Indian stock markets closed in the green on Thursday, with the Sensex and Nifty ending the session with marginal gains after giving up most of their intraday advances on monthly expiry day. The Sensex gained 109 points to close at 77,100.47, while the Nifty 50 rose 34 points to end at 24,056. This came after benchmark indices surged over 1% in afternoon trade before paring gains. Markets were shut on Friday on account of Muharram.
Here's how analysts read the market pulse
“The domestic market concluded the day flat as early intraday gains were offset by profit booking. While a sharp decline in crude oil prices supported the rupee and provided some cushion, it was insufficient to sustain upward momentum. On the sectoral front, auto stocks outperformed, driven by softer metal prices, easing supply chain constraints, and improving retail demand during the month. Overall sentiment remained constructive, but continued FII outflows could limit upside. In the near term, sentiment may be influenced by a muted Q1 earnings outlook and an uneven monsoon, which should be monitored going forward,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Investments.
On Wall Street, all three indexes finished slightly lower in choppy trading as losses in industrials, technology and energy offset gains in healthcare and real estate stocks.
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched weekly losses while the Dow was headed for a weekly gain.
European shares pulled back from record highs on Friday, with technology shares tracking global sector weakness, while Zalando fell after Germany's financial regulator launched a probe into the retailer's accounts.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.7% lower, narrowly marking gains for the week.
“The Nifty remained volatile during the session amid the BSE F&O expiry on Thursday, as the index failed to break out above the falling trendline on the daily timeframe. However, the overall trend continues to remain positive, with the index sustaining above the short-term moving average (50 EMA). The momentum indicator RSI remains in a positive crossover, indicating strengthening momentum,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities.
“In the short term, the trend is likely to stay positive as long as the index holds above the support level of 23,800. On the higher end, the Nifty may move towards 24,500 in the near term,” he added.
HDFC Bank (Rs 3,734 crore), IndiGo (Rs 2,786 crore), ICICI Bank (Rs 2,388 crore), M&M (Rs 1,697 crore), SBI (Rs 1,678 crore), Reliance Industries (Rs 1,677 crore) and Infosys (Rs 1,663 crore) were among the most active stocks on the NSE in value terms. Higher value turnover typically helps identify the most actively traded counters during the day.
Vodafone Idea (34.52 crore shares), Motherson Sumi Wiring India (22.79 crore), Yes Bank (8.66 crore), Suzlon Energy (8.39 crore), Ola Electric (7.8 crore), Motherson Sumi (7.45 crore) and Ashok Leyland (6.09 crore) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on the NSE.
Motherson Sumi Wiring India, Aegis Logistics, M&M Financial, HFCL, Tata Motors CV, Motherson Sumi and Oracle witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
Stocks that hit their 52-week highs on the NSE included Aegis Logistics, Motherson Sumi, Oracle, Welspun Corp, Emcure Pharmaceuticals, RR Kabel and Radico Khaitan.
Stocks that witnessed significant selling pressure included MMTC, Bandhan Bank, NALCO, ABSL AMC, Hindustan Zinc, Jain Resource Recycling and Supreme Industries.
Birlasoft was the only stock to hit its 52-week low on the NSE.
Out of 3,418 stocks traded on the NSE on Thursday, 1,231 advanced, 2,069 declined, while 118 remained unchanged.
