Market benchmark Sensex surged 301 points to close at 33,250.30 today on unabated buying by domestic institutional investors amid positive global leads.The wider NSE Nifty too went past the 10,250-level.
The 30-share BSE Sensex opened on a strong footing at 33,034.20 and maintained its upward trend to hit the day’s high of 33,285.68 before ending at 33,250.30, up 301.09 points, or 0.91 per cent. The index had rallied 352.03 points in the previous session on value-buying by investors in recently-battered blue-chip stocks.
All the sectoral indices ended in the green. The BSE FMCG index topped with a robust 2.23 per cent rise, followed by metal 1.36 per cent, healthcare 1.35 per cent, consumer durables 1.15 per cent, oil & gas 1.02 per cent, auto 0.97 per cent, bankex 0.92 per cent and realty 0.72 per cent. In keeping with the overall trend, the small-cap and mid indices rose 1 per cent and 0.89 per cent.
On a weekly basis, the Sensex gained 417.36 points, or 1.27 per cent, while the Nifty advanced 143.85 points, or 1.42 per cent.
Buying by retail investors and domestic institutions has gathered momentum amid strong global cues. Hopes that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would win critical elections in Gujarat beginning this weekend has contributed to the positive sentiment. Elections in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state is a key test for the BJP, ahead of general elections in 2019. The results will be out later this month. According to polls, the BJP could win, but with a reduced majority - an outcome that would still soothe investors, who are hoping for more political stability and have largely welcomed Modi's reform agenda.
“BJP is expected to win, but the seat count would be lower than what they were vocal about. If they do win, I think markets will take it positively,” said Saurabh Jain, assistant vice president, research, SMC Global Securities.
Auto, bank indices jump
The Nifty auto index climbed as much as 1.08 per cent following media reports of automakers' plans to hike prices next month, which analysts expect would be positive for margins.
Maruti Suzuki, among the top gainers on the NSE index, rose as much as 2.15 per cent to hit an all-time high. Though media reported that the company currently did not have plans to raise prices, analysts expect the country's biggest carmaker to announce price hikes by the end of January.
Banks also rose, with the Nifty bank index climbing 1.05per cent in its second session of gains. HDFC Bank Ltd gained 1.8 per cent while ICICI Bank rose 1.6 per cent.
Shares of Steel Authority of India Ltd jumped as much as 4.25 per cent after Reuters reported, citing sources, that the state-run firm was set to approve a long-proposed $1 billion joint venture with ArcelorMittal SA next week. The stock ended 3.8 per cent higher at Rs 81.75 on the NSE.
Major gainers on the Nifty were: HPCL (+3.72%), ITC (+3.6%), IOC (+3.5%), BPCL (+3.02%) and Sun Pharma (+2.67%). Laggards included Infratel (-2.28%), GAIL (-1.74%), ZEE Enterprises (-1.54%), Reliance Industries (-1.10%) and SBI (-1.01%).
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Foreign portfolio investors sold shares worth net Rs 1,075.62 crore on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors bought to the tune of Rs 926.68 crore.
Brokers said unabated buying by retail and domestic institutional investors and a firm trend in other Asian markets influenced sentiment here.
Global markets
Most Asian and European markets rallied as investors awaited major economic data from China and the US amid overnight gains at Wall Street following reports that President Donald Trump is planning to unveil a big-spending public works plan. In the Asian region, Japan’s Nikkei rose 1.39 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.19 per cent, while Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.55 per cent. European shares too were in the positive zone in their early deals, with Frankfurt’s DAX rising 1.29 per cent and Paris CAC 40 up 0.73 per cent. London’s FTSE was up 0.27 per cent
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Technical outlook: Nifty may test 10,266
The NSE index Nifty broke above a resistance at 10,221, the 50 per cent Fibonacci retracement level of wave (3) from November 28 high of 10,409.55 to December 6 low of 10,033.35. The index also broke above the 200-period exponential moving average on a 30 minutes chart, which was seen as favourable for further gains. The breakout suggests that the index is poised to test a critical resistance at 10,266, the 61.8 per cent retracement level. The wave pattern, however, suggests index is still in a corrective cycle and downturn may resume from anywhere between 61.8 per cent to 86.4 per cent retracement levels.
(With inputs from Agencies)