Benchmark indices ended higher for the seventh consecutive session, led by the Metal and PSU Banking stocks

By Mr. Aamar Deo Singh, Head – Advisory, Angel One Ltd.

Benchmark Indices endon a positive note

Indian indices began trading after a long weekend and began the trading day on a positive note on the back of positive cues from the global markets. The Nifty index witnessed a strong gap up opening of more than 150 points. Positive gains in select index heavyweight stocks and broader indices took the benchmark index to new all-time highs. Post the opening, the index consolidated in a range for the rest of the day, yet managing to end at record high levels. On the other hand, the Nifty Bank index neared the 40000 mark and ended the day at record high levels.

Broader Market Movement

The broader indices continued their run of positive momentum, as the midcap index rallied more than 1 percent in today’s session, outperforming its counterparts and ending at record closing levels. Whereas, the small cap index also ended on a positive note, gaining 0.70 percent. Looking at the sectoral performance, the Nifty Pharma and Media indices were the only losing indices of the day, of which the Pharma index was the top loser, down 0.89 percent, whereas all the other sectors ended in the green, with Nifty PSU Banks being the top gainer, up nearly 4 percent. On the other side, the top performing shares of today’s session were Hindalco, Infosys and Tech Mahindra, each up more than 3 percent and HCL Tech, Mahindra and Mahindra and Asian Paint were the top losing stocks of the day, down over 1 to 2 percent.

Stocks in News

Share price of HDFC Bank rose more than 2 percent intraday, after the firm reported a 17.6 percent higher standalone profit for the September 2021 quarter compared to the same quarter last year, the stock settled the day in the negative with a cut of over 1 percent. Shares of Dmart spiked over 9 percent post opening on the back of its Q2 FY22numbers which saw an increase of 110% in consolidated profit after tax compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

Global Data Front

The US benchmark indices moved mostly higher during the trading day on Friday, extending the rally seen over the course of Thursday’s session. With the advance seen over the past few sessions, the major averages more than offset the slump seen earlier in the week. For the week, the NASDAQ surged up by 2.2 percent, while the Dow and the S&P 500 jumped by 1.6 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively. The futures of Wall Street’s three major indices are trading on a negative note. The Dow Jones Futures down 0.36 percent, the Nasdaq Futures down 0.24 percent, and the S&P 500 Futures down 0.33 percent. While on the European front, the indices are trading on a negative note.

To summarise, benchmark indices on Monday ended higher for the seventh consecutive session, led by the Metal and PSU Bank stocks. At close, the Sensex was up 459 points or 0.75% at 61765, and the Nifty was up 138 points or 0.76% at 18477. The levels to monitor on Nifty for the coming days is 18600 on the upside, and on the downside, 18300 – 18250 would be the levels to keep an eye on.