Sensex up 546 pts, ends above 54K; Nifty tops 16,250; financial stocks gain

Stock market updates: Dalal Street logged yet another record breaking session on Wednesday as highest-ever quarterly net profit by India's largest state-owned bank State Bank of India, at Rs 6,504 crore, sparked rally in other financial stocks. Besides, expansion in Services PMI in July on a monthly basis, reflecting strengthing of economic activity, bolstered sentiment on the bourses. 

HDFC (up 4.6 per cent), Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, SBI, HDFC Bank, and Axis Bank were the gainers on the Sensex, giving it a 546-point (1 per cent) lift. The index settled at 54,370 levels on the BSE. It's NSE counterpart, meanwhile, rose 128 points to end at 16,259 levels. 

Both the indices hit new lifetime highs of 54,465.9 and 16,290.2, respectively in intra-day deals.

The broader market, however, saw profit booking as, both, the BSE Mid and SmallCap indices declined 1 per cent each. 

4:20 PM

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

Nifty stand tall for the second consecutive day after giving an ascending triangle breakout on the daily chart and closed a day at 16259 with gains of nearly one percent. the index has formed immediate resistance near 16300 zone for further upside index needs to cross 16300 zone decisively or else we may see some profit booking towards immediate support zone of 16180-16090 zone but again any dips will be again buying opportunity until holding above 16k mark.

4:01 PM

What cooled off the rally in broader markets?

Bulls were in complete control as Indices rose a percentage led by Largecaps and Financials even as Midcaps went through a corrective phase today after many months of outperformance. The thumping retail response on the first day itself in the IPO of the foursome seems to have had a cool-off effect on the broader markets today.

-- S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities

4:01 PM

VIEW :: High-beta sectors appear most vulnerable to correction

Nifty is trading close to technical resistance from a trendline connecting earlier highs in CY2021 (Feb & Jun) – seen in conjunction with non-confirmation of strength in Mid-cap & Small-cap indices, which had hitherto been out-performing headline indices, this suggests a narrow advance, and potential for a short-term pull-back. Long futures open interest for the Retail segment has seen some unwinding over the last week and net long positions are down to mid-Jun levels; this was also evident in cheap roll spreads during July expiry, and points to reluctance to extend leverage on long positions. High-beta sectors appear most vulnerable to a correction in the near-term.

-- S Hariharan, Head - Sales Trading, Emkay Global Financial Services

3:59 PM

CLOSING COMMENTS :: Vinod Nair, Head Of Research at Geojit Financial Services

Domestic market extended its rally as banking and finance stocks started to rebound after good recent earnings, upbeat economic data and in anticipation of RBI policy. Market is expecting MPC to maintain the supportive measures and leave the rates unchanged.

3:58 PM

IPO Subscription Status Update

COMPANY	NUMBER OF TIMES SUBSCRIBED
Devyani International	2.42
Windlas Biotech	2.77
Krsnaa Diagnostics	1.76
Exxaro Tiles	3.82

*Data as of 4 pm; Source: BSE

3:54 PM

Vodafone Idea cracks 18%

>> Vodafone Group Plc has ruled out any further equity infusion in its debt-ridden telecom joint venture in India

3:53 PM

Earnings Impact :: IIFL Wealth Management zooms 14%

>> Its consolidated profit after tax (PAT) jumped 42 per cent year on year (YoY) at Rs 119 crore on back of strong operational performance, while sequentially, PAT grew 16 per cent. The company announced a special dividend of Rs 35 per share.

3:50 PM

Result Reaction :: Adani Green drops 2% even as profit rises 10 folds

>> Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL) has posted nearly 10-fold jump in its consolidated net profit at Rs 219 crore for the June quarter, compared to the year-ago period, mainly on the back of higher revenues.

3:48 PM

Earnings Impact | SBI ends 2% higher on posting highest ever quarterly profit

>> State Bank of India (SBI), on Wednesday, reported 55.24 per cent year-on-year increase in standalone net profit at Rs 6,504 crore for April-June quarter (Q1FY22), meeting Street expectations.

>> The stock had touched all-time high in trade earlier

3:45 PM

BSE Smallcap index reverses gains, ends over 1% lower

3:44 PM

BSE Midcap index slides from all-time high to end in the red

3:43 PM

Nifty Realty declines nearly 2%, snaps 4-day winning run

3:41 PM

Sector Watch :: Barring banking and financial sectors, all end in the red

3:37 PM

Sensex Heatmap | Top gainers & losers at close

>> Top gainers: HDFC, Kotak Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank

>> Top losers: Titan, Nestle India, Sun Pharma, Ultratech Cement

3:35 PM

CLOSING BELL :: Sensex, Nifty hit fresh record closing highs

Signs of macroeconomic recovery and firm global market mood were among major factors that aided indices rise to record highs. The BSE Sensex ended at 54,369.77, up 546.41 points or 1.02 per cent. It had hit an all-time high of 54,465.91 in intra-day session. Nifty50, meanwhile, rose 128.05 points or 0.79 per cent to 16,258.80. The index had scaled new peak of 16,290.20 in trade earlier.