Monday, December 23, 2024 | 06:53 AM ISTEN Hindi

Sensex hits 63K, gains 418pts; Nifty ends at record high of 18,750

CLOSING BELL: The S&P BSE Sensex scaled a new summit at 63,303, and settled above 63,000-mark for the first-time ever. The Nifty 50 hit a new all-time high at 18,816 on Wednesday.

SI Reporter New Delhi

Stock market rally, bull trading, Sensex, nifty

CLOSING BELL

STOCK MARKET HIGHLIGHTS: After a quiet start to the trading session, the bulls came roaring towards the end of the day and propelled the key frontline indices to newer heights on Wednesday.

The S&P BSE Sensex had dipped to a low of 62,648 in early deals, the benchmark rebounded and exhibited lacklustre movement for a major part of the trading day. However, late buying saw the BSE Sensex zoom to a high of 63,303.

The Sensex finally ended above the 63,000-mark for the first-time ever, up 418 points at 63,100. In the process, the BSE index has rallied 1,955 points in the last seven straight trading sessions.

The NSE Nifty surged 162 points to a new closing high at 18,780.

"Domestic market continued its quest for gains, boosted by FII inflows. However, markets will be sensitive to the Fed Chair’s remarks later in the day, as investors are expecting a moderation in the pace of rate hikes. An In-line comment will help to sustain the rally while loosening COVID-19 restrictions in China is providing relief to global markets,", Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said.

Also read: After the runaway rally, analysts say shift from PSBs to private peers

Among the Sensex 30 shares, Mahindra & Mahindra soared 4.3 per cent to Rs 1,311. UltraTech Cement, Hindustan Unilver and PowerGrid Corporation gained 2 per cent each. Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel, Titan, Asian Paints and Kotak Bank also finished with smart gains. On the flip side, IndusInd Bank and SBI were down around a per cent each.

The broader markets also ended on a firm note. The BSE Midcap index jumped over a per cent, while the Smallcap index added 0.6 per cent. The overall market breadth too was positive, with 2,072 stocks ending higher versus 1,424 stocks declining on the BSE today.

Among individual stocks, Zomato gained 2.7 per cent at Rs 65.25 amid reports that Alibaba Group Holding was suppose to offload 3 per cent stake in the company via block deals. The counter saw trades of around 572.70 million shares on the BSE and NSE combined. READ MORE

Shares of oil & gas companies, including those of city gas distribution (CGD) companies, were in focus on Wednesday and moved higher by up to 4 per cent on the BSE intra-day trade on reports that the Kirit Parikh Committee recommended a floor and ceiling price for natural gas produced from legacy fields for a period of five years. READ MORE

Further, shares of hotel companies also trended higher on hopes of healthy earnings in Q3. The likes of TajGVK, Lemon Tree and Oriental Hotel ended with gains of 7 - 10 per cent on Wednesday. Analyst at Motilal Oswal expect the occupancy rate to improve further from the pre-pandemic levels, on the back of strong demand drivers including resumption in foreign inbound travel. READ MORE

Primary Market Update:

Dharmaj Crop Guard IPO was subscribed up to 32 times as of 03:40 PM on the final day of the offer period. The retail investors portion was subscribed 20.3 times, the QIBs and HNI quotas received bids up to 42.2 times and 51.6 times, respectively.

Also read: Uniparts India IPO: Here's why analysts recommend subscribing to the issue

Meanwhile, the Rs 836 crore Uniparts India IPO in the price range of Rs 548 to Rs 577 was off to a slow start on Day 1 of the offer period. The issue was subscribed 35 per cent, with bids from the retail segment up to 55 per cent of the reserved quota, and HNIs up to 36 per cent.

4:14 PM

TECH VIEW :: Strategy for Bank Nifty

The BANK NIFTY index continued to trade in a narrow range between 43,000-43,500 where both the bulls and the bears are sitting on the lines. The undertone remains bullish and one should keep a buy-on-dip approach as long as it maintains the support of 42,800 on the downside. The index on the upside to resume the momentum must surpass the hurdle of 43,500 on a closing basis.

Views by: Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities

3:57 PM

COMMENT :: 'We are now eyeing the 19,000-mark milestone in Nifty'

After the initial uptick, the Nifty index oscillated in a narrow band for most of the session however a sharp surge in the index majors in the last half an hour helped the index to surpass the hurdle at 18,700 and close around the day’s high at 18,758.35 levels. Meanwhile, a mixed trend on the sectoral front kept the participants busy wherein metal, realty, and auto traded upbeat while banking and IT consolidated further. The broader indices, too, participated in the move and gained in the range of 0.7-1.3%.

The rotational buying across sectors is fuelling the recent surge while the global markets are not offering any clear signal. We’re now eyeing a new milestone of the 19,000 mark in Nifty. Participants should keep a close watch on themes/sectors which are gaining traction and place their bets accordingly.

Views by: Ajit Mishra, VP - Technical Research, Religare Broking

3:55 PM

COMMENT :: Will benchmarks see a pullback in the coming sessions?

The beauty of the current rally is that the market is finding support from new sectors every day. In the second half of 2022, there is a clear trend of outperformance of Indian equity markets. This trend is likely to continue despite the fact that we are trading at expensive valuations compared to most of our global peers.

The market will react to Jerome Powell's speech tomorrow, and auto sales figures will cause stock-specific movements. The market's attention will then shift to the Gujarat election and RBI policy.

Globally, news flow from China may continue to cause volatility, while the movement of the dollar index, US bond yields, and crude oil prices will be other important factors.

The only concern is that the market is overbought, which may lead to some pullback or consolidation at higher levels, but there are no major signs of weakness. Technically, Nifty has immediate targets of 18,888 and 19,000, while on the downside, 18,700 and 18,500 will act as strong support levels.

Views by: Santosh Meena, Head of Research, Swastika Investmart

3:53 PM

COMMENT :: What all happened in the markets today?

Domestic market continued its quest for gains, boosted by FII inflows. However, markets will be sensitive to the Fed Chair’s remarks later in the day, as investors are expecting a moderation in the pace of rate hikes. An In-line comment will help to sustain the rally while loosening COVID-19 restrictions in China is providing relief to global markets.

Views by: Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services

3:51 PM