Sensex rallies 467 pts, Nifty tops 18,800; RIL, HDFC duo lead, IT caps gain

CLOSING BELL ON JUNE 16, 2023: At the high point of the day, the Sensex was just 63 points shy from its record high, and the Nifty 22 points; Debutant IKIO ends at 42 per cent premium over issue price

SI Reporter New Delhi

Stock Market Highlights: The key benchmark indices bounced back with vigour on the back of consistent buying support in index heavyweights, Reliance Industries, ITC and HDFC twins. At the high point of the day, both the Sensex and Nifty seemed within striking distance of a new summit as global markets aided the positive sentiment.

The S&P BSE Sensex rallied to a high of 63,520, and was merely 63 points shy from its record high of 63,583. The BSE benchmark eventually ended with a gain of 467 points at 63,385 on Friday. In the process, the index logged a 759-point gain for the week.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty 50 hit a high of 18,864.70, and was just 23 points away from its summit of 18,887.60 registered on December 01, 2022. The Nifty finally settled 138 points higher at 18,826.

HDFC duo and Reliance collectively contributed a little over 200 points to the day’s gain on the Sensex. ICICI Bank and ITC were the other major contributors. ITC hit a fresh all-time high at Rs 455.50, in doing so the company’s market capitalisation inched towards the Rs 6 trillion mark. Individually, Bajaj Finserv and Titan up around 2 per cent each were the top gainers.

On the other hand, IT stocks were the laggards, with Wipro down 2 per cent and TCS down 1.3 per cent. The latter came under selling pressure, after US-based Transamerica called-off its deal with the IT major.

The broader indices also gained in tandem with the benchmarks. The BSE MidCap and SmallCap were up 0.7 per cent each. The overall market breadth was extremely positive, with more than 2,100 stocks advancing as against 1,400 declining stocks on the BSE.

New Listing

Debutant IKIO Lighting had a stellar outing on Friday. The stock zoomed to a high of Rs 427 on the BSE, and ended with a premium of nearly 42 per cent over its issue price of Rs 285 per share.

Meanwhile, the Indian Rupee ended above the 82-mark for the first time in more than at month, the Rupee closed at 81.93/$ as against Thursday’s close of 82.18/$.

3:59 PM

Comment :: 'We suggest limiting positions amid intermediate choppiness'

The buoyancy in the global markets, especially the US, is helping the index to maintain a bullish tone amid mixed domestic cues. We reiterate our positive view but suggest limiting positions citing intermediate choppiness. Instead of waiting for a new high in the index, we feel participants should maintain their focus on identifying stock-specific trading opportunities.

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

3:55 PM

Comment :: What lifted the markets today?

The domestic market rebounded with strong buying in banking, pharma, and consumer stocks, along with positive cues from global markets. The US market's optimism was bolstered by better-than-expected retail sales, reflecting the robustness of the economy. Furthermore, jobless claims remain elevated and a decline in import prices raised hopes for a prolonged pause in interest rate hikes by the Fed, contradicting their announcement of potential future rate hikes made the previous day.

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

3:51 PM