Stock market today: Nifty 50 ends higher for 5th consecutive session; Reliance, Infosys, HUL among top index movers

Stock market today: Defying weak global cues, Indian stock market benchmark Nifty 50 ended in the green for the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, May 22, with shares of Reliance Industries, Infosys, Hindustan Unilever (HUL), ITC and HDFC Bank among the top contributors to its rise. In these five sessions of gains, Nifty 50 has climbed by about 2 per cent. 

The Indian stock market experienced low volatility on Wednesday as the fear index India VIX dropped 1.6 per cent to 21.5. Easing election-related jitters made investors focus on stock fundamentals as the medium-to-long-term outlook of the domestic market remains positive.

Nifty 50 ended 69 points, or 0.31 per cent, higher at 22,597.80, while the 30-share pack Sensex shut shop at 74,221.06, up 268 points, or 0.36 per cent.

Stocks, however, witnessed mild gains as concerns over valuation persist. While as many as 33 stocks ended in the green in the Nifty 50 index, only four rose over 2 per cent.

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The mid- and small-cap segments underperformed the benchmarks. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.19 per cent, but the Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 0.35 per cent.

Weak global cues ahead of the release of the minutes of the latest US Federal policy meeting also capped the gains.

Among the top global peers, Japan's Nikkei fell 0.85 per cent, while China's Shanghai Composite Index ended flat. Among the European markets, France's CAC 40, the UK's FTSE and Germany's DAX were down up to half-a-per cent when the Nifty 50 closed.

Experts anticipate that the Indian stock market to remain volatile until the final phase of the election on June 1. However, they do not expect the market to see a major correction in the run-up to the election outcome.

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Top Nifty 50 gainers today

Shares of Cipla (up 2.79 per cent), Tata Consumer (up 2.51 per cent), Hindustan Unilever (up 2.39 per cent), Coal India (up 2.28 per cent) and Reliance Industries (up 1.70 per cent) closed as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index.

Top Nifty 50 losers today

Shares of Shriram Finance (down 1.53 per cent), Apollo Hospitals (down 1.32 per cent), Hindalco (down 1.17 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (down 1.12 per cent) and HDFC Life Insurance Company (down 0.86 per cent) ended as the top losers in the index.

Also Read: Top Gainers and Losers today on 22 May, 2024: Cipla, Hindustan Unilever, Shriram Finance, State Bank Of India among most active stocks; Check full list here

Sectoral indices today

Nifty FMCG (up 1.43 per cent), Realty (up 1.41 per cent), Media (up 0.73 per cent) and IT (up 0.70 per cent) closed with significant gains.

On the flip side, Nifty Metal (down 0.62 per cent), Nifty Bank (down 0.55 per cent), Financial Services (down 0.52 per cent), Private Bank (down 0.41 per cent) and PSU Bank (down 0.34 per cent) closed as the top losers among sectoral indices.

Expert view on markets

"Despite mixed global market sentiments ahead of the US Fed minutes, Indian markets exhibited a subtle positive trend. Investors are optimistic about stable Q4 earnings and easing election jitters that had previously increased volatility," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

"Interest in the FMCG sector has risen due to the potential for an early onset of monsoon. Nevertheless, markets may underperform in the short term as they wait for the election outcome, with FIIs staying on the sidelines," Nair said.

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Technical view on Nifty 50

Shrikant Chouhan, the head of equity research at Kotak Securities, pointed out that after a muted opening, the market held positive momentum throughout the day.

Higher bottom formation on intraday charts and positive consolidation on daily charts suggest a strong possibility of a further uptrend from the current levels.

"For the trend-following traders now, 22,500/73,900 would be a key support level. Above the same, it could rally till 22,700-22,735/74,500-74,600. On the flip side, an uptrend below 22,500/73,900 would be vulnerable. Below 22,500/73,900, we could see one quick intraday correction till 22,400-22,380/73,600-73,500," said Chouhan.

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