Market Edges Higher On Friday; FMCG, Realty, Metal Among Top Gainers
Markets edged higher for yet another session and gained over half a per cent. Among the benchmark indices, Nifty Future made a new record high at 20,410 and finally settled at 20,360 levels. Most sectors contributed to the move wherein FMCG, realty and metal were among the top gainers. The broader indices too continued their positive trend and settled higher in the range of 0.50-1.05 per cent.
The rotational buying across the key sectors is helping the index to inch higher and we are now eyeing 20,500 in Nifty ahead. Apart from the domestic factors, upbeat global cues, especially the performance of the US markets, are further adding to the positivity. We thus recommend continuing with a “buy on dips” approach with a focus on stock selection.
Meanwhile, India's economy grew at 7.6 per cent in the July-September quarter of the current financial year despite a slowdown in agriculture as the robust performance of the manufacturing sector and high government expenditure on big-ticket infrastructure projects kept up the growth momentum, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics on Thursday. The growth in the second quarter is a tad lower than the first quarter growth of 7.8 per cent due to the erratic monsoon hitting the farm sector. India’s GDP growth rate for the first half of 2023-24 now works out to 7.7 per cent.
The agriculture sector posted a growth rate of a mere 1.2 per cent in the July-Sept quarter compared to 3.5 per cent in the previous quarter. However, the manufacturing sector clocked a robust growth rate of 13.9 per cent, which, along with the high government capex expenditure, went a long way to make up for the setback. Private consumption remained strong during the quarter which helped to lift the growth of the manufacturing sector. The services and mining sectors also posted a strong performance during the quarter.
Technically, the important key resistances placed in Nifty future are at 20,404 levels, which could offer the market on the higher side. Sustainability above this zone would signal opens the door for a directional up move with immediate resistances seen at 20,474 - 20,505 levels. Immediate support is placed at 20,303 - 20,232 levels.
