Market extend gains for 5th straight session, Metal stocks slip

Nifty's winning run persisted on Monday marking 13 consecutive sessions of gains, driven by strong performances in the banking, FMCG, and IT sectors. The domestic stock market indexes retreated from record levels by mid-morning on Monday, yet held strong, driven by gains in the consumer goods and technology sectors. At close, the Sensex was up 194.07 points or 0.24 percent at 82,559.84, and the Nifty was up 42.80 points or 0.17 percent at 25,278.70. About 1684 shares advanced, 2191 shares declined, and 133 shares unchanged.
Meanwhile,Indian markets continue to attract investment, though at a slower pace, with $317 million in inflows last week. According to Elara Capital Quantitative and Alternates' analysis of EPFR fund flow data, the overall rate of investment into India over the past five weeks has slowed to a third of what it was since January 2024.The report also highlighted growing pressure on India Midcap funds, which experienced their eighth consecutive week of outflows, amounting to $270 million in total. Redemptions last week alone reached $60 million.
Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, HCL Technologies, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp were among the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Grasim Industries, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Adani Enterprises, Coal India and Nestle India.
On the sectoral front,except bank, FMCG and IT, all other sectoral indices ended in the red with capital goods, metal,healthcare, telecom and media down 0.4-2 percent. The BSE midcap index ended flat,while smallcap index was down 0.5 percent.
Rupee Close:
On 02 Sep'24,the Indian Indian rupee ended lower at 83.92 against the US dollar on Monday versus Friday's close of 83.87.
Indian Rupee depreciated by 7 paise today on positive US Dollar on Friday and disappointing macroeconomic data. India’s manufacturing PMI fell to 57.5 in August vs 57.9 in July and forecast of 58.2. However, positive domestic markets and FII inflows cushioned the downside. US Dollar gained on Friday amid stable inflation and upbeat personal income data from the US.We expect Rupee to trade with a slight positive bias as domestic markets are trading at fresh record highs with fresh FII inflows. A Weak tone in crude oil prices may also support the Rupee. However, any recovery in the US Dollar may cap sharp upside. US markets will remain closed today on Labour Day holiday. USDINR spot price is expected to trade in a range of Rs 83.75 to Rs 84.10,Anuj Choudhary, Research Analyst at Sharekhan,reportedly stated.
Trading Guide:
After the first quarter of fiscal 2025 signaling a deceleration in earnings growth, "the market is hopeful for a robust rebound in the second quarter, but we maintain a cautious stance," Shailendra Kumar, Chief Investment Officer at Narnolia Financial Services, reportedly quoted as saying.
Market experts have recommended five shares to buy  -Safari Industries, PNB Housing Finance, Axis Bank, Balrampur Chini, and Birlasoft.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)