The headline indices Sensex and Nifty jumped on Thursday, backed by a rally in auto and financial heavyweights amid positive global cues. After rallying 565 points intra-day, the 30-share Sensex closed 396.22 points, or 1.03 per cent, higher at 38,989.74. The broader NSE Nifty gained more than 133 points to close at 11,573.30. Vedanta, M&M, ICICI Bank, Tata Steel, ONGC, Maruti Suzuki, IndusInd Bank, L&T, Hero MotoCorp, Bajaj Finance and Kotak Bank, were the biggest gainers in the Sensex pack, gaining up to 6.5%. Yes Bank, Infosys, HUL, HCL Tech, HDFC, NTPC, PowerGrid and TCS were among the biggest losers, shedding up to 5%. While private sector banks posted a robust rally, Yes Bank shares emerged as top Sensex loser even as it waited for RBI approval for increasing the bank’s authorised share capital. The shares hit a six-year low as they plunged 4.93 percent to close at Rs 51.05 on BSE.
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Taking stock of the robust rally, Ajit Mishra Vice President, Research, Religare Broking said that the stock market regained momentum and surged over a percent on the F&O expiry day. “Fall in the crude oil prices combined with firm global cues helped index to make a strong start. It further strengthened with noticeable buying interest in index majors from across the board,” he said. Mishra advised investors to follow a “buy on dips” approach. In his view, Nifty could test 11,700-11,800 in the near future thus any intermediate dip should be considered as a buying opportunity.
Shrikant Chouhan, Senior Vice-President, Equity Technical Research, Kotak Securities said that the Nifty managed to close higher on the day of weekly expiry after a long time. “On daily basis, Nifty closed above 11540, which would bring positive sentiment in the short term. While we could see 11700/11720 levels, its sustenance above this level would result in a rally towards 11800,” he noted. Meanwhile, the domestic currency rupee closed 8 paise higher at 70.95 against US dollar.
