Sensex soars 593 pts, ends above 55,400; Nifty at 16,529; IT stocks dazzle

On the contrary, broader indices underperformed and ended mildly lower

MARKETS: Sensex crosses 55,400 for first time, Nifty tops 16,500; TCS up 4%

Stock market updates: Large-cap stocks staged a spectacular rally on Friday, and lifted benchmark indices to fresh all-time highs. Tata Consumer Products (up 4 per cent) emerged as the top gainer, followed by TCS, LT, HCL Tech, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, Wipro, HDFC, RIL, and ITC.

Overall, the S&P BSE Sensex went past the 55,400-mark for the first time and hit a new milestone of 55,488 in the intra-day trade. Meanwhile, the broader 50-share index on the NSE surpassed the 16,450-mark and rallied ahead to hit an all-time high of 16,543.6.

By close, both the indices were quoting at 55,437 and 16,529 levels, up 593 and 165 points, respectively.

On the contrary, broader indices underperformed and ended mildly lower. The MidCap and SmallCap indices slipped 0.06 per cent and 0.01 per cent, respectively.

4:17 PM

Market View :: Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities

Nifty opened gap up on Aug 13 and continued to move higher to close almost at the intra day high. In the process it has made new all time highs. Nifty was the top performer in the Asian region. Encouraging data points overnight helped as did the hopes of an early relaxations of the balance Covid curbs. At close, Nifty was up 1.01% or 164.7 points to 16529.1. Sensex closed above 55000 for the first time ever.

Late profit taking led to advance decline ratio turning negative from positive early in the day. The broader indices underperformed the larger peers with both the S&P BSE MidCap and S&P BSE SmallCap almost unchanged. Nifty gained for the second consecutive week, gaining 1.79% over the week. Companies who have come out with encouraging results over the last 1-2 days are seeing an uptick in their prices. Upward momentum in the indices continues, though with no unusually large volumes. Nifty could remain in the 16440-16790 band for the coming week.

4:16 PM

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

Index closed a week on fresh high at 16529 with gains of nearly two percent on weekly basis and formed a bullish candle on the weekly chart for a second consecutive week. The strong positive candle is formed after the Friday session which hints undertone is quite strong and any dip near supports zone is the entry point in such markets, on the immediate basis index has formed a base near 16440-16380 zone any dips near mentioned levels can be used as fresh entry & resistance is coming near 16550-16600 zone which will be immediate profit booking levels.

4:15 PM

VIEW ON STREET :: Bull market still firmly in place

Buoyed by Inflation numbers, Indices galloped their way to new highs powered by the IT index as TCS together with biggies like Larsen & Siemens stole the show even as Midcaps remained subdued. FMCG names lent good support today to the Sensex which has vaulted from 50k in just seven months to endorse that the Bull Market is still firmly in place.

-- S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities

4:14 PM

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

Domestic main indices raised the bars, registering new highs, bolstered by favorable economic data and a strong performance by large caps like defensive sectors such as IT, FMCG and telecom. Investor sentiments were boosted as retail inflation eased to 5.59% in July from 6.26% in June owing to softening food prices. Moreover, Industrial Production rose by 13.6% YoY in June on account of good performance by manufacturing, mining and power sectors.

4:10 PM

Wockhardt climbs 5% on signing pact to manufacture Sputnik

>> Company has entered into an agreement with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) arm Enso Healthcare to make 620 million doses of the Sputnik V and Sputnik Light vaccines over the next two years.

4:09 PM

Eicher Motors slips 3% post Q1 earnings

4:07 PM

HCL Tech market cap crosses Rs 3 trillion for first time

>> Stock hit a new high in trade today

4:06 PM

Airtel hits fresh high on concluding spectrum trading agreement with Jio

>> Company announced the closure of its agreement with Reliance Jio Infocomm to transfer the 'Right to Use' of Airtel's 800 MHz spectrum in three circles to Jio.

>> Company has received Rs 1,004.8 crore (net of tax) from Jio for the proposed transfer.

4:02 PM

Aurobindo Pharma tumbles 8% post Q1 earnings

>> In Q1FY22, the company’s profit after tax (PAT) was down 1.7 per cent year on year (YoY) and 4 per cent quarter on quarter (QoQ) at Rs 770 crore. It was, however, in-line with analysts' estimate on higher than expected other income and a lower tax rate. Revenue, meanwhile, de-grew 3.8 per cent YoY and 5.0 per cent QoQ to Rs 5,702 crore.