India stocks volatile as investors consider profits, valuations

Bloomberg

Indian stocks swung between gains and losses in early trade as investors weighed valuations and quality of quarterly earnings.
The S&P BSE Sensex fell 0.1% to 37,882.06 as of 10:10 am in Mumbai after gaining as much as 0.7%. The NSE Nifty 50 Index also slipped 0.1%, erasing an initial advance. Both measures capped five-straight days of gains, breaching 70 on their relative strength indexes, a level some investors read as a signal to sell.
Individual investors in India have been driving stocks higher, in part, due to a paucity of significant returns from other asset classes. Still, foreign investors bought net $219.8 million of local equities, reducing their withdrawals so far this month to net $217.7 million.
“Technically we are at a strong resistance,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research at HDFC Securities Ltd. “There may be a small correction and then progress. If the worst doesn’t seem to be happening in terms of company earnings, investors are happy.” Should foreign investors continue buying into Indian equities, the indexes could join global markets in making up 2020 losses in the next two weeks, Jasani said.
Six of 10 Nifty 50 companies that have reported results so far have either beaten or met analyst estimates for profits.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond was 5.83%, while the rupee strengthened 0.2% to 74.5975 per US dollar.
Twelve of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. dropped, led by a gauge of automakers and nineteen sensex shares fell while 11 rose.
Hindustan Unilever Ltd.’s 2.6% fall was the steepest, while HDFC Bank Ltd. was the biggest drag; Reliance Industries provided the biggest boost to the index, advancing 1.1%, Axis Bank had the biggest gain, rising 4.5%.