Stock market today: Nifty 50, Sensex rise for 5th straight day; ICICI Bank, RIL among top contributors

Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmarks Nifty 50 and the Sensex ended higher for the fifth consecutive session on Monday, February 19, with shares of ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries (RIL) and Bharti Airtel ending as the top contributors.

The gains, however, were capped due to weak global cues as fading hopes of early rate cuts weigh on sentiment.

With December quarter earnings over, market participants are now pivoting their attention towards macroeconomic fundamentals. Anticipations of early interest rate cuts are waning, prompting a redirection of focus of investors.

Nifty 50 hit its fresh all-time high of 22,186.65 during the session before ending 82 points, or 0.37 per cent, higher at 22,122.25. The Sensex settled with a gain of 282 points, or 0.39 per cent, at 72,708.16.

The BSE Midcap index closed with a gain of 0.29 per cent while the Smallcap index jumped 0.77 per cent.

Also Read: Indian stock market: Why Nifty 50 index may touch record high this week — explained with 5 reasons

The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE rose to nearly ₹391.7 lakh crore from nearly ₹389.5 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors richer by about ₹2.2 lakh crore in a day.

Nearly 400 stocks, including Maruti Suzuki, Wipro, Zomato, Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Ambuja Cements, Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Holdings & Investment, hit their fresh 52-week highs in intraday trade on the BSE.

Also Read: Nifty 50 may deliver returns ranging from 12-18% over the next year, says Manish Goel of Research & Ranking

Top Nifty 50 gainers today

Some 27 stocks ended in the green while the remaining 23 stocks closed with losses.

Shares of Grasim Industries (up 3.09 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (up 2.71 per cent) and Bajaj Auto (up 2.27 per cent) ended as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index.

Top Nifty 50 laggards

Shares of Coal India (down 4.24 per cent), Larsen & Toubro (down 1.35 per cent) and SBI Life Insurance Company (down 1.30 per cent) closed as the top laggards in the Nifty 50 index.

Also Read: Top Gainers and Losers today on 19 February, 2024: Grasim Industries, Bajaj Finserve, Coal India, Larsen & Toubro among most active stocks; Check full list here

Sectoral indices today

Most sectoral indices ended with gains today, with Nifty Consumer Durables (up 1.87 per cent) ending as the top gainer. Nifty Pharma (up 0.88 per cent) and FMCG (up 0.79 per cent) also ended with decent gains.

Nifty Realty (down 0.67 per cent), PSU Bank (down 0.47 per cent) and IT (down 0.30 per cent) ended with losses.

Experts' views on the markets

“The market is following global positive cues and has continued with its upward bias, although indices pared gains towards fag-end due to select profit-taking. It has been moving in a rangebound trend with a positive bias as investors are cautiously optimistic given the global macroeconomic challenges and geopolitical tensions," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP of Research at Mehta Equities.

"Despite an unattractive risk-reward, the broader market continued its outperformance in expectation of improvements in private capex and optimism about political stability. Benign input costs and expectations of a pickup in rural demand will aid corporate earnings growth. On the global front, the US Fed will unveil its latest minutes this week, which may hint at the direction of rates; however, the higher US 10-year yield and domestic outflows of FIIs are pointing cautiousness of foreign investors," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Technical views on Nifty 50

Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas observed that the selling pressure emerged from the resistance zone 22,100 – 22,150 and the Nifty 50 was unable to decisively close above the resistance zone.

Today’s candle has long shadows on either side indicating indecision among market participants regarding the direction, Gedia pointed out.

"On the hourly charts, we can observe a negative crossover along with a divergence which can lead to some correction towards the support zone 21,970 – 21,930 where the key hourly moving averages and the gap area formed on February 16 are placed. Overall, the Nifty is trading at a crucial juncture and can turn volatile considering that both bulls and bears shall try to defend their respective boundaries," said Gedia.

"Nifty has surpassed the swing high on the hourly chart, signalling an increase in optimism. Additionally, the consolidation observed in recent days has concluded with an upside breakout. The momentum indicator RSI is also suggesting a positive shift in momentum. The overall sentiment appears to position Nifty for a potential upward movement towards 22,500-22,600 in the short term. The immediate crucial support is situated at 22,000," said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities.

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