Stock market today: Sensex, Nifty 50 snap 2-day losing run ahead of RBI policy outcome

Stock market today: Indian stock market benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty 50 ended higher on Thursday, April 4, snapping their two-day losing run, ahead of the monetary policy decision of the RBI.

RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das will announce the policy decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on Friday, April 5.

Experts expect the RBI to maintain policy rates and stance and a rate cut can occur in the second half of the financial year.

Also Read: RBI policy tomorrow: Can RBI precede US Fed in cutting rates? Top experts weigh in

The domestic market witnessed volatility during the session but managed to end higher. Meanwhile, the Sensex, the Nifty 50 and the BSE Midcap indices hit their fresh all-time highs during the session.

The Sensex opened at 74,413.82 against its previous close of 73,876.82 and touched its fresh all-time high of 74,501.73 during the session. It finally closed 351 points, or 0.47 per cent, higher at 74,227.63.

Shares of HDFC Bank emerged as the top contributor to the gains in the Sensex index. On the flip side, shares of Reliance Industries, SBI, Bharti Airtel featured among the top drags on the index.

The Nifty 50 opened at 22,592.10 against its previous close of 22,434.65 and touched its all-time high of 22,619. The index closed 80 points, or 0.36 per cent, higher at 22,514.65.

The BSE Midcap index also hit its all-time high of 40,973.14 during the day but failed to hold gains and ended 0.11 per cent lower at 40,625.41. The BSE Smallcap index closed with a gain of 0.54 per cent at 45,803.97. The index is still about 1,017 points below its all-time high of 46821.39 which it hit on February 7, 2024.

Also Read: Nifty 50, midcaps, Sensex today hit record highs in morning session: 5 reasons behind market rally - explained

The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE rose to nearly ₹398.4 lakh crore from nearly ₹397.4 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors richer by about ₹1 lakh crore in a single session.

Over 200 stocks, including Mahindra and Mahindra, NTPC, DMart, Ambuja Cement, Shriram Finance and Vedanta, hit their fresh 52-week highs during the session.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices eased slightly but Brent Crude still traded near the $90 per barrel mark on concerns over lower supply and optimism around strong growth in the US economy. 

Top Nifty 50 gainers today

As many as 31 stocks ended in the green in the Nifty 50 index while the remaining 19 ended lower.

Shares of HDFC Bank (up 3.15 per cent), Titan (up 1.95 per cent) and Tech Mahindra (up 1.83 per cent) ended as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index.

Top Nifty 50 losers today

Shares of ONGC (down 2.12 per cent), Adani Ports (down 2 per cent) and Shriram Finance (down 1.80 per cent) closed as the top losers in the index.

Also Read: Top Gainers and Losers today on 4 April, 2024: HDFC Bank, Eicher Motors, Oil & Natural Gas Corporation, Shriram Finance among most active stocks; Check full list here

Sectoral indices today

Sectoral indices ended mixed today.

Among the gainers, Nifty Private Bank (up 1.12 per cent), IT (up 1.08 per cent) and Nifty Bank (up 0.92 per cent) emerged at the top.

Among the losers, Nifty Oil & Gas (down 1.37 per cent), PSU Bank (down 0.70 per cent) and FMCG (down 0.43 per cent) lead.

Expert view on markets

Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research) at Mehta Equities observed that gains in frontline IT and private banking stocks buoyed Sensex and Nifty to fresh record highs in a highly volatile session.

He believes despite the recovery, volatility may still persist due to a renewed uptick in US bond yields on fading hopes of a rate cut over the next few months. This will continue to weigh on Indian markets and along with FII selling pressure, local equities may continue to face the heat.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services pointed out that the market breadth displayed a positive trend within a narrow trading range, with attention focused on the RBI's upcoming monetary policy announcement tomorrow with expectations of status quo in the repo rate due to prevalent inflation worries

The broader market has shown resilience in select sectors like banks in anticipation of decent Q4 results and exports based on composite PMI data reflecting strong business conditions, said Nair.

Technical views on Nifty 50

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities underscored that the Nifty remained highly volatile as the index fluctuated within the range of 22,300 and 22,600 throughout the day.

"On the daily chart, the index has formed a hanging man pattern, indicating a potential bearish reversal in the short term. Immediate support is positioned at 22,300; a decisive drop below this level could lead the index towards 22,000-21,900 in the short term. On the upside, resistance is observed at 22,600-22,650," said De.

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