The S&P BSE Sensex hit a lifetime high of 84,694.46 before ending the session at 84,544.31, which was a 1,359 points or 1.63% lead over the last closing. The broader Nifty50 settled at 25,790.95, gaining by 375.15 points or 1.48%. The 50-stock index today hit a fresh all-time high of 25,849.25.
The combined market capitalisation of all BSE-listed stocks shot up by Rs 5.5 lakh crore to Rs 471 lakh crore.
The protagonists in today’s rally were ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank which helped both benchmarks close at record levels. ICICI Bank itself hit a fresh 52-week high of Rs 1,362.35 on the NSE. HDFC Bank closed at 1,737.20, up by Rs 28.70 or 1.68%.
For the 10th time this year, Sensex closed with gains of over 1,000 points.
Top Gainers & LosersIn the 50-stock Nifty, 44 scrips closed in the green. The top gainers were Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M), ICICI Bank, JSW Steel, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Coal India while the top losers were Grasim Industries, State Bank of India (SBI), NTPC, IndusInd Bank and Hero MotoCorp. Among sectoral toppers were Nifty Auto, Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services which ended with an uptick of 1.9%, 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively. The only laggard out of the 16 Nifty sectoral indices was Nifty PSU Bank which closed with minor declines of 0.1%.
Broader market joined the party as well, with Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 gaining 1.4% and 1%, respectively.
Expert View
“Nifty opened on a positive note and witnessed a volatile trading session. Intraday volatility was very high. However the Nifty managed to hold on to crucial support levels and closed the day in the green up 375 points,” Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan, said.
“On the daily charts, we can observe that the Nifty is moving towards the upper end of the rising channel placed at 26,000 which is also our short-term target. Support is placed in the zone of 25,500 – 25,450,” he added.
Global Markets
Among major Asian indices, Singapore’s FTSE Straits Times Index fell 0.23% while Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index closed with gains of up to 1.5%. China’s Shanghai Composite settled flat.
Meanwhile, European markets were largely down around 4 pm India time today. UK’s FTSE fell by 0.6% while Germany’s Dax, French CAC 40 and Stoxx 600 were lower by 0.9%, 0.7% and 0.6%. Spain’s IBEX traded with gains of 0.1% around this time.
Currency Watch
The Indian rupee rose for the fifth straight session on Friday, helped by gains in Asian peers and likely portfolio inflows, after the U.S. Federal Reserve kicked off its interest rate cutting cycle earlier this week. The rupee closed at 83.5625 against the U.S. dollar, up from its close at 83.68 in the previous session, Reuters reported.
The Indian currency jumped to an more than two-month high of 83.4850 earlier in the session and gained nearly 0.4% week-on-week, its strongest weekly rise this year.
The Fed’s larger-than-usual 50-basis-point rate cut on Wednesday, and inflows into local stocks and bonds have lifted the rupee, traders said.
Overseas investors have net bought more than $7 billion of Indian debt and equities so far in September, the highest monthly inflow since December 2023.
Crude Impact
Crude oil prices were trading lower on Friday. The US WTI oil contracts traded at $71.85, down by $0.10 or 0.14% while Brent oil futures were hovering near $74.72, lower by $0.16 or 0.21%. Higher crude oil prices do not augur well for the equity markets, fuelling inflation fears.
