Market Turnaround: 263 of the BSE 500 stocks end the week in the green as FIIs turn net buyers. IT, health scripts shine

Indian stock markets ended the week on a steady note without any major bad news, with the BSE 500 index gaining 1.3%. Nearly 53% (263) stocks closed in the green, while 226 stocks fell weekly. Markets largely maintained their positive momentum, supported by gains in IT stocks, steady buying from domestic institutional investors and continued inflows from foreign investors.

Top 10 Weekly Winners

Of the 263 stocks that rose this week, only five posted double-digit returns, led by Infibeam Avenues’ 17% return. Next are SpiceJet (16%), Tata Communications (16%), FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa, 11%) and Divi’s Laboratories (10%).

Others like Yes Bank, Federal Bank, Fortis Healthcare, Max Healthcare Institute and IDFC First Bank were other big gainers with high single digit returns of up to 9.9%.

Biggest laggards

In the BSE 500 index, 226 counters closed in the red. The biggest losers were Restaurant Brands Asia, Aegis Logistics and Advanced Enzyme Technologies, which fell 9%, 8% and 7% respectively. Others such as UNO Minda, Godrej Industries, Tata Investment Corporation, Finolex Industries, TCI Express, KPR Mill and Jindal Steel fell between 7% and 6%.

Sensex Performance

Sensex outperformed the broader index with a rise of 1.5% on the back of strong performances from HCL Technologies, Eternal and heavyweights like Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Their gains were 7.3%, 6%, 4.7% and 4.4% in the pecking order.

The IT supplier reported a mixed set of numbers, with net profit falling below Street estimates and revenue exceeding analyst expectations.

Also read: TCS Q2 results: Cons PAT rises 1.4% YoY to Rs 12,075 crore, misses street estimates

In the 30-share index, only 10 counters closed in the red, viz. Tata Motors (-5.2%), Trent (-2.6%) and Asian Paints (-0.8%) were the top three weekly losers. Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ), NTPC, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), ITC, Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), Power Grid Corporation of India and Axis Bank saw a marginal decline between 0.70% and 0.14%.

Snapshot of the sector

BSE Information Technology was the biggest weekly gainer at 4.3%, followed by BSE Telecommunication (2.9%) and BSE Healthcare (2.7%). Others that were up 1% or more include BSE Financial Services, BSE Bankex, BSE Realty and BSE Private Bank Index.

The worst performers included BSE FMCG (-0.3%), BSE CPSE (-0.2%) and BSE Power (-0.2%). Meanwhile, the metals, auto, utilities and industrial sectors fell marginally.

BSE Midcap ended up 1.5%, while BSE Smallcap closed flat.

Be/Dii promotion

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) reversed course and ended the week as net buyers. The domestic shares bought were worth Rs 3,603 over a period of five days, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) were net buyers at Rs 8,391.2 crore.

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