Sensex up 454 points at closing; Nifty ends November F&O series above 17,500

Market rebounded sharply on Thursday with benchmark indices ending higher ahead of November F&O expiry.

Market opened on a weak note amid mixed global cues. Indices managed to erase early losses and ended higher, led by gains in heavyweights such as Reliance, IT and pharma stocks. Financial and auto stocks remained under pressure.

The BSE Sensex closed at 58,795.09, up 454.10 points or 0.78 per cent. It recorded an intraday high of 58,901.58 and a low of 58,143.86. The Nifty 50 closed at 17,536.25, up 121.20 points or 0.70 per cent, near its intraday high of 17,564.35. It recorded an intraday low of 17,351.70.

The market breadth remained positive with 2,114 stocks advancing on the BSE, against 1,178 that declined, while 119 remained unchanged. Furthermore, 526 stocks hit the upper circuit, as compared to the 119 stocks that were locked in the lower circuit. Besides, 230 stocks touched a 52-week high and 16 touched a 52-week low. The volatility index softened 2.52 per cent to end below 17 at 16.66.

Narendra Solanki, Head-Equity Research (Fundamental), Anand Rathi Shares & Stock Brokers, said, “Indian markets opened on mixed note following mixed Asian market cues, as investors digest Bank of Korea raising rates along with the resurgence of Covid cases in Europe.”

“During the afternoon session, the market recovered and gained momentum to enter into green terrain. Sentiments were upbeat as Moody’s expects India’s economic growth to rebound strongly, pegging GDP growth of 9.3 per cent and 7.9 per cent in the fiscal year 2022 (ending on March 31, 2022) and fiscal 2023, respectively. Additional support also came in as the Foreign Secretary said that India has set an ambitious target of $400 billion of exports for the year 2021-22,” he added.

Reliance, Divi’s Lab, ITC, Infosys and Tata Consumer were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Maruti, Britannia, IndusInd Bank, IOC and Hindustan Unilever were the top laggards. Reliance Industries shares gained after the company announced the transfer of its gasification unit to a newly created subsidiary, Reliance Syngas Limited (RSL), on a slump sale basis. RIL closed 6.36 per cent higher on the NSE.

Ajit Mishra, VP-Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said, “Markets witnessed a rebound and settled with gains of over half a per cent on the monthly expiry day. The beginning was subdued amid mixed global cues; however, a strong spurt in the index heavyweight Reliance prompted a gradual up move, which further strengthened with support from select index majors like Infosys, ITC and Kotak Bank.”

“Markets lack decisiveness at current levels and it may continue for the time being,” added Mishra.

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP securities, said, “While the trajectory of central banks across the globe on interest rates will no doubt remain the key monitorable for equities, (US Fed chief Jerome) Powell’s second term will be keenly watched by emerging economies attracting foreign capital.”

“Today’s trade witnessed buying interest in energy, IT, pharma, real estate and a few metal names, with Reliance leading the way. The buzz around new listings is quite clearly reflective of the around ₹27 billion invested by FPI in the primary markets this month,” added Ranganathan.

Auto, financials under pressure

On the sectoral front, IT, pharma, realty and oil and gas stocks gained while auto and financials remained under pressure. Metals and FMCG recovered on late-hour buying.

Nifty Oil & Gas was up 1.87 per cent at closing. Nifty Pharma and Nifty Healthcare Index were up 1.18 and 1.60 per cent, respectively. Nifty IT was up 0.96 per cent while Nifty Realty was up 1.95 per cent. Nifty FMCG was up 0.21 per cent, Nifty Consumer Durables was up 0.63 per cent while Nifty Metal was up 0.38 per cent.

Meanwhile, Nifty Auto ended 0.54 per cent lower. Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were down 0.21 per cent and 0.22 per cent, respectively. Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty Private Bank were down 0.53 per cent and 0.18 per cent, respectively.

Broader indices

Broader indices also recovered to end in the green. Nifty Midcap 50 was up 0.45 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.54 per cent. The S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.69 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.87 per cent.

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