Stock market closing: Reliance, ONGC rally, HDFC and Titan amidst laggards

Both indices, Nifty and Sensex, closed in red, with Nifty closing at 24,323.85 points, down by 0.09%, while Sensex closed at 79,996.60 points, down by 0.07%. All broad market indices closed in green, except for India VIX, which closed 1.24% down. As for sectoral indices, financial services were down by 1% and banks were down by 0.83%. On the other hand, FMCG (up by 1.08%), pharma (1.29%), PSU Bank (1.25%), healthcare (up by 1.27%), and oil and gas (up by 1.89%) were among the leading indices.

ONGC (up by 4.06%), Reliance (up by 2.63%), Britannia (up by 2.09%), and Cipla (up by 1.98%) were amongst the day's leading stocks. On the other hand, HDFC Bank (down by 4.5%), Titan (down by 1.90%), LTI Mindtree (down by 0.85%), Tata Steel (down by 0.73%), and IndusInd Bank (down by 0.61%) were among the day's laggards.

Out of the 2,773 stocks traded today, 1,609 saw advances, 1,083 saw declines, and 81 remained unchanged. 245 stocks hit their 52-week high price, while 13 stocks also hit their 52-week low. 148 stocks hit the upper circuit during the day, while 45 stocks hit the lower circuit.

Reliance shares caught momentum today, in anticipation of Reliance Jio bringing forth an IPO soon. The company, valued at Rs 11.11 lakh crore, could very well bring India's biggest IPO worth around Rs 55,000 crore. This is because companies with a valuation beyond Rs 1 lakh crore will have to sell at least a 5% stake in their IPO. A recent hike in tarrifs, and an attempt to increase their ARPU (average revenue per user) indicate that the company might announce the same in their annual general meeting next month.

As per Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research, Kotak Securities, "Indian equity market sentiments remained positive with both the Sensex 30 and the Nifty 50 index reaching a new high this week. On a weekly basis, the BSE 30 and Nifty 50 indices gained more than 1%, while the BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices outperformed the large-caps index. Amid the positive market momentum, most of the sectoral indices reported positive gains this week. BSE IT services performed strongly ahead of the upcoming Q1FY25 earnings season. Oil prices have been gradually inching upwards over the past one month, which needs to be monitored.

"Over the next few weeks, the key events for the market include macro factors, the Union Budget, and the Q1FY25 earnings. Individual stocks will be in focus on Q1 FY25 earnings and management commentary over the coming few weeks", he continued.

Hrishikesh Yedve, AVP Technical and Derivatives Research at Asit C. Mehta Investment Intermediates Ltd.
highlights that the domestic benchmark indices, Sensex and Nifty, ticked lower initially. "However, strong buying in the last half-hour, led by index leaders Reliance Industries and State Bank of India, pushed the Nifty to settle the day on a positive note at 24,324. The broader market outperformed the benchmarks, with the Nifty midcap and smallcap indices gaining more than 0.5% each. Technically, the Nifty managed to defend the 24,200 support level on a closing basis, indicating strength. As long as the index holds this support, it may attempt to test the levels of 24,500–24,600", he notes.



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