Sensex, Nifty give up day's gains ahead of holiday season; metal, PSU bank stocks drag

About this update from Tata Investment Corporation Limited

Nifty and Sensex gave up their day's gains on December 24 afternoon as metal, PSU bank stocks see selling pressure. Festive season trading saw subdued volumes, but Tata Group stocks stole the spotlight, with Tata Motors and Tata Investment climbing as much as 12 percent after the conglomerate began the groundwork for the Rs 15,000-crore IPO of its financial services arm, Tata Capital.At 1:50 pm, the Sensex was down 42.33 points or 0.05 percent at 78,497.84, and the Nifty was down 9.60 points or 0.04 percent at 23,743.85. About 1,820 shares advanced, 1,639 shares declined, and 81 shares unchanged.Follow our LIVE blog for all the latest market updates"Two sets of factors- external and internal- will restrain a sustained rally. Externally, the strong dollar and high bond yields in the US will prompt the FIIs to sell on rallies. Internally, the growth and earnings slowdown will be near-term negatives that will restrain the bulls. The high valuations in the market in this challenging macro backdrop cannot favour a PE expansion which can take the market significantly higher," V K Vijaykumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said.Among sectoral indices, Nifty Auto and FMCG were the top gainers. The auto pack was led by four-wheelers mainly Tata Motors, M&M and Maruti Suzuki. Tata Motors shares rose after the group initiated work on a mega Rs 15,000-crore IPO of Tata Capital, its flagship financial services arm. Nifty Oil and Gas rose 0.7 percent in the afternoon. Metal and PSU Bank stocks fell up to to 0.8 percent. The two witnessed profit booking after rallying 1 percent in the previous session. As for volatility, the India VIX cooled off another 2 percent to fall below the 13.5level.Also read: Quick, Quicker, Quickest: Food delivery in 10-15 minutes is the next big thing for qcomm cosThe broader market, represented by the mid-small cap stocks, gained momentum with gains of 0.1 and 0.2 percent, respectively. Bathini says that strong retail participation has supported small and mid-cap stocks, outperforming large caps in recent months, defying their usual high-beta behaviour during a market fall.City gas distribution (CGD) stocks continued their upward momentum on December 24, with shares of Indraprastha Gas Ltd, Mahanagar Gas Ltd, and Gujarat Gas Ltd rising up to 4 percent in early trade. The sector has been on investors’ radar for the ...

View stock analysis, news, and events for Tata Investment Corporation Limited