Sensex, Nifty record strong rally; midcap, smallcap stocks turnaround; HCL Tech, Ultratech, IndusInd top gainers
2 min read 29 Mar 2023, 04:26 PM ISTSensex and Nifty 50 gained by nearly a percent tracking strong global cues. The focus has shifted towards RBI's monetary policy and fourth-quarter earnings season. Midcap and smallcap stocks saw a turnaround and snapped their previous days losing streak in the current week.
PremiumIndian equities climbed robustly on Wednesday driven by a significant upside in global cues as fears of risks in the banking sector calmed. At home, the focus has shifted towards RBI's monetary policy and fourth-quarter earnings season. Sensex neared its 58,000 mark and Nifty 50 crossed its psychological level of 17,000. Midcap and small-cap recorded a turnaround in their performance compared to their previous losses. The broad-based rally was seen across sectoral indices.
Sensex closed at 57,960.09 up by 346.37 points or 0.6%. The benchmark did touch an intraday high of 58,124.20 in early deals.
Nifty 50 settled at 17,080.70 up by 129 points or 0.76%. The benchmark had crossed an intraday high of 17,126.15 earlier in the day.
Top gainers on Sensex were --- HCL Tech, Ultratech Cement, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv, HUL, Tata Motors, Bajaj Finance, M&M, and SBI rising by 1.5% to 3%.
The top underperformers on Sensex were --- Bharti Airtel, RIL, Asian Paints, and ICICI Bank. However, the downside in these stocks was limited.
In the broader market, on BSE, the Midcap and SmallCap index rose by nearly 391 points and 440 points. These two indexes underperformed in the previous two sessions of the current week. Also, BSE Sensex Next 50 soared over 530 points.
Except for subdued performance in the oil & gas sector, all other indices were in the green. Banking stocks outperformed, while auto and IT stocks also reversed the trend from bearish to bullish. Capital goods, consumer durables, and metal stocks further contributed to the upside significantly.
Bank Nifty surged over 342 points, while BSE Bankex advanced more than 479 points.
Talking about the market's performance, Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said, "The home market is being impelled to stay non-sticky in both directions by the continuous instability in the international market. The domestic market's favourable ending was supported by a significant upswing in both the US and European markets."
At the interbank forex market, the rupee depreciated slightly against the US dollar, tracking mixed Asian peers as treasury yields rebounded which further supported the greenback index. The local unit closed at 82.3375 against the dollar, compared to its previous print of 82.1875.
On the rupee, Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities said, "Rupee traded weak around 82.33 down 0.18rs on back of strength in dollar index. The momentum in Crude prices has taken a positive rally in 3 consecutive sessions which has given rupee weakness. Rupee range can be seen in a volatile range between 82.20-82-75."
Going ahead, Nair said, this volatility is expected to continue until the global banking system gets fully recovered from the turmoil, along with a confirmation of the Fed's decision to pause rate hikes.
For Thursday, Rohan Shah, head technical analyst at Stoxbox said, "intraday traders can look for long opportunities only above the resistance level of 17,110 if the closing comes above 17,110 in the 15 min chart. Traders can look for fresh shorts only if nifty breaks the 16,900 level & remains below for 15 min to ensure short."
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