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Indices moved up for a fifth consecutive session, with Nifty hitting a fresh all-time amid mixed global cues.
At close, Nifty was up 0.37 per cent or 81.6 points at 22122, an all-time high. The Sensex was up 281.52 points or 0.39 percent at 72,708. Cash market volumes on the NSE fell to ₹0.95-lakh crore, lowest since January 20. The smallcap index rose more than the Nifty even as the advance decline ratio remained high at 1.55:1. Trading activity was concentrated in PSU and bank stocks.
Top gainers, losers
The top gainers on the Nifty were Grasim Industries, Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Auto, ICICI Bank and Cipla, all of which rose more than 2 per cent each. The top loser was Coal India, down 3.9 per cent, followed by SBI Life Insurance, L&T, Wipro and HDFC Life, which lost over a per cent each.
Majority of the sectors ended in the green. Consumer Durables, Pharma, and FMCG were top gainers today, while Realty, PSU Bank, and IT were laggards.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said, “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.”
The US Federal Reserve 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 FPIs are pointing at cautiousness of foreign investors. Foreign portfolio investors have sold shares worth ₹30,000 crore in the year to date.
Asian shares
Asian shares were mixed on Monday as fading chances for early rate cuts globally soured the mood and Chinese markets returned from holiday with only muted gains. Hamg Seng was the top loser, down 1.1 per cent, while Shanghai Composite gained 1.6 per cent. European stocks paused back as investors awaited fresh catalysts after last week’s push close to a record high. US markets were shut for the Presidents’ Day holiday.
India’s power consumption increased 7.5 per cent on-year to 1,354.97 billion units in the April-January period of this financial year, indicating an uptick in economic activities across the country. Power consumption in January rose 5.4 per cent to 133.18 BU, compared to 126.30 BU. “Nifty formed a doji-like formation on daily charts for the last three sessions, but the markets kept rising. Markets could now correct/consolidate for some time before the Nifty prepares for the next upmove, Nifty could face resistance from 22,187 while 21,954 could offer support in the near term,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
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