Weekly Stocks Update: Top Gainers and Losers for the Week Ended March 7

Indian stocks continued to witness major selloff for a second straight week triggered by weak global trends due to the coronavirus outbreak and also due to domestic concerns over safety of the financial system after private lender Yes Bank Ltd was placed under moratorium. For the week ended 7 March, the benchmark BSE Sensex dropped 721 points, or 1.9%, to settle at 37,576.62, while the Nifty 50 was down over 212 points, or 1.9%, to 10,989.50. Here’s a look at the top five gainers and losers among the Nifty stocks for the week:

Top gainers

Dr Reddy’s Lab: Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd shares advanced 8.3% during the week as pharma stock worldwide rallied in an otherwise volatile market after Coronavirus threat was seen pushing up demand for generics and branded generics.

Cipla: Cipla Ltd shares also jumped 8% this week tracking gains in pharma stocks. Meanwhile, ICICI Securities retained its ‘buy’ rating on Cipla and revised target price to Rs 542 from Rs 525.

Sun Pharma: Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd shares were up 7.5% for the week after promoter Shanghvi Finance bought 19.8 lakh shares of the drug maker from open market. Morgan Stanley also maintained overweight stance on the stock, with a target of Rs 530 per share.

Eicher Motors: Eicher Motors shares jumped 6.9% this week after Royal Enfield sales rose 1% to 63,536 units in February 2020 against 62,630 units in the same month last year.

HCL Tech: HCL Technologies Ltd shares rose 6% during the week as the weakening rupee against the dollar was seen as a positive for earnings of the IT company.

Top losers

Yes Bank: Yes Bank Ltd shares crashed 53.3% this week after the central government placed the private lender under moratorium till 3 April and capped withdrawals at Rs 50,000 per depositor.

Tata Motors: Tata Motors Ltd shares plunged 11.4% during the week after the company said the coronavirus outbreak has significantly impacted China sales, with JLR’s February retail sales down around 85% against the previous year in the country.

SBI: State Bank of India (SBI) shares were down 10.7% for the week amid buzz that the state-run lender was to acquire controlling stake in Yes Bank along with Life Insurance Corporation (LIC).

IndusInd Bank: IndusInd Bank Ltd shares declined 8.1% this week amid broader weakness in banking stocks. The board of the bank will also meet on 9 March to consider raising funds in Indian and/or foreign currency by issuing debt securities.

ITC: ITC Ltd shares shed 8% during the week as FMCG stocks took a beating.