Sensex Rebounds Over 300 Points From Day Low; FMCG, Auto Stocks Lead Gains

The markets were volatile this morning as market participants tried to make sense of the budgetary proposals and to digest the fine printing in the budget papers. In mid-morning, domestic stock markets recovered on the back of strength in selected FMCG and auto stocks. The markets were volatile this morning as market participants tried to make sense of the budgetary proposals and to absorb the fine printing in the budget documents.

The Sensex has already fluctuated in a wide range between a high 40,006 and a low 39,563. It may be recalled that the Sensex had fallen 987 points or 2.4% to 39,735 and the Nifty50 index had fell 2.6% to 11,643 to hit 3-month lows on Saturday, as the Finance Minister’s second budget had failed to enthuse the markets.

At 10.45 a.m., the Sensex had recovered more than 300 points from intraday lows and was 39.914, 179 points or 0.4% higher, and the Nifty was 11.721, 59 points or 0.5%  higher. The broader markets were also aligned with the benchmark indices, with the BSE Midcap index being 15292, 172 or 1.1% higher and the BSE Smallcap index being 14,407, 62 or 0.4% higher.

Among the individual stocks, Nestle India, Hindustan Unilever, ICICI Bank, Maruti Suzuki, and Bajaj Auto have increased between 1.8% and 5% each to emerge as the main winners of BSE. IndusInd Bank and NTPC are the other major winners this morning. On the other hand, ITC extended its Saturday 7% fall to Rs 211 by another 3% after the government raised the excise duty on tobacco. L&T and Infosys also experienced a selling pressure on BSE, with losses of 0.7% to 4% each.

Market breadth slightly favored bears; out of 2006 stocks traded on BSE, 997 stocks declined compared to 893 advances.