Top Gainers & Losers
The Nifty breadth remained positive with 35 stocks ending in the green while the remaining 15 were in the red. The top five gainers were Power Grid Corporation, Coal India, HDFC Bank, Adani Enterprises and Max Healthcare Institute, while the five biggest losers were Tech Mahindra, Bajaj Finance, Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors Passenger Vehicles and Eicher Motors.
Barring media, chemicals and auto sectors, most other indices witnessed buying action with Nifty PSU Bank (1.5%) emerging as the top performer. Energy (Nifty Oil & Gas, 0.9%) was another big contributor in terms of its weight in Nifty. FMCG, pharma and realty gained up to 1.6%.
Expert View
Commenting on the day’s action, Nilesh Jain, Vice President – Head of Technical and Derivative Research at Centrum Finverse, said that Nifty has formed a bullish engulfing candlestick pattern, indicating a potential reversal. The index rebounded sharply after testing the 25,400 zone and successfully held above its 21-DMA at 25,480 on a closing basis, he said. “However, it closed marginally below the 100-DMA at 25,690, which now acts as an immediate resistance. The broader structure remains positive, and a follow-up move towards 25,800 cannot be ruled out, while the immediate support has shifted higher to 25,500 levels,” Jain added.
Global Markets
Asian markets traded mixed today, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closing with a decline of 0.24%. China’s Shanghai Composite ended with sharp cuts of 1.3%. Among the gainers were Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index.
Meanwhile action in the European markets was buoyant with UK’s FTSE 100 trading 0.17% higher around 10:12 a.m. GMT (3:57 pm India time) while the Stoxx 600, French CAC 40, Germany’s DAX and Spain’s IBEX were higher by up to 1% around this time.
Currency Watch
The Indian rupee ended barely changed on Monday, as usual dollar demand met offsetting inflows, keeping the currency largely rangebound at the start of the week. The rupee moved in a narrow 10-paise band to end at 90.65 against its previous close of 90.6350.
The rupee had jumped earlier this month, backed by the optimism from the U.S.-India trade deal, but is back to tracking flow dynamics and external cues.
Dollar sales by exporters and foreign portfolio inflows have helped the currency rise 1.5% so far in February.
“The rupee is not racing. It is waiting,” Reuters reported, quoting Amit Pabari, managing director at FX advisory firm CR Forex.
From a technical perspective, the 90.00–90.20 zone remains a key support for USD/INR, and a gradual move towards 91.00–91.20 remains possible in the near term, he said.
Although foreign investors remain net buyers of Indian equities for the month so far, they pulled out more than $800 million on Friday, underscoring that flows remain choppy.
Crude Impact
Crude traded lower on Monday. The US WTI oil contracts were trading at $62.670, down by $0.22 or 0.35%, while Brent oil futures were hovering near $67.54, lower by $0.21 or 0.31%.