Sensex ends lacklustre trade 272 pts up; Nifty tops 14,700; metal, IT rally

Stock market updates: Market witnessed a lacklustre trade on the day of the weekly F&O expiry as consistent rise in Covid-19 cases kept investors on the fence. However, March quarter results did lead to a sharp, stock-specific movement in select counters. The benchmark S&P BSE Sensex swung within a band of 400 points, hitting a high and low of 49,011 and 48,614 levels, respectively. 

At close, the BSE barometer settled at 48,950 levels, up 272 points or 0.5 per cent. Bajaj Auto (up 2.5 per cent) closed the session as the top index performer, followed by HDFC, Tech Mahindra, Infosys, ICICI Bank, Nestle India, and Kotak Mahindra Bank. On the downside, Bajaj Finserv, PowerGrid, ONGC, Sun Pharma, IndusInd Bank, and NTPC settled as top laggards, down up to 1 per cent.

On the NSE, the 50-share index closed at 14,725 level, up 107 points or 0.7 per cent. About 35 of the 50 constituents on the index settled firm including Hindalco, Wipro, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, and Bajaj Auto.

The broader markets, too, performed in-line with frontline indices. The S&P BSE MidCap index added 0.9 per cent while the S&P BSE SmallCap index gained 0.6 per cent. Motilal Oswal Financial Services, IDBI Bank, Mphasis, Jindal Steel, Coforge, Angel Broking, Datamatics, and Subex were some of the outperformers in the broader market space.

Sectorally, the Nifty PSU Bank and Pharma indices nursed losses on the NSE today, down 1.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively. On the upside, metals and IT stocks continued to shine with the Nifty Metal and IT indices soaring up to 2.5 per cent.

Global markets

European stocks inched higher on Thursday, hovering near record levels, as strong earnings reports from AB Inbev and several eurozone banks added to an upbeat mood sparked by solid economic data.

The pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2 per cent, with food and beverage, utilities and telecoms leading the gains. 

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei jumped 1.8 per cent as it reopened after a five-day holiday while MSCI’s index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.19 per cent. But Chinese shares, also resuming trade for the first time since last week, wobbled. The CSI300 fell 1.2 per cent, led by falls in biotech firms.

(With inputs from Reuters)

4:56 PM

TECH VIEW :: Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director at Choice Broking

On the technical front, the index has confirmed the Bullish Harami Candlestick Pattern, which suggests bullishness in the counter. Moreover, the Index has given closing above the 21-Daily Moving Average, which points out strength in the counter. An oscillator Stochastic has indicated positive crossover, which supports the bullish trend for the near term. At present, the nifty index is holding support at 14500 levels while an upside resistance seems at 14860 levels.

4:44 PM

TECH VIEW :: Nagaraj Shetti, Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities

 The underlying trend of Nifty continues to be positive with range bound action. A sustainable move above 14725 is likely to result further strengthening of upside momentum and that is likely to pull the market towards 14900-15000 levels again in the near term. Immediate support is placed at 14610.

4:35 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Shrikant Chouhan, Executive Vice President, Equity Technical Research at Kotak Sec

On the day of the weekly expiry of index options, Nifty/Sensex closed at the highest point of the day. 

 

Today, Auto and Technology stocks lifted the market sentiment heavily. Due to the follow-up buying, we saw a recovery in the metal stocks from lower levels. 

 

On a daily chart, the market has formed a bullish continuation formation and we could see the levels of 14770/14850 (49100/49400) on the higher side, however, since last few weeks, the market is finding it tough to sustain at higher levels due to the pressure of the weekend news flow.

 

In brief, we need to be careful to add long positions at higher levels.  On the downside, 14600/48600 and 14500/48300 would be major supports.  The bank-nifty is consolidating and in the medium term a close above the levels of 33000. 

 

The focus should be on commodities, consumer durables and pharmaceutical stocks.

4:22 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities

Indian benchmark equity indices rose for the second straight day following healthy global cues. The Nifty opened higher and kept making higher tops higher bottoms through the day. At close, Nifty gained 0.73% or 107 points to 14,724.80.

 

Volumes on the NSE were in line with recent averages. Among sectors, IT, Auto, Metals and Oil & Gas indices rose the most while there were no sectoral losers.

 

Nifty moved above the high of May 04, thus signalling that the May 03 bottom of 14416 is a short term bottom. The next resistance for the Nifty is at 14846 while the support is at 14601. FPI selling seemed to be subdued today, while local traders continued to ramp up prices of select small and midcap stocks. 

4:09 PM

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

Amidst rising covid cases, hopes of recovery through vaccine drives and a positive global market is aiding the domestic market to ride a positive wave. Biden’s decision to waive intellectual property rights on vaccines pumped in global optimism. Metal stocks continued to outshine other sectors as it kick-started its earning season on a better-than-expected note. Auto and IT were the other sectoral leaders while mid and small-cap stocks mirrored the trend

 

4:05 PM

BSE Snapshot :: M-cap of all BSE listed firms climbs above Rs 210-trillion mark

4:04 PM

BSE Snapshot :: Top losers of the day

4:02 PM

BSE Snapshot :: Top gainers of the day

4:00 PM

Broader market check

3:59 PM

Sector Watch :: Nifty Metal zooms 2.5%

Advances: 12

Declines: 3

3:58 PM

Sector Watch :: Nifty PSU Bank end as top sectoral loser

Advances: 4

Declines: 7

Unchanged: 2

3:53 PM

NSE Snapshot :: Top Nifty50 gainers of the day

3:51 PM

HDFC, Infy, ICICI Bank :: Heavyweights that supported the Sensex today

3:48 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE

3:45 PM

Sensex Heatmap at Close

Top gainers: Bajaj Auto, HDFC, Tech M

Top losers: Power Grid, Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank