14 BSE500 stocks rally up to 30% during the week; PSBs lead the party

Benchmark indices – BSE Sensex and Nifty50 – index rallied over 2%, whereas midcap and smallcap indices gained a% each. The fear gauge index — India VIX tanked more than 5% to below 18 levels.

On the sectoral front, PSU Banks stole the show with a whopping 11% rally during the week. Energy, IT and FMCG indices gained 2-3% each. On the contrary, BSE metal and media indices settled in the red.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at

said, “Domestic sentiment was positive ahead of Diwali and the market showed its resilience, supported by a good start to the earnings season.”

Some profit booking was also seen towards the end of the week as domestic investors maintained their cautious stance ahead of the truncated week, he added. “The market direction will be based on global sentiment and the earnings.”

In the BSE500 pack of stocks, 280 settled in the green, whereas others posted losses for the week. 14 stocks were able to rise 10% or more, whereas a dozen stocks logged double-digit cuts.

Among the gainers, was a standout performer with a 30% rise, settling at Rs 8.68 on Friday. The company hogged the limelight over its Rs 1,200 rights issue, which was subscribed 1.8 times on the final day of bidding.

It was followed by Canara Bank which jumped about 19% to Rs 268.6 during the week. The state-owned lender reported an 89% year-on-year (YoY) rise in its net profit to Rs 2,525 crore for the second quarter ended September of this fiscal.

Amid hefty gains in the public sector banks (PSBs), Indian Bank also joined the party with an 18% rise. The lender, which has not announced its earnings so far, ended the week at Rs 226.15.

Global brokerage firm Haitong Securities has initiated coverage on state-owned lenders Canara Bank and Indian Bank with ‘outperform’ ratings. It has a target price of Rs 290 and 255 on these stocks, respectively.

Among other PSBs,

and surged 14% each. Meanwhile, and jumped 10% each.
rose 16% and and Petrochemicals Corporation gained 15% during the week. HDFC Securities has picked as its top Diwali bet with a target price of Rs 1,058.

India’s third largest private lender Axis Bank zoomed over 12% to a new record peak on Friday after stellar results. It reported a 70% YoY growth in net profit to Rs 5,330 crore for the quarter ended September 2022.

Axis Bank remains the top pick of global brokerage firm CLSA, which has maintained a buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 1,150. Another overseas broker Morgan Stanley has an ‘overweight’ rating with the same target price.

, Bharat Dynamics, NHPC and were other stocks with jumped 10-12% during the week.

On the other hand, PB Fintech plunged another 14% to Rs 378.5 during the week. The stock has been hitting new 52-week lows, falling about 70% from its record peak.

Services has a buy rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 910 for September 2023. It believes that any dip due to an open market sale by pre-IPO investors should be viewed as an accumulation opportunity.

Tata Elxsi was also on the radar of sellers on Dalal Street as the stock lost 14% during the week following a muted Q2 performance. The bleak revenue growth and pressures on margins lead to a downgrade for the stock.

Sharekhan has downgraded the stock to reduce, whereas HDFC Securities has maintained its sell rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 6,540. Global broker JP Morgan has maintained an underweight rating on it with a target of Rs 4,300.

(13% down) (12% down) Johnson Controls – Hitachi Air Conditioning India (11% down) and (10% down) were the other main laggards on the BSE500 index.

SMIFS has a ‘reduce’ rating on the stock with a target price of Rs 703, whereas Nirmal Institutional Equities has advised accumulating Heidelberg Cement India for a target price of Rs 223.

(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)