The benchmark indices returned to their winning ways on Thursday, after a one-day hiatus, following strong global sentiments, as US debt default worries calmed along with easing bond yields and crude oil prices. Further, robust business updates for the September quarter also boosted sentiment on Street ahead of the earnings season which opens tomorrow. With this, both Sensex and Nifty clocked returns in three of last four sessions.
Powered by a rally in auto, IT and realty names, Nifty50 recouped losses witnessed on Wednesday and ended the session close to the 17,800 mark at 17,790, up 144 points. Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex closed the shop 488 points higher at 59,678. In the 30-pack index, 10 stocks closed in the red and 20 in the green.
The broader markets also witnessed solid gains, with both BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap rallying to their new all-time highs in intra-day deals. At the end of the day, BSE Midcap was up 1.68 per cent and BSE Smallcap 1.38 per cent, both beating benchmark Sensex.
Sectorally, it was a sea of green as all indices on NSE closed in the green. Nifty Realty index rallied the most, witnessing 6.16 per cent return boosted by pre-sale numbers for the September quarter. Sobha emerged as the best performing stock from the Nifty Realty index as it soared over 16 per cent after reporting the best ever sales volume of 1.35 million sq ft valued at Rs 1,030.2 crore during the July-September quarter (Q2FY22).
Auto index also logged solid gains of 4 per cent amid hopes of demand revival during the festive season while the IT index rose over 1 per cent ahead of the TCS Q2 numbers on Friday. The stock ended over 2 per cent higher.
Among other stock-specific news, shares of Tata Motors jumped 12 per cent to Rs 376.40 on expectation of strong business outlook. Further, brokerage firm Morgan Stanley upgraded the company's rating to overweight from equal-weight and raised target price to Rs 448 from Rs 298 earlier.
Another Tata Group firm Titan rallied. The scrip jumped 11 per cent after it recorded a strong recovery in demand in the September quarter. The jewellery segment reported a 78 per cent YoY growth in Q2 while the watches and wearables division saw a 73 per cent YoY growth. Its market cap swelled past Rs 2 trillion.
Now, Friday will be an action-packed day for the markets with investors eyeing the RBI policy outcome along with the TCS Q2 earnings.
While the central bank is expected to hold key interest rates steady to support growth, its views on policy normalization, GDP growth, inflation trajectory, and G-SAP quantum will hold importance. Given this, rate-sensitive stocks such as banks, automobile, and real estate players, along with movement in bond yields will be on investor radar.
Further, TCS stock will be in focus ahead of the Q2 results that will out post market hours on Friday. Analysts expect robust growth in both PAT and revenue terms.
Oil price movement and China’s Services PMI data for September and US weekly jobs data will be among other key monitorables for investors on Street.
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