Record close: Sensex up 251 pts; Nifty hits 10,900 intraday on global cues, stable Q3
The Dalal Streel remains in a bullish mode as benchmark indices ended another session at record closing high on Friday, taking weekly gains to 919 points on the Sensex.
Encouraging earnings (which so far met analyst expectations), gradual boost through change in GST rates and hopes of good full-fledged Union Budget that will be presented on February 1 are key reasons for today’s rally. Positive global cues also lifted sentiment.
Banking sector, one of the main drivers of the economy, led the charge today as the Nifty Bank gained 4.5 percent this week to end at fresh record closing high of 26,909.50. All sectoral indices closed in the green, with the PSU Bank rising 2 percent.
Frontline indices closed at record highs in 9 of 15 sessions this year. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied 251.29 points to 35,511.58 and the 50-share NSE Nifty gained 77.70 points at 10,894.70 after hitting intraday all-time high of 35,542.17 and 10,906.85, respectively.
“Markets are slightly overbought but still there’s no sign of slowing down,” Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking said.
He suggests traders to book profit on rally and wait for some consolidation to buy fresh. He also advised investors to follow a sector and stock specific trading approach now.
For the week, the Nifty rallied 2 percent and Sensex rose 2.7 percent while the Nifty Midcap index lost 1.8 percent.
The broader markets that traded lower during the day also gained strength in last hours of trade, with the Nifty Midcap rising 1 percent and BSE Smallcap gaining 0.9 percent at close. The breadth was largely in favour of declines as about 1,452 shares declined against 1,418 advancing shares on the BSE.
Meanwhile, the GST Council on Thursday cut tax rates on 29 products and 53 services, and introduced ‘anti-evasion measures’ to take care of faltering indirect tax revenue. The decision on inclusion of real estate in GST has been deferred.
Wonderla Holidays rallied 6.5 percent, Jain Irrigation gained 2 percent and TBZ was up 4 percent after GST Council meet.
Global markets were higher in trade today. European stocks hit a 10-year high as investors digested strong economic data, with France CAC, Germany DAX and Britain FTSE rising 0.3-0.9 percent at the time of writing this article. Most Asian markets also ended higher.
Back home, Reliance Industries gained 1.3 percent ahead of earnings due later today. The market will first react to company’s earnings. Jio numbers will also be closely watched.
Adani Ports rallied more than 4 percent post strong Q3 earnings. While maintaining ‘Buy’ call on the stock with a target price at Rs 575 per share, Citi said Adani Ports was one of its top picks in the Indian infrastructure/logistics segment.
Stocks that reacted positively to Q3 earnings were HDFC Bank (up 0.93 percent), Kotak Mahindra Bank (1.34 percent), ITC (0.42 percent), ICICI Prudential (4.4 percent), NIIT Technologies (5.2 percent), Jubilant Foodworks (7.7 percent) and Kirloskar Oil Engines (3.2 percent).
Among housing finance companies, Indiabulls Housing Finance rallied 4.7 percent while Gruh Finance surged 16 percent.
ICICI Bank, IOC, Bajaj Finance, SBI and Yes Bank among others rallied more than 2 percent whereas UltraTech Cement continued to close in the red, falling 2.5 percent and Ambuja Cements lost 2.5 percent.
Biocon rallied 5.6 percent after global partnership with Sandoz for biosimilars in immunology and oncology. Healthcare Global Enterprises rose 7 percent after foreign investment limit increased by the Reserve Bank of India, to 100 percent from 24 percent.
