Market Movers: India VIX jumps, Ashoka Buildcon rallies; 55 stocks flash buy signals

Mumbai: Equity benchmark Sensex and Nifty reversed early gains and dropped for the third straight session on Friday, as sentiment soured on worse-than-expected Chinese macro data and a fall in European shares.

BSE’s 30-share Sensex dropped 1.13 per cent to close at 37,877 points, while NSE’s 50-share Nifty declined 1.08 per cent to 11,178.

“Indian markets tracked weak global cues in the latter part of the day to end with losses. There was also uncertainty over the US-China trade meeting this weekend and lack of wholesome pickup in economic activity in many countries, including China,” said Vinod Nair, head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Here is a lowdown on what happened in Friday’s trade:
Ashoka Buildcon jumps
Road builder Ashoka Buildcon jumped 10.91 per cent to Rs 71.65, taking total gains over two sessions to more than 17 per cent, as brokerages turned upbeat on the prospects of the stock after better-than-expected June quarter earnings.

Lupin shares get past Rs 1,000
Drug maker Lupin continued its run in sync with the rally in the healthcare sector and rose above Rs 1,000 for the first time since November 2017. The stock jumped to a 52-week high of Rs 1,023 in early trade. It pared some gains and closed 8.99 per cent higher at Rs 1,014.

Eicher Motors tumbles
Auto major Eicher Motors dropped 7.11 per cent to Rs 20,129 as a sharp drop in Q1 operating performance made brokerages cautious on the stock. The maker of Royal Enfield motorcycles reported a net loss of Rs 55.18 crore for June quarter, compared with a profit in the year ago period. It missed analysts’ estimates by a large margin.

India VIX spikes
India VIX or volatility index spiked 5.83 per cent to 21.7675, snapping an eight-session losing streak, hinting that volatility may return to the market.

Stocks that hit 52-week highs
Despite a sharp decline in frontline indices, 150 stocks hit their highest level in 52 weeks on the BSE. They included Balkrishna Industries, Bajaj Electricals, Lupin, Eclerx Services, Gujarat Gas, Hindustan Aeronautics and Mindtree, among others.

Stocks that hit lower circuits
Some 235 stocks hit their lower circuit limits on Friday. They included YES Bank, Lemon Tree Hotels, Arvind Fashions, Welspun India and Alok Industries, among others.

Stocks that flashed buy signals
Some 55 stocks flashed ‘buy’ signals on BSE, as they crossed above the signal line on the MACD indicator. These included Shriram Transport Finance, Voltas, Aditya Birla Money, City Union Bank and Titagarh Wagons, among others.

What lies ahead for Nifty?
Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities said Nifty’s short-term trend has turned downward and one can expect some more weakness in the coming sessions. “The crucial lower supports to watch are around the 11,000-10,950 zone for the next few sessions, before the index shows any upside bounce from the lows. However, Nifty seems to have reversed its short-term trend, but the intermediate trend remains intact,” Shetti said.