After a steep decline a week earlier, the broader market, particularly smallcap stocks, bounced back following improved investor sentiments and an overall rally in the equities.
The BSE small and midcap indices rose over 1% during the week with improved buying led by continued domestic and foreign inflows.
Around 52 smallcap stocks delivered double-digit returns and Manoj Vaibhav Gems was the top gainer at 43%. It is followed by eMudhra and Vadilal Industries, whose shares jumped 40% and 25%, respectively.
About 47 stocks, including Reliance Power, Sobha, Swan Energy, Praj Industries, Skipper, Jayaswal have offered returns between 10-20% during the week.
In stark contrast to the preceding week, where over 200 smallcap companies declined in double digits, only 8 of them gave negative double-digit returns this week.
In the midcap segment, four stocks, including Marcotech Developers, CG Power, Torrent Power have risen in double digits. While Macrotech gained 16%, CG Power and Torrent were up over 14% and 11%, respectively.
From the Sensex pack, Maruti Suzuki topped the charts with 7.5% returns, followed by Tata Steel at 7.3% and JSW Steel at 6%.
During the week, there were mixed signals from global peers and investor sentiment remained volatile, influenced by uncertainties around pivotal policy decisions from major central banks.
However, the market rebound was led by the US Fed’s hint at proceeding with three rate cuts this year, despite inflation remaining above the long-term target.
What should investors do?
Next week will be a truncated one with two stock market holidays on March 25 and March 29. Investors will track some key economic data, including the US GDP numbers and the monthly derivatives expiry might bring in some volatility.
Analysts expect the recovery to continue in the short term as traders punt to buy when the market is trading at oversold territory.
“However, there are still concerns regarding inflated valuations in mid and smallcap stocks. And large caps are expected to outperform in the medium term,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services.
Technically, the short-term trend of Nifty appears positive.
“A sharp move above the hurdle of 22,200-22,300 levels could pull Nifty towards new all-time highs around 22,550 levels. Immediate support is at 22,880 levels,” said Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities.
With data inputs from Ritesh Presswala
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
