The Indian stock market was trading flat in the afternoon on July 2 following weak Asian cues. The Sensex was up 3.51 points, or 0.01 percent, at 52,322.11, and the Nifty was trading 2.70 points, or 0.02 percent, higher at 15,682.70.
Among the sectors, the IT and metal indices were down half a percent each, while PSU bank and pharma were trading in the green.
Among the IT names, TCS, Coforge, Mphasis and Mindtree shed a percent each, while Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech were down half a percent each.
Research and broking firm Axis Securities has an “overweight” stance on IT and the metal sectors.
“Large IT companies continued with a growth momentum in Q4FY21 led by strong deal closures and in line performance on the margins front. The sector is in a re-rating cycle and this trend is likely to persist over the medium term,” Axis Securities said.
The information technology space is marked by companies having strong balance sheets and play on the current trend of digitization.
“Even at current levels, the IT sector valuations are reasonable. Thus, we recommend an overweight stance on the sector,” it said.
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According to Likhita Chepa, Senior Research Analyst, CapitalVia Global Research, the level of 15,650 will be important in the short term for the market to stay positive.
“We expect a recovery from these level till the level of 15,900,” she said. A mixed trading trend was being seen among setors—while realty gave support to the market, power and metal sectors pulled it down.
Metal stocks were under pressure led by JSW Steel, SAIL and Tata Steel followed by MOIL, Ratnamani Metal, Hindalco Industries and Hindustan Copper among others.
“The metals & mining sector has seen a significant pricing uptrend with an improvement in the global scenario. This trend is likely to persist in the medium term and metal stocks are likely to perform well. We upgrade the sector to overweight,” Axis Securities said.
Adani Green, Adani Transmission, Power Grid, ABB, KEC International and Siemens dragged the BSE power index down a percent.
The pharma index managed to stay in the green, led by Aurobindo Pharma, which jumped 3 percent, followed by Divis Labs, Lupin, Biocon and Torrent Pharma.
Among the PSU banking names, SBI added close to a percent. Union Bank of India, Central Bank of India and Indian Bank were the other gainers.
Despite the market trading flat, more than 400 stocks hit new 52-week high on BSE. The top names include Welspun India, eClerx Services, Fortis Healthcare, Divis Labs, Apollo Hospitals, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Suzlon Energy, Sterlite Tech and Newgen Software among others.
As many as 403 stocks hit upper circuit on BSE. These include Suzlon Energy, RattanIndia Power and Shree Renuka Sugars.
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