Market at record close ahead of Christmas; Sensex up 184 pts, Nifty tad below 10,500

It was a great day for the equity market on Friday as the Nifty crossed another milestone of 10,500 intraday, tracking positive Asian cues and backed by oil, technology and banking & financials stocks.

Not only equity benchmarks but the broader markets also participated in the rally, and both ended at fresh record closing highs ahead of the Christmas break.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 184.02 points to 33,940.30 while the 50-share NSE Nifty ended a tad below the 10,500 level, gaining 52.70 points at 10,493. Indices gained around 1.5 percent for the week.

The market is expected to continue with positive momentum but with the F&O expiry taking place in the coming week, experts suggest there could be some consolidation.

“The momentum will continue but the Nifty, to cross decisively above 10,700-10,800, requires strong support from corporate earnings and GDP growth,” Dilip Bhat, Joint Managing Director at Prabhudas Lilladher, said.

Ajay Srivastava of Dimensions Corporate Financial Services feels the next 12-18 months will be very important for the market as the government will announce various policies carefully and positively.

One should not worry about returns and invest confidently, he advised.

Indian market will remain shut on Monday on account of Christmas.

The Nifty Midcap index gained 0.3 percent and BSE Smallcap index was up 0.6 percent on positive market breadth. About three shares advanced for every two shares falling on the NSE.

All sectoral indices ended in the green barring Metal. Nifty IT was the biggest gainer, rising over a percent following TCS’ big contract renewal with its American client, and Accenture’s earnings.

TCS was up 2 percent as it renewed a USD 2.25 billion contract with Nielsen, a television ratings measurement firm. Infosys also followed the trend, up 1.7 percent, while Wipro gained 1 percent.

ONGC shares rallied 2.9 percent, which could be following a rally in crude oil prices. Brent crude oil futures closed at USD 64.90 a barrel on Thursday, the highest level since June 2015, but were trading lower today at the time of writing this article.

Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, SBI, Hindalco Industries and Bajaj Auto among others gained 1-2 percent whereas UltraTech Cement, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Tata Steel, Vedanta, IOC, IndusInd Bank, HCL Technologies, Lupin and Coal India were down 0.2-1 percent.

Dilip Buildcon shares rallied 7 percent on bagging orders worth Rs 517.8 crore from Ircon International. Steel Strips Wheels rallied nearly 3 percent on bagging another exports order for supply of steel wheels for the Egyptian passenger car market.

Reliance Infrastructure continued its good run, rising 4.7 percent after JP Morgan has maintained its overweight rating with a price target of Rs 630 after a Mumbai power business deal with Adani Transmission.

eClerx Services rallied 10 percent after the board of directors unanimously approved a proposal for buyback of equity shares up Rs 258 crore and at a price not exceeding Rs 2,000 per share.
On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly higher on the last day of trade before Christmas, tracking moderate gains made on Wall Street. European stocks were mixed at the time of writing this article.

It was a great day for the equity market on Friday as the Nifty crossed another milestone of 10,500 intraday, tracking positive Asian cues and backed by oil, technology and banking & financials stocks.

Not only equity benchmarks but the broader markets also participated in the rally, and both ended at fresh record closing highs ahead of the Christmas break.

The 30-share BSE Sensex rose 184.02 points to 33,940.30 while the 50-share NSE Nifty ended a tad below the 10,500 level, gaining 52.70 points at 10,493. Indices gained around 1.5 percent for the week.

The market is expected to continue with positive momentum but with the F&O expiry taking place in the coming week, experts suggest there could be some consolidation.

“The momentum will continue but the Nifty, to cross decisively above 10,700-10,800, requires strong support from corporate earnings and GDP growth,” Dilip Bhat, Joint Managing Director at Prabhudas Lilladher, said.

Ajay Srivastava of Dimensions Corporate Financial Services feels the next 12-18 months will be very important for the market as the government will announce various policies carefully and positively.

One should not worry about returns and invest confidently, he advised.

Indian market will remain shut on Monday on account of Christmas.

The Nifty Midcap index gained 0.3 percent and BSE Smallcap index was up 0.6 percent on positive market breadth. About three shares advanced for every two shares falling on the NSE.

All sectoral indices ended in the green barring Metal. Nifty IT was the biggest gainer, rising over a percent following TCS’ big contract renewal with its American client, and Accenture’s earnings.

TCS was up 2 percent as it renewed a USD 2.25 billion contract with Nielsen, a television ratings measurement firm. Infosys also followed the trend, up 1.7 percent, while Wipro gained 1 percent.

ONGC shares rallied 2.9 percent, which could be following a rally in crude oil prices. Brent crude oil futures closed at USD 64.90 a barrel on Thursday, the highest level since June 2015, but were trading lower today at the time of writing this article.

Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, SBI, Hindalco Industries and Bajaj Auto among others gained 1-2 percent whereas UltraTech Cement, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Tata Steel, Vedanta, IOC, IndusInd Bank, HCL Technologies, Lupin and Coal India were down 0.2-1 percent.

Dilip Buildcon shares rallied 7 percent on bagging orders worth Rs 517.8 crore from Ircon International. Steel Strips Wheels rallied nearly 3 percent on bagging another exports order for supply of steel wheels for the Egyptian passenger car market.

Reliance Infrastructure continued its good run, rising 4.7 percent after JP Morgan has maintained its overweight rating with a price target of Rs 630 after a Mumbai power business deal with Adani Transmission.

eClerx Services rallied 10 percent after the board of directors unanimously approved a proposal for buyback of equity shares up Rs 258 crore and at a price not exceeding Rs 2,000 per share.

On the global front, Asian markets closed mostly higher on the last day of trade before Christmas, tracking moderate gains made on Wall Street. European stocks were mixed at the time of writing this article.