How do you see the stock markets for 23-December after 2 days of bounce back in the Nifty and Sensex?

On 22 December, we had another positive day for the markets with the Nifty gaining by 185 points and Sensex up nearly 612 points. In the last 2 days, i.e. on Tuesday and Wednesday combined, the Sensex has recouped over 1,100 points. This puts the indices on a much firmer footing ahead of the year end. For now it looks like a Santa Claus rally.

On Wednesday, the advance decline ratio of the market was favourable at 42:8 for the Nifty stocks. At the same time, the India VIX tapered lower to 16.5 levels on Wednesday. Among gainers in the market, Metals and financials staged a smart recovery and the latest MPC minutes clearly hint that the accommodative stance could stay on for much longer.

Foreign investors continued to net sell equities, although the extent of selling is a lot more subdued now and the IPOs are also likely to be taking a break till the new year starts. However, the domestic funds and LIC continued to buy stocks worth Rs.1,593 crore on Wednesday. Normally, FPIs will not spoil their MTM returns with selling in December.

There was overall positivity across the global markets. The Dow rallied by 261 points and the NASDAQ also rallied a full 181 points on Wednesday. The Santa Claus rally continued across whole of Europe with gains across markets. Even SGX Nifty was trading with gains of 72 bps in early trades. It looks like cautious optimism in the markets for now.