdued where the benchmark indices, Nifty and Sensex traded absolutely flat. Broader markets outshined the benchmarks where both Midcap and Smallcap surged with 0.4 per cent of marginal gains.

US markets closed on a positive note where S&P 500 surged nearly half a per cent with better than expected earnings. Asian markets followed the cues and opened higher where Nikkei surged 0.77 per cent while Hang Seng soared 0.89 per cent. Shanghai Composite remained marginally up with 0.4 per cent. Oil prices edged up in Asia following the drop in crude stockpiles, falling by 2.3 million barrels during the week, and reported ninth consecutive weekly fall so far.

On the sectoral front, PSU Banks tumbled the most at 1 per cent with Punjab National Bank falling nearly 3 per cent. Bank Nifty and other Private Banks too saw weakness and tumbled half per cent each. As of now Auto and Media remain flat to positive.

Nifty top gainers: ACC has grabbed top position in the Nifty 50 with 4.7 per cent gains. BPCL and Adani Ports followed with more than 1.7 per cent plus gains. Apart from ACC other cement majors Ultratech Cements and Ambuja Cements remained up with 1.5 per cent gains.

Nifty top losers: Axis Bank tumbled 2 per cent ahead of results to be released on July 22. Bank of Baroda too tumbled 1.7 per cent. Powergrid, BHEL and Dr. Reddy's followed with 1.3 per cent losses.

Nifty is still trading in consolidation. Hence we hold 8585-8595 as the resistances followed by 8620; while 8545-8520 to act as the supports followed by 8475 in the near term.

Stocks to watch:

VRL Logistics: The company has cancelled plans to launch a regional airline quoting an adverse civil aviation policy. The stock gave a sharp rise and surged 20 per cent with the news.

HDFC Bank: The bank has announced Q1FY17 results wherein the net profits have risen 20.15 per cent YoY amid higher net interest income and other income rising 21.8 and 14 per cent respectively. The stock may remain volatile during the session. 

L&T: Larsen and Toubro announced that L&T Hydrocarbon led consortium has bagged a contract worth over 1.6 billion USD from Saudi Aramco, the biggest oil company in the world.

L&T Infotech: The stock of L&T Infotech, the IT arm of L&T, has started off with a debacle where shares fell more than 6 per cent, reporting the first IPO to open at a discount in last four months.

Dabur India: According to the media reports, the FMCG giant has announced its entry into the fizzy drinks market with the launch of Real VOLO, a range of fruit juice-based aerated drinks.