As many as 147 stocks on the BSE managed to delivere double-digit returns to investors for the truncated week ended April 17. With a rally of 67%, Cinevista emerged as the top gainers of the week. Shares of the company jumped to Rs 14.17 on April 16 from Rs 8.47 on April 9. Other smallcap players including Dr Lalchandani Labs, Kesar Enterprises, Tamilnadu Petroproducts, Arihant Superstructures, Ortin Labs and Shukra Pharma also gained between 25%-50%.
On the other hand, benchmark equity indices ended the week on a disappointing note with markets ending with a weekly loss of one and a half per cent as fears over rising Covid cases spooked sentiment. The 30-share index Sensex slipped 759.29 points, or 1.53% to 48832.03 during the week. Likewise, the 50-share Nifty index lost 217 points or 1.46% to 14,617.85.
Commenting on the market movement, S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities said: “While FII’s pulled out only a small sum of Rs 3800 crore during the first half of the month, the overall sentiments have got impacted due to the spread of the coronavirus across multiple states as reflected in the fact that except for the pharma index all sectoral indices ended in the red for the week gone by. Despite several high-frequency indicators pointing towards a slowdown in the economy this month. The steep rise in metal prices is having a negative impact on the user industries.”
With a rally of 6.39%, Cipla emerged as the biggest gainer in the Nifty50 index. It was followed by Wipro (up 4.41%), Mahindra & Mahindra (up 3.89%), ONGC (up 3.37%) and Dr Reddy’s Labs (up 2.80%). On the other hand, Adani Ports, Infosys and IndusInd bank declined over 6% during the week.
In the coming week, volatility is likely to remain high as the market is expected to continue its focus on updates of state-wise restrictions and the spread of the virus. Stock-specific movements based on upcoming results can be expected in the market. Banking and finance stocks will remain in focus next week on the expectation of the Q4 result.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, “Fear of increasing restrictions and the havoc created by the spread of the virus kept market volatility escalated during the week. The market became more cautious as states widened restrictions, however, hopes that the states will not opt for a complete lockdown like last year offered some comfort to the market. Macroeconomic data released during the week also had taken a hit on the market sentiments. The IT sector had a disappointing week as the result outcomes of major players failed to keep up with market expectation.”