Sensex soars 380 pts, ends at 51,017; Nifty at 15,301; metal stocks slide

Stock market updates: Benchmark indices snapped the sideways movement, logged over the past two days, and reclaimed crucial psychological levels last seen on March 12 as recoveries from Covid-19 infection continued to surpass new cases in India. Besides, rally in global markets as a host of central bank policymakers pledged to keep monetary policy loose despite recent signs of an uptick in inflation pulled investors towards riskier asset classes. 

Recently, US Federal Reserve officials had reaffirmed a dovish monetary policy stance, assuaging concerns over rising inflation. Now, the European Central Bank policymakers have said that it may be too early to discuss tapering of emergency bond purchases.

In effect, the pan-European STOXX 600 index rose 0.2 per cent in the Euro region while Germany's DAX was up about 0.1 per cent. France's CAC40 added 0.26 per cent and the UK's FTSE 100 climbed 0.07 per cent. Shares in Japan, China, and Australia too gained up to 0.3 per cent

Meanwhile, Dow Jones Futures were up over 100 points, or 0.3 per cent, in early pre-market deals. Futures for S&P 500 and Nasdaq Futures also gained around 0.3 per cent each, supported further by a decline in 10-year US Treasury yield at 1.5 per cent.  

Against this backdrop, the frontline S&P BSE Sensex soared 436 points in the intra-day deals and hit a high of 51,073 levels propelled by Infosys, HDFC, TCS, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, L&T, and Reliance Industries. The index, however, came off highs and settled at 51,017.5 levels, up 380 points or 0.75 per cent.

On the NSE, the Nifty50 index clinched the 15,300-mark to end at 15,301, up 93 points or 0.6 per cent. Earlier in the day, it had crossed the record closing peak of 15,313 and hit a high of 15,320.

Volatility index, India VIX, however, surged 11 per cent to 21 levels ahead of the expiry of monthly F&O contracts due tomorrow.

Overall, Bajaj twins, Infosys, Grasim Industries, UPL, Maruti Suzuki, Wipro, and Indian Oil Corporation were the top gainers on the indices while PowerGrid, JSW Steel, Hindalco, NTPC, Tata Steel, and Coal India were the top laggards.

In the broader markets though, the S&P BSE MidCap index slipped 0.14 per cent compared with the S&P BSE SmallCap index, which was up 0.69 per cent.

Sectorally, the Nifty Metal index declined 2 per cent after Credit Suisse cut outlook on the sector from 'Overweight' to 'Underweight'. "We book profits on metals, reversing positions added in December-20 and earlier, as P/B relative to market is near a 10-year high. It can go higher and stay elevated in a super-cycle, but we believe the current surge in apparent demand is due to an extreme inventory cycle and not a structural increase," it said in its report. READ MORE

That apart, the Nifty PSU Bank index nursed losses up to 0.5 per cent. 

On the upside, the Nifty Realty added 3 per cent and the Nifty IT index 2 per cent.

(With inputs from Reuters) 

4:58 PM

MARKET CLOSING COMMENT :: Sahaj Agrawal, Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities

Nifty gained momentum in the recent past and now trades near all-time high levels of 15430. Last concrete support was seen at 14700 and we await closer support levels to mature in the near term. We believe the undertone is positive and any correction should be used as an opportunity to accumulate. We see value in IT, Auto and specific BFSI stocks.

4:46 PM

Key resistance and support levels for Nifty

Technically, the nifty index has sustained above the prior week candle of Bullish Marubozu, which confirms the strong bullish trend in the counter. Moreover, on the daily time-frame, the index has been hovering above the Downward Sloping Trendline and 21-Days Moving Averages that suggests a bullish strength for the near term. In addition, an indicator MACD & Stochastic witnessed positive crossover, which suggests a bull-run for upcoming sessions. At present, the nifty seems to have resistance at 15450 levels while immediate support is placed at around 15140 levels.

Views by: Sumeet Bagadia, Executive Director at Choice Broking

4:33 PM

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

Indian benchmark equity indices rose for the fourth consecutive session on May 26. Nifty opened flat and then rose till about 1100 Hrs. Later it went sideways. At close, the Nifty was up 93.00 points or 0.61% at 15,301.50.

 

Nifty closed at the highest since Feb 16, 2021. It also closed at almost the day’s high accompanied by a strongly positive advance decline ratio. IT sector witnessed rotational buying while Metals stocks came under pressure as metal prices continued to remain soft globally after a dream rally. 15336-15432 is the next resistance band for the Nifty while 15211-15256 is the support band for the near term.

4:18 PM

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

Domestic markets started cautiously positive and witnessed a strong rebound as it gained momentum from expectations of another set of relief measures. The new stimulus package is expected to focus on boosting the worst-hit sectors like tourism, aviation and hospitality along with MSMEs. Value buying was seen in the IT sector while Metals stocks remained in the correction phase due to muted international commodity prices

3:59 PM

TECH VIEW :: Rohit Singre, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

After two consecutive dull sessions, the index showed some traction and closed the day at 15,301 and formed a small bullish candle on the daily chart. Now, the index has shifted its support to 15,250-15,200 zone. If it holds these levels then one can see more strength and we may head towards previous swing highs. Immediate hurdle is coming near 15,370-15,430 zone where we can witness immediate profit booking levels.

3:51 PM

BSE Snapshot

3:48 PM

Broader market:: S&P BSE MidCap index ends in the red

3:47 PM

NSE Snapshot:: Top Nifty50 gainers today

3:44 PM

Sensex contributors:: Infosys, HDFC, TCS, and Bajaj Finance lead Sensex higher

3:42 PM

Sectoral trends on the NSE :: Realty, IT stocks lend support; metals decline

3:40 PM

Sensex Heatmap at close

Top gainers: Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance

Top losers: PowerGrid, NTPC

3:36 PM

CLOSING BELL

The BSE barometer of 30 shares reclaimed the 51,000-mark and settled at 51,018, up 380 points from previous day's closing. On the NSE, the Nifty50 ended the session at 15,301, up 93 points.

3:28 PM

TCS sees pandemic-driven boost in Europe as clients adopt new technologies

Indian software company Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) is seeing acceleration in some parts of its business across Europe as the pandemic pushed companies to adopt new technologies more rapidly, a top executive said.

 

Europe has been the fastest growing region for TCS from where it gets about a third of its annual revenue of $22.17 billion. In the last full year, continental Europe was the only geography that showed growth for TCS. READ MORE

3:23 PM

Transport Corporation shares hit 20% upper circuit post Q4 results

Shares of Transport Corporation of India (TCI) were locked in 20 per cent upper circuit at Rs 366.90 on the BSE on Wednesday after the company reported 69 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in standalone profit after tax (PAT) in March quarter (Q4FY21) at Rs 52.86 crore, on the back of healthy revenue growth. The company, India’s leading integrated supply chain and logistics solutions provider, had PAT of Rs 31.28 crore in Q4FY20. READ MORE

3:12 PM

March Quarter Results :: Berger Paints

PAT: Rs 210 crore

Revenue: Rs 2,030 crore

Dividend: Rs 2.8/share