Stock market today: Sensex, Nifty 50 end flat; mid, small cap indices outperform

Stock market today: Domestic equity benchmark indices, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, ended Wednesday's session flat. Following positive cues from overnight US markets, tracking Asian peers, and the most recent return of foreign portfolio investors, the benchmark equity indices opened slightly higher on Wednesday's session. Financial and realty stocks led advances, despite IT shares' weighed on indices.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended lower by 34.09 points or 0.05% at 72,152.00 level while the Nifty 50 closed at 21,930.50 level, up 1.10 points or 0.01%. On the broader market front, both the Nifty Small Cap 100 and the Nifty Midcap 100 indexes recorded historic highs of 16,653 points and 49,359 points, respectively. The midcap index has risen by about 7% this year, while the small cap index has surged by almost 10%.

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Investors will be watching the end result of the three-day Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy meeting on Thursday as they move on with this week. 

Ahead of the forthcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the markets are not very exciting, believes brokerage Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. The majority anticipate it to be dovish with hints of non-event, like to December 2023. Some significant market-moving concerns, however, are still present.

The RBI maintained the status quo for the fifth consecutive time when it unanimously opted to retain the policy repo rate at 6.5% in December.

"The domestic market exhibited cautious range-bound movement, despite robust PMI data and favourable global cues ahead of RBI policy meet. While no change in stance is anticipated, the RBI's commentary on any hints regarding potential rate cuts and improvements in liquidity will be closely monitored," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Top Nifty 50 gainers and losers today

As many as 29 stocks settled in the green in the Nifty 50 index while the rest 21 ended in red.

Shares of State Bank of India (up 4.19%), Grasim Industries Ltd (up 2.38%), HDFC Life Insurance Company Ltd (up 2.24%), JSW Steel Ltd (up 2.17%), and Axis Bank Ltd (up 2.09%)ended as top gainers.

On the other side, Tech Mahindra Ltd (down 2.67%), Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (down 2.50%), Infosys Ltd (down 1.99%), Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (down 1.32%), and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (down 1.23%) were among the laggards.

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Sectoral indices today

Amongst sectoral indices, Nifty Bank (up 0.28%), Nifty PSU Bank (up 2.86%), Nifty Realty (up 1.84%), and Nifty Media (up 1.20%) closed in green. On the other side, Nifty IT (down 1.25%), ended in red.

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Experts' Views on Markets

"Despite opening above the 22,000 mark, the markets closed flat. It was the eighth straight day when the market closed between 21,730 and 21,950.

However, the short-term trend is still on the upside as Nifty has been forming higher highs and higher lows on the 30-minute timeframe. The call option premiums at the ATM are significantly higher than the put option premiums for the weekly expiry. With supportive global cues and fall in the Dollar Index, an upmove from here is more likely," said Sheersham Gupta, Director and Senior Technical Analyst at Rupeezy.

Further, according to Kunal Shah, Senior Technical & Derivative Analyst at LKP Securities the Bank Nifty index has been currently witnessing an intense battle between bulls and bears, and a decisive move is anticipated soon. The lower-end support is situated in the 45,600-45,500 zone, and a conclusive break below this on a closing basis is expected to trigger a sharp correction. 

Conversely, a break above the higher-end resistance at 46,200 could lead to substantial short-covering moves, propelling the index towards the 46,500 level.

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Disclaimer: The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts, experts and broking companies, not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decision.