Another Day Another High, Nifty Trades Positive As Heavyweights Lead

The Indian stock market traded with gains in the Wednesday trading session as the benchmark indices, Nifty and Sensex continued to attain fresh highs on the hopes of a market friendly budget. 

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 index ended 0.62 per cent higher at 23,868 whereas the S&P Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex settled more than 600 points or 0.8 higher at 78,674 levels on the closing bell. 

Nifty Moves

In the Nifty50 index, tug of war remained tied as 25 stocks advanced with gains, while 25 stocks ended in the red territory.

Reliance topped the index with more than 4 per cent gains followed by more than 3 per cent gain in Bharti Airtel. Ultratech Cement gained 2.74 per cent, while ICICI Bank and Grasim Industries climbed 1.67 per cent and 1.40 per cent respectively. 

Conversely, Apollo Hospitals shredded the most with a 2.52 per cent cut, while Mahindra & Mahindra and Bajaj Auto lost almost 2 per cent. Tata Steel and Hindalco also suffered more than 1.5 per cent loss. 

Analyst Note

“Investors are mounting lots of bullish bets ahead of the next month's Budget, which once again triggered a major rally and lifted both benchmark indices to fresh all-time highs. Market participants are hoping for a reform-oriented budget from the government that would translate into buying action in stocks supportive of long-term economic growth,” said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

Sectoral Movement

In terms of sectoral performance, Energy index surged 1.41 per cent, while Nifty Bank moved half a per cent higher. FMCG also gained 0.39 per cent.

Pharma and IT ended with negligible change, whereas Nifty Realty shredded 1.43 per cent followed by 1.45 per cent and 0.92 per cent loss in Metal and Auto respectively.  

The more domestically focussed indices, Mid-cap dipped 0.22 per cent, however Small cap gained 0.25 per cent.