Sensex gains 318 pts as investors cheer dip in inflation; Realty stks rally

CLOSING BELL: The NSE Nifty 50 ended with a gain of 84 points; Realty index soared over 4%; auto and bank shares also logged significant gains.

Stock Market Highlights: The key benchmark indices rallied on Monday to fresh calendar year highs as investors cheered fall in CPI inflation to an 18-month low of 4.7 per cent in April. Further, WPI inflation dipped into negative zone to -0.92 per cent in the same month. Rate sensitive sectors, such as auto, banks and real estate stocks logged smart gains.

The S&P BSE Sensex scaled a high of 62,563, but pared some gains towards the end of the trading session. The BSE benchmark eventually ended 318 points higher at 62,346. The Nifty 50 hit a high of 18,459, and finished the day with a gain of 84 points at 18,399.

Tata Motors was the top gainer among the Sensex 30 stocks, hitting an over 6-year high at Rs 537 on strong Q4 earnings in intra-day trade. Tata Motors said it remains optimistic w.r.t demand in FY24, despite near term uncertainties, while anticipating moderate inflation ahead. READ MORE

ITC, meanwhile, was up nearly 2 per cent and was the other major gainer. Tech Mahindra, Hindustan Unilever, Larsen & Toubro, and Infosys were the other prominent gainers.

In the broader market, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices added 0.4 per cent and 0.87 per cent, respectively. Sectorally, Realty index soared 4.3 per cent. The FMCG index was up 1 per cent, while the Auto and Bankex added 0.6 per cent each.

4:00 PM

Comment :: 'Traders should avoid contrarian trades in this market'

The rotational buying in heavyweights from the key sectors viz. Banking, financial, auto and FMCG is helping the index to maintain a positive tone despite mixed global cues. And, indications are in favor of the prevailing trend to continue. Traders should align their positions accordingly and avoid contrarian trades.

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

3:59 PM

Comment :: What's driving the market rally?

Domestic benchmark indices are marching ahead driven by favourable developments such as declining inflation levels, steady foreign inflows, and in anticipation of robust earnings growth on a QoQ basis next quarter, due to drop in global commodity prices. The domestic CPI inflation came in better than expected at 4.7%, and the WPI inflation decreased by 0.92%, reaffirming RBI’s decision to hold rate hikes.

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

3:58 PM

Tech View :: 'Time to change Nifty outlook to positive from sideways'

The Nifty has finally managed to close above the upper boundary level of 18,350 which indicates breakout from a sideways consolidation range. The breakout has put the structure in favor of bulls. The index is likely to witness continuation of the positive momentum. The ideal strategy to trade such a kind of scenario is to ride the uptrend with a trailing stoploss mechanism.

On the upside, we expect the Nifty to reach levels of 18,500 and hence we change our outlook on the Nifty to positive from sideways. The daily momentum indicator has triggered a negative crossover which is a sell signal, however, until price shows up evidence of the same, we shall continue to maintain a positive outlook. In terms of levels, 18,500 – 185,20 is the immediate hurdle while 18,190 – 18,220 shall act as a crucial support zone and until this support zone is held, we can expect the dips to be bought into and the positive momentum to continue.

Views by: Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

3:55 PM