The Indian stock market ended on a bright note on Thursday, with the Sensex closing at a fresh 52-week high and the Nifty50 recording a new all-time closing high.Positive global markets after the US Federal Reserve came out with a less hawkish statement on Wendesday aided sentiment. A stronger rupee, recent strong data on industrial output and higher merchandise exports helped as well.The Sensex ended up 187.74 points or 0.64% at 29,585.85, slightly off the day’s high of 29,614.79, while the Nifty50 ended at 9153.70, gaining 68.90 points or 0.76%. It scaled a new peak today, rising to 9158.00.In the forex market, the rupee rose to a 17-month high against the U.S. dollar, strengthening to 65.23. Around late afternoon, the rupee was trading at 65.47 a dollar, up 0.35% from its previous close of 65.82.Metal stocks were the most prominent gainers. Consumer durables, capital goods, power, realty and IT stocks ended on a firm note. Healthcare, FMCG, oil, bank and automobile stocks too fared well. Telecom stocks were a bit subdued. Several stocks from midcap and smallcap sections rallied sharply.Adani Ports gained 4.75% and Tata Steel ended 4.3% up. Bajaj Auto, Asian Paints, Infosys, Tata Motors, HDFC, NTPC, Larsen & Toubro, Wipro, Power Grid Corporation and GAIL India gained 1% – 1.7%.Hindalco gained nearly 4.5%. IndusInd Bank, Tata Motors DVR, Ambuja Cements, Eicher Motors, BPCL, Tata Power, HCL Technologies, Aurobindo Pharma, Bank of Baroda and BHEL gained 1% – 2.3%.Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, ONGC, State Bank of India, Lupin, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories and Axis Bank ended modestly higher. Kotak Bank, UltraTech Cement, ACC, Bharti Infratel and Bosch also ended on a firm note.The market breadth was strong. Out of 3012 stocks traded on BSE, 1798 stocks advanced. 1031 stocks declined and 183 stocks ended flat.The Federal Reserve, which hiked interest rate by 25 basis points on Wednesday, said future hikes would be gradual. It is expected that there may be a couple of rate hikes in the U.S. during the current calendar year, but it is widely felt that this is unlikely to result in any sharp correction in the Indian stock market.
July 26, 2024
