Where is the market headed?
The week has come to an end, and the last two sessions have shown a strong pullback. Before this, the market had gone through nine continuous red candles heading down. The GDP numbers and the RBI’s statement that credit offtake may finally start to rise gave new hope. Many brokerage houses also upgraded their ratings on banking and consumption stocks, which helped revive interest in these sectors.
Metals also performed strongly today with copper, aluminum, and zinc doing very well in the commodity space. This makes it look like commodity-led inflation could be a possible outcome of current global policies.
As a quick update, there will be a special video on Saturday, 4th of October at 11 am with the title “If markets always win, why do you lose?” This session is especially helpful for new investors, passive investors, or those who invest in index funds. You can register for it and gain new insights.
Market Overview
Looking at the charts, after a mini breakout yesterday, markets opened weak today but picked up in the last few hours and closed above yesterday’s high, which is a good signal. Nifty closed 0.23% higher.
Nifty Next 50
Nifty Junior was up 0.39%.
Nifty Mid and Small Cap
Mid-Caps gained 0.85%, and Small Caps were up 0.86%.
Bank Nifty
Banks also rose 0.44% after a massive move in the previous session. Overall, the week closed well, and there is positive hope for the coming week. Another boost came as there was no negative statement from the US White House about India’s tariffs, which also helped sentiments.
GOLD
Gold stayed very strong at 11,688, almost touching a new all-time high, closing with a 0.32% gain for the day.
Advance Decline Ratio
The advance-decline ratio started weak in the first half but picked up strongly in the second half, closing at 352 advances versus 148 declines.
Heat Maps
Many big names contributed to this rise including private banks like Kotak Bank and Axis Bank. Power Grid, Bharat Electronics, L&T, Bharti Airtel, Hindalco, and Tata Steel also saw strong moves, with Tata Steel rising 3.4%. Adani Power, Divi’s Lab, Hindustan Zinc, Solar Industries, and some PSU banks also showed mixed performance.
Mover Of The Day
The mover of the day was V-Mart Retail, which jumped nearly 16% after posting a strong business update for the second quarter.
Sectoral Overview
In terms of sectoral performance, defense stocks led with a gain of 1.96%, followed closely by metals at 1.82% and PSU banks at 1.12%. PSU banks have been the top gainers of the week with a 4.43% rise, and they have also gained 9.58% over the last month. Capital market stocks, despite news of falling brokerage revenues and expiry changes, also held up well. Private banks gained 0.65%, tourism rose 0.6%, while oil and gas, energy, and commodities also posted gains of half a percent or more. Nifty Realty and Nifty Auto were among the few laggards for the day.
Sector of the Day
Nifty India Defence Index
In defense, stocks like Astra Microwave, Data Patterns, Mishra Dhatu, Paras Defense, and Solar Industries led the charge, with Astra Microwave shooting up by 11.62%.
Nifty Metal Index
The metals index rose 1.82% thanks to strong performances from Lloyds Metal, Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, National Aluminium, and Hindustan Zinc. Since September, the Metal Index has risen almost 10%, moving in close correlation with precious Metals that have gone up around 15%.
U.S. Market
In the US markets, the last session was flat. S&P 500 and Dow Jones barely moved, while Nasdaq gained 0.39% and the Russell 2000 small-cap index was up 0.66%.
Intel continued its sharp rally, moving from 24 to 37 in a short span, supported by US government stake. Advanced Micro Devices jumped 3.49%, while PayPal, Starbucks, and Adobe rose between 2% and 4%. For those who want to track US markets along with the Weekend Investing portfolio, it is hosted on the Vested platform.
Tweets Of the Day
Coming to key tweets of the day, GST collections showed a rise of 9.1%. Some may say it is not a big number, but given the global challenges and tariff conflicts, this growth is actually encouraging. Moreover, GST cuts on many consumption items only became effective after 22nd September, so October is expected to be even stronger.
Another trending topic was an advisory urging Indians abroad to return home. This caused some unnecessary fear as many people working abroad have families and careers there. While there is no immediate reason for concern, returning over the long term remains a personal choice.
