Stocks end 2016 with 3% gains; volatility, black swan events dominate
Fresh buying into front line shares and continued covering of short positions helped markets to end higher for the 4th…
Stocks remained buoyant for the 4th session in a row on Friday as traders went long on select scrips on the first day of the new expiry of derivatives contracts. Many institutions were seen active on front line counters as they made aggressive long bets on the last trading day of 2016. Broader markets are now at 2-week highs.
Friday's net asset value will be used by mutual funds to determine the final gain or loss picture for the past quarter, the half-year as well as the calendar year. Hence, today's closing level on the Nifty and individual stocks is of critical importance.
The Nifty, meanwhile, rose 62 points to trade at 8,166 points. The index has recovered smartly from its most recent low of 7,908 points hit on Monday, and is clearly headed for 8,200 levels.
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Here are the major events of today's trading day:
* Nifty rises for 4th session as traders build new positions on the first day of the new monthly expiry of derivatives contracts. Front line shares in action.
* Aurobindo Pharma, ICICI Bank, ITC, BHEL and Grasim rise 1.7-2.4%, and are among 41 shares gaining on the Nifty.
* Bharti Airtel, Tata Motors, BPCL, IndusInd Bank and Bharti Infratel drop 0.6-0.7%, and are among 9 losers on the index.
* The Sensex rose 236 points to 26,601 points on the Bombay Stock Exchange with ITC as its top gainer; Tata Motors lost the most and Reliance Industries was the top traded counter.
* Cholamandalam Finance made a rare appearance as the top traded stock by value on the NSE. Heavy trades were also seen on Bharat Financial, Divi's Labs and Maruti.
* IFCI, Engineers India and Bajaj Hindusthan saw volume-led trades.
* Gains in the broader markets deepened among small cap shares. The Nifty 100, 200 and 500 indices rose between 0.7-0.8%.
* All sectoral indices were in a smart uptrend. FMCG stocks, PSU banks and software companies jumped the most.
* Sentiment was heavily in favour of the bulls with 1,679 shares rising versus 527 that fell.
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