Informist, Wednesday, Jan 31, 2024
By Anjana Therese Antony
MUMBAI – Gains in index heavyweights and banking stocks helped benchmark equity indices erase opening losses and close nearly a percentage higher today, with all sectoral indices ending the session in the green. " ... with the Budget anxiety, investors were also awaiting the US Federal Reserve policy outcome later tonight (at 0030 IST on Thursday)," Avdhut Bagkar, technical and derivatives analyst at StoxBox, said in a note.
Banking stocks, which dragged down the market in the previous session, turned positive, while contributing to over 0.3% gains in the Nifty 50. Indices related to the financial space, such as Nifty Financial Services, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Bank, and Nifty PSU Bank, closed 1-2% higher. Shares of Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, and State Bank of India together contributed to over 0.1% gains in the Nifty 50.
Today, the Nifty 50 closed higher by 203.60 points, or 1%, at 21725.70 points, with 46 of 50 constituents closing higher. The index is expected to cross the psychologically important level of 22000 points in the next few sessions. The BSE Sensex ended higher by 612.21 points, or 0.9%, at 71752.11, with 28 out of 30 constituents closing in the green. "Short covering in rate-sensitive stocks ahead of key US Fed policy rate decision and domestic Budget announcement tomorrow (Thursday) triggered a major rally in benchmark indices in a volatile session," Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president of research at Mehta Equities, said in a post-market note.
The broader market outperformed benchmark indices, with Nifty Midcap indices gaining over 1% and Nifty Smallcap indices closing over 2% higher.
The Nifty Healthcare and Nifty Pharma were the top sectoral gainers today, with most of their constituents climbing the ladder. Both indices hit fresh lifetime highs today, and closed nearly 3% higher each at 11421.85 points and 17938.65 points, respectively. Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, and Max Healthcare Institute gained more after these companies reported on-year growth in their bottomline for the December quarter.
Nifty 50 constituent Dr Reddy's Laboratories closed nearly 5% higher at 6,121.15 rupees on the National Stock Exchange and was the top gainer on the 50-stock index. The stock hit an all-time high of 6,137.50 rupees after the company reported higher-than-expected consolidated net profit for the December quarter. In addition, some brokerages such as Nirmal Bang Institutional Equities, Prabhudas Lilladhar, and Motilal Oswal Financial Services raised the target price for the stock.
Another constituent of the Nifty 50, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, was the third-biggest gainer on the benchmark index. The stock sustained its earlier gains post its earnings announcement, in which the company reported an over 16% on-year growth in its consolidated net profit to 25.24 bln rupees, higher than the expectation of 23.27 bln rupees. Revenue from operations rose over 10% to 123.81 bln rupees. The stock hit a record high of 1,438.90 rupees today before the quarterly result was released.
Max Healthcare Institute's stock rose 53 rupees more immediately after the company reported its earnings. Gains in the stock contributed to over 0.5% gains on the Nifty Healthcare. The company's consolidated net profit for the Oct-Dec increased over 30% on year to 2.89 bln rupees, lower than the estimates of 3.03-3.54 bln rupees. Its revenue from operations grew nearly 17% from a year ago to 13.35 bln rupees, lower than the expected range of 16.69-16.85 bln rupees.
Coming to the automobile space, shares of most constituents in the Nifty Auto index rose and consequently, the index hit a fresh all-time high of 19257.10 points today. Tata Motors hit a new record high and closed nearly 3% higher at 884.20 rupees ahead of its earnings on Friday. A few analysts believe that strong earnings expectations could have boosted the sentiment towards the stock.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund raised its global growth forecast for the current year by 20 basis points to 3.1%, as per the January update of its World Economic Outlook. It also projected global growth in 2025 at 3.2%. The global growth forecast was scaled up, supported by the greater-than-expected resilience in the US, and several large emerging market economies, the report said.
Now, investors await the US Federal Reserve's monetary policy outcome as well as India's Interim Budget, both due Thursday.
* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 46 rose, 4 fell
* Of the Sensex stocks, 28 rose and 2 fell
* On the BSE, 2,455 stocks rose, 1,373 fell, and 86 were unchanged
* Nifty Healthcare: up 2.85%; Nifty Pharma: up 2.68%; Nifty PSU Bank: up 2.28%
BSE NSE
Sensex: 71752.11, up 612.21 pts, or 0.86% Nifty 50: 21725.70, up 203.60 pts, or 0.95%
S&P BSE Sensitive Index Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 72720.96 (Jan 12, 2024) : Lifetime High: 21928.25 (Jan 12, 2024)
Record Close High: 72568.45 (Jan 12, 2024) : Record Close High: 21894.55 (Jan 12, 2024)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan 1) : 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan 1)
2024 Closing High: 72568.45 (Jan 12) : 2024 Closing High: 21894.55 (Jan 12)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan 23) : 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan 23)
2024 High (intraday): 72720.96 (Jan 12) : 2024 High (intraday): 21928.25 (Jan 12)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan 24) : 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan 2) : 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec 28) : 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb 27) : 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec 28) : 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan 30) : 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan 3) : 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec 1) : 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun 17) : 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec 1) : 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun 17) : 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct 14) : 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan 29) : 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct 14) : 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan 29) : 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan 29)-
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec 31) : 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar 23) : 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec 31) : 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar 24) : 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec 20) : 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb 19) : 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug 28)) : 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar 23) : 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec 26) : 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec 26)
End
Edited by Tanima Banerjee
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