Stocks rise as higher commodity prices

On Monday, Indian shares rose to new highs as metals and energy firms benefited from rising commodity prices. At the same time, PNB Housing slumped 5% after the business cancelled a contract with Carlyle Group.

The NSE Nifty 50 index rose 0.9% to 18,501, while the S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.7% to 61,740. Friday was a holiday in India. Thus markets were closed. The Nifty metals index rose 3%. It was led by a 15% surge in Hindustan Zinc as global zinc prices rose due to production limits.

The Nifty Bank index surged 1.1 per cent after India’s largest private-sector lender, HDFC Bank, announced a 17.6 per cent increase in third-quarter profit on Saturday. PNB Housing Finance Ltd (PNBHF) plummeted 5%. This resulted from the company announcing last week that it was cancelling a fund-raising agreement with a group of investors led by Carlyle Group Inc.

What happened to markets?

At the start of the month, October was infamous for being the most turbulent month of the year by far. That statistic is accurate for every October. However, in a year when inflation and tightening were already weighing on markets, we believed market behaviour might get a little out of hand. During October, three of the four significant US equity indices S&P 500, the Dow Jones, and the NASDAQ (both the Composite and the NASDAQ 100), showed increases for two weeks in a row. Furthermore, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track for its most excellent month since March and its most profitable October in six years.

We accept that trade produced a strong weekly candle. However, this week’s first two trading days extended the previous Friday’s selloff. This happened following the tumultuous session on the preceding Thursday. Though the broad benchmark opened significantly higher on Monday, it closed far off its highs. This generated a Shooting Star — a signal for technical experts to sell before the three-day fall. 

Small-cap

In a post-pandemic environment, the small-cap index has served as the poster child for value stocks. Investors scooped up domestic stocks when they anticipated the economy was about to recover. When they believed the COVID outbreak would continue, they sold off small-cap and value stocks, redirecting cash to technology stocks, dubbed “pandemic darlings.” The Russell 2000, like the S& P 500, was quite volatile at the start of last week’s trading. Furthermore, unlike peer indices that gained ground during the first two weeks of October trading, the Russell 2000 gained ground only once.

Regardless of whether markets rise or become more volatile, they may provide a target-rich environment for traders. Among the dozens of companies scheduled to release results, this week are popular stocks such as Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX), Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA), and Intel (NASDAQ: INTC). Blue-chip companies such as Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) report before the open on Tuesday and American Express (NYSE: AXP).