Mapping the market: Nifty holds 8,400 mark; Fertiliser, realty stocks gain

NEW DELHI: With little buying interest in Dalal Street on Monday, benchmark equity indices, BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty, managed to close the day on a flat note with marginal gains. The 30-share index closed 50.11 points, or 0.18 per cent, up at 27,288.17, while the 50-share Nifty settled 12.45 points, or 0.15 per cent, higher at 8412.80.

Mixed macroeconomic data precluded the emergence of a trend in the market on Monday. Inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) rose 3.39 per cent in December 2016 from 3.15 per cent in November 2016. On the other hand, India's exports rose 5.72 per cent to $23.88 billion and imports rose 0.46 per cent to $34.25 billion in December 2016 over December 2015.The trade deficit declined by 9.9 per cent on a year-on-year basis to $10.37 billion in December 2016.

Here’s a look at the stocks and sectors that made headlines in an otherwise lacklustre market.

Fertilisers in demand: Shares of fertiliser companies surged up to 15 per cent on Monday. Deepak Fertilizers and Petrochemicals Corporation, Gujarat State Fertilizers & Chemicals, National Fertilizers, Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers and Zuari Agro Chemicals also hit their fresh 52-week high in Monday’s trading session.



Earnings push: Dewan Housing Finance Corporation (DHFL) and LIC Housing Finance ended higher after they reported 31.66 per cent and 19.16 per cent year-on-year increase in net profit at Rs 244.77 crore and Rs 499.26 crore, respectively, for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.



Real(ty) gains: Sectorwise, the BSE Real Estate index surged the most 1.61 per cent to 1373.93. DLF, HDIL, Unitech, Godrej Properties, Omaxe and Prestige Estates gained 4.43 per cent, 3.28 per cent, 2.02 per cent, 1.55 per cent, 1.07 per cent and 0.84 per cent, respectively.

The sector is on rising spree since the beginning of 2017 after the government announced interest subvention of 3 per cent and 4 per cent for loans of up to Rs 12 lakh and Rs 9 lakh, respectively, under Prime Minister Awas Yojana (PMAY), which is expected to boost low income housing in peripheral areas of urban localities.

Of late, Sebi permitted mutual funds to invest their money in REITs and InvITs.



New 52-week high: Shares of smallcap firm Pokarna Ltd surged over 9 per cent after the company informed bourses that its wholly owned subsidiary, Pokarna Engineering Stone, is planning to expand quartz surfaces production capacity by 130 per cent with investment of Rs 325 crore in the greenfield facility. During the day, the scrip also touched its fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,181.



Spurt in OI: Futures of DHFL saw the biggest jump in open interest (OI) at 31.24 per cent. It was followed by HDIL (up 26.51 per cent) and DCB Bank (up 21.88 per cent).



Most active stocks: HDIL was the most active stock in terms of traded volume on NSE on Monday. It was followed by JP Associates, NHPC and DLF.