Market closing : ICICI, HDFC and other private banks shine as Nifty, Sensex hit all-time high

Both Sensex and Nifty marked their all-time highs today, with Nifty closing at 23,721.3 points, up by 0.78%. It reached an intraday high of 23,754.15 points. BSE Sensex, on the other hand, closed at 78,053.52 points, inching up by 0.92%. As for sectoral indices, except for auto (down by 0.24%), media (down by 0.5%), metal (down by 0.7%), realty (down by 1.75%), consumer durables (down by 0.07%) and oil and gas (down by 0.45%), all other indices ended the day in green. While Nifty PSU inched up by 0.13% during the day, Nifty private banks saw a substantial surge of 1.7% during the day's trade. BSE Bankex also inched up by 1.84% to end at 59,805.21 points.

Amidst broad-based indices, Nifty midcap 50 and midcap 100 closed the day in red. Out of the 2,753 stocks traded during the day, 1,209 saw advances, while 1,457 others declined. 181 stocks touched their 52-week high price during the day, while 8 stocks also marked their 52-week low. 143 stocks hit the upper circuit during the day, and 46 stocks hit their lower circuit.

Amongst the day's top gainers were Shri Ram finance (up by 3.95%), Axis bank (up by 3.63%), ICICI bank (up by 2.9%), HDFC bank (up by 2.07%) and Tech Mahindra (up by 1.77%). BPCL (down by 2.78%), Eicher motors (down by 1.76%), Asian Paints (down by 1.21%) and Tata Steel (down by 1.18%) lost significant ground during the day.

According to Mr. Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, "The markets edged higher, gaining over half a percent, signaling a resumption of the uptrend after a brief pause. Following an initial uptick, Nifty traded within a range during the first half, but selective buying in heavyweight stocks, particularly from the banking sector, spurred a sharp surge as the day progressed. Besides banking, the IT sector also performed well, whereas the realty, metal, and energy sectors ended in the red. Amidst all this, the broader indices were slightly on the back foot, closing flat to marginally lower."

"Nifty has finally surpassed the 23,600 hurdle after two weeks of consolidation, reaching a new record high. We maintain a positive outlook on the index, now targeting the next milestone of 24,000. We believe the current buoyancy in banking, coupled with notable strength in IT, will dictate the trend, while other sectors may contribute on a rotational basis. Traders should align their positions accordingly and avoid a contrarian approach", he continued.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities noted that today, the benchmark indices registered a fresh all time high of 23,754.15/78,164.71. The Nifty ends 183 points higher while the Sensex was up by 712 points.

"Among Sectors, banking and financial indices outperformed. Both the indices rallied over 1 percent whereas realty index shed nearly 2 percent. Technically, after a strong opening the market held the positive momentum throughout the day. A bullish candle on daily charts and higher bottom formation on intraday charts indicating continuation of uptrend wave in the near future. For the trend following traders now, 23,600/77,500 would act as a trend decider level. As long as the index is trading above the same, positive sentiment is likely to continue. On the higher side, 23,835-23,900/78,500-78,700 would be the immediate resistance zones for the bulls. However, below 23,600/77,500 uptrend would be vulnerable. Below the same, trades may prefer to exit out from the trading long positions", he continued.