Sensex gains 84 pts as metal, IT stocks shine; broader markets outperform

Stock market updates: A sudden bout of last-hour sell-off in the banking and financial stocks trimmed gains on the benchmark indices on Thursday. After surpassing the psychological levels of 50,000 and 14,900 on the Sensex and the Nifty, rising 0.5 per cent in the early morning deals, the indices ended around 0.2 per cent higher. 

The Nifty PSU Bank and Bank indices shed 0.8 per cent and 0.6 per cent, respectively today while the Nifty Private Bank and Financial Services indices slipped 0.6 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.

On the upside, the Nifty Metal index jumped 4 per cent amid firm global cues and steady rise in the metal prices. Hot-rolled coil prices in China — that acts as the global benchmark for steel prices — are up 28 per cent since the beginning of the current calendar year; they are up 116 per cent in the past 12 months. 

That apart, investors also bought IT stocks ahead of a likely strong March quarter earnings' show. The Nifty IT index hit a record high of 27,413 in the intra-day trade, before ending at 27,134 level, up 1 per cent. 

Overall, the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 closed at 49,746 and 14,874 levels, up 84 points and 55 points, respectively. 

In the broader markets, the S&P BSE SmallCap index hit a record peak of 21,557 levels before closing at 21,449, up 0.73 per cent. The BSE MidCap index, on the other hand, ended at 20,778 levels, up 0.6 per cent.

Fiscal 2021-22 (FY22), according to G Chokkalingam, founder and chief investment officer at Equinomics Research will belong to the mid-and small-cap segments. He expects these two segments to outrun their large-cap peers going ahead. READ MORE

Global markets

Asian share markets lagged on Thursday as US stock futures nudged to another record high after the Federal Reserve underlined its commitment to keeping policy super loose even as the economy enjoys a rapid recovery.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was flat while Japan’s Nikkei eased 0.3% and Chinese blue chips 0.1%, with trading very subdued.

In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.3 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:09 PM

TECH VIEW :: Ashis Biswas, Head of Technical Research at CapitalVia Global Research

The market witnessed a lackluster move in today's activity. It is suggested, a breakout above the resistance level above the Nifty50 Index level of 14900 is positive from a short-term perspective. Sustaining above 14900 levels, The market expects to gain momentum, leading to an upside projection till the 15300 levels. It is observed the momentum indicators like RSI and MACD support the upside move indicating that the short-term trend is likely to stay positive.

4:09 PM

MARKET RECAP :: S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

Let not the more or less flat closing in Thursday's trade take away the credit from the BULLS who simply took away the honours with a mighty rally across Metal names with admirable support from Cement stocks. The broader market witnessed sustained buying interest in Sugar & Fertiliser names

3:57 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Domestic market continued its optimistic rally supported by dovish monetary policy though it witnessed consolidation during the second half due to selling in Banking stocks. Metal stocks led the sectorial rally on a strong outlook supported by rising steel prices and production. Q4 earnings season has started and the market is expected to have a stock centric rally in the coming days which has a very broad positive view

3:48 PM

Index contributors :: TCS, HDFC, Infosys support Sensex

3:46 PM

MidCap index up 0.6%; Jindal Steel, Natco Pharma jump over 7%

3:44 PM

Broader markets outperform :: S&P BSE SmallCap index up 0.7%

3:42 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE

3:38 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close

3:33 PM

CLOSING BELL

Overall, the S&P BSE Sensex and the Nifty50 closed at 49,746 and 14,874 levels, up 84 points and 55 points, respectively. 

3:27 PM

Rupee trades near day's low

3:17 PM

MARKET CHECK

3:09 PM

IPO Alert :: Macrotech Developers subscribed 30% till 2:50 PM on Day 2 of the issue

2:58 PM

Market Check | Sensex off day's high, up 100 points

2:47 PM

JSW Steel joins Rs 1.5-trillion m-cap club, zooms 57% in a month

JSW Steel has joined the elite club of companies with Rs 1.5-trillion market capitalization (market-cap) on the BSE, after its share price rallied 14 per cent to hit an all-time high of Rs 638.90 in intra-day trade on Thursday.

 

With the market-cap of Rs 1.54 trillion at 2 pm, JSW Steel stood at 24th position in overall market-cap ranking, the BSE data shows. Today, JSW Steel surpassed Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and HDFC Life Insurance Company in market-cap ranking during intra-day trade. READ MORE

2:37 PM

Cement stocks rally on strong demand hopes; Shree, JK Cement hit new highs

Shares of cement companies were in focus in Thursday's trading session, with Ambuja Cements, Shree Cement, JK Cement and the Ramco Cement hitting their respective new highs on the BSE, on strong demand expectations. Besides these stocks, UltraTech Cement, ACC, JK Lakshmi Cement, India Cements, Orient Cement, Prism Johnson and Star Cement from the S&P BSE Allcap index were up in the range of 2-6 per cent on the BSE. In comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 0.82 per cent at 50,067 around 01:35 pm. READ MORE