Sensex, Nifty end at record closing highs, midcaps underperform; Tata Steel up 8%

Bulls continued to rule on D-Street on Wednesday as benchmark indices managed to end the session at record closing highs.

The market witnessed a surge in the last couple of hours of trade, which was until then largely consolidating with range-bound movement. Strong institutional buying on dips could have boosted the market. The indices managed to comfortably hold fresh milestones of 30,500 and 9,500.

The 30-share Sensex closed up 76.17 points at 30658.77, while the Nifty ended up 13.50 points at 9525.75. The market breadth, however, was negative as 1,257 shares advanced against a decline of 1,538 shares. 179 shares stayed unchanged.

Among sectors, midcaps continued to underperform over previous few sessions, while the Nifty Bank ended on a flat note. The Nifty PSU banking index saw profit booking, emerging as the top sector to lose post gains on Tuesday.

Riding on the tailwinds of global cues and domestic buying, gold prices covered up by Rs 160 to Rs 28,760 per 10 grams in the afternoon.

Silver too was back on the top of the Rs 39,000 level as it surged Rs 400 to Rs 39,300 per kg, spurred by higher buying by industrial units and coin makers.

“Market continued to set new high but lacked strength on the upside due to worries about US political turmoil. Investors are gearing up for the start of the two day GST council meet from tomorrow for getting clarity on rates and products category. The continued buying from FII & announcement of good quarter results is keeping a positive vibe in the market,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said in a statement.

Among stocks, Tata Steel was the stock of the day as the scrip gained over 8 percent after the company posted stellar set of numbers for its fourth quarter. A strong EBITDA growth helped the company narrow its consolidated loss, while its standalone loss grew over 3 times. The rally spilled over to other Tata Group stocks such as Tata Motors, which ended the day 3% higher.

Apart from these, other major stocks that gained included ICICI Bank (+2.35 percent), Indiabulls Housing Finance (+2.57 percent), while L&T and TCS gained around a percent. A few power stocks too surged during the day post the government’s coal linkage policy announcement.

Other top gainers included Tata Motors and Bharti Infratel, while Adani Ports, Wipro, Tech Mahindra and ACC fell the most.

IT stocks fell through the day, led by Tech Mahindra and Wipro. Shree Cement, too, was a big loser in the day’s trade on the back of dismal set of numbers.

Capital First fell over 5 percent as well after Warbug Pincus sold 20 percent equity in the company at Rs 740 apiece.

Results-based reactions too were in the limelight as Career Point, NIIT, Minda Industries gained apart from Tata Steel. Whirlpool, Symphony, and Allahabad Bank, among others fell.

In the primary market, two new entities hit the Street to raise funds. PSP Projects was open for subscription from Wednesday along with the InvIT fund of India Grid.

“We expect some consolidation in Nifty now, but the trend would remain positive. Maintain buy on dips and give preference to auto and banking counters over others. We’ve been seeing selective movement in midcap and smallcap space so restrict your positions to quality stocks,” Jayant Manglik, President, Retail Distribution, Religare Securities said in a statement.