Market Watch: Why are investors ignoring rising Covid cases?

Karnataka govt announces 14-day Covid curfew
Blackstone commits $2.8 bn to acquire majority stake in Mphasis
PowerGrid InvIT IPO set to hit market on Thursday
Tech Mahindra Q4 PAT falls 17.4% QoQ
RBI caps bank CEO tenure at 15 years

Let us take a quick glance at what happened on the Dalal Street today.

Strong quarterly numbers by ICICI Bank sent banking stocks soaring on Monday, helping the two key indices clock 1 per cent gain each. Investor sentiment was further boosted by measures taken by the government to meet oxygen supplies. The US’ assurance on sending raw materials required for making Covid vaccines also soothened investor nerves.

Sensex soared 508 points to close near 43,400 level. Nifty advanced 1 per cent to 14,485.

Axis Bank climbed 4 per cent; ICICI Bank, UltraTech Cement, SBI and Hindustan Unilever rose 3 per cent each. Power Grid, TechM and Bajaj Auto added 2 per cent each. On the flipside, HCL Tech tanked 3 per cent on disappointing Q4 results. Sun Pharma, HDFC and Maruti Suzuki fell up to 1 per cent.

We have with us Narendra Solanki of Anand Rathi Financial Services to share his views on the market.

Welcome to the show sir.
1) Banking stocks largely led Monday’s rally. Would you be a buyer of bank stocks at prevailing valuations?
2) Despite 3 lakh plus daily Covid cases, the market is not panicking. Why?

On technical charts, we caught up with Nilesh Chheda of Nirmal Bang Securities to decode the charts.
1) Nifty on Monday saw a strong comeback. But the index failed to close above 14,500 level. What are charts suggesting?
2) Nifty Bank performed quite well. Do you think a near-term bottom has been made on the index?

Asian markets ended mostly mixed for the day. European markets were trading flat in the first few hours of trade. US stock futures were also hinting at a flat start to US equities later in the day.

That’s all for now. Do check out ETMarkets.com for all the news, market analysis, investment strategies and dozens of stock recommendations. Enjoy your evening. Bye Bye!