MUMBAI: After a break of about two weeks, Closing Auction Session (CAS) again played truant during Tuesday’s late session as weekly derivatives contracts on NSE were expiring. Within a span of just 30 seconds-between 15:20:00 and 15:20:30-Nifty rallied a little over 300 points or about 1.5%, and in the next eight minutes fell about 240 points or 1.1%.Sensex also saw a sudden spike but a relatively smaller one during CAS. The index rose about 350 points or 0.5% and then fell from the high. To address issues of CAS-related volatility, markets regulator Sebi is working on changing some rules for the session.At the close of Tuesday’s trading, sensex was up 685 points or 1% while Nifty closed 220 points or 1% up at 22,776 points. The gains in the indices, which marked the second consecutive day of rise, came on the back of falling Brent prices that went below the psychologically important $100/barrel level, along with strong global cues.
According to Vinod Nair, head of research, at Geojit Investments, crude oil prices slipped below the $100-mark after a large G7 stockpile release and alternative supply measures helped offset disruptions to vessel movements through the Strait of Hormuz.“Coupled with strong Q2 business updates from financials and retail along with supportive global cues, the decline in oil prices improved investors’ sentiment and supported a rebound from the oversold levels. Domestically, attention now shifts to the Q2 earnings season for silver lining amid weak sequential expectations due to elevated input costs,” Nair wrote in a note to investors.Market players said Dalal Street investors would remain cautious ahead of the RBI policy decision on Wednesday, “with the focus firmly on the central bank’s inflation outlook and guidance on further policy tightening,” Nair said.Interestingly, the day’s gains in the two indices came despite Rs 2,961 crore worth of net selling by foreign funds in the stock market, BSE data showed. In contrast, domestic institutions were net buyers at Rs 5,089 crore.