Stock market closing: Nifty, Sensex close in green, Tata Motors, HCL take lead

Both indices, Sensex and Nifty ended the day in green, with Sensex closing over the 80,000-mark. While Sensex closed at 80,049.67 points, up by 0.08%, while Nifty ended the day at 24,302.15 points, up by 0.06%. Amidst broad market indices, all of them closed in green, except for India VIX and smallcap 50, which closed in red.

Life Insurance Corporation of India today informed NSE that it has acquired a 2.68% stake in IDFC First Bank via private placement, thereby increasing its stake holding in the private bank. LICs stock closed the day at Rs 1,010.34, up by 2.24%.

Top gainers and losers

Tata Motors (up by 2.75%), HCL Tech (up by 2.63%), ICICI Bank (up by 2.53%), Sun Pharma (up by 1.83%) and TCS (up by 1.38%) were amongst the day's gainers, while HDFC bank (down by 2.3%), Bajaj Finance (down by 2.06%), Adani Entertainment (down by 1.47%), Wipro (down by 1.25%) and Tech Mahindra (down by 1.20%) were amongst the day's laggards.

As for sectoral indices, financial services (down by 0.18%), FMCG (down by 0.21%), media (down by 0.45%) and metal (down by 0.03%) closed the day in red. On the other hand, pharma (up by 1.39%), healthcare (up by 1.28%) and mid-small healthcare (up by 1.25%) ended the day in green.

Out of 2,788 stocks traded today on the exchange, 1,527 saw advances, while 1,175 saw declines. 234 stocks hit their 52-week high, while 8 stocks hit their 52-week low as well. 166 stocks hit the upper circuit during the day's trade, while 41 stocks hit the lower circuit as well.

According to Mr. Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Shares, "right from the beginning, the index was seen giving up its gains and ended the session at 24,302.15 with a minuscule gain of 15.65 points. The pharma sector regained its momentum and advanced more than 1% to be the top performer followed by IT. On the flip side, media and FMCG were the laggards. The interest of market participants was more toward broader markets as mid and smallcaps moved over 0.45%. From the past couple of days, it seems that the index is finding it difficult to hold higher levels and bearish divergence in RSI indicates weakening of momentum. The immediate support is placed at 24,150 while on the higher side, 24,400 will be considered as resistance".

Expert view

Mr. Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd advises that the traders should focus more on stock selection and utilize dip/consolidation to add quality names to their portfolio. "The markets traded within a narrow range and ended nearly unchanged, pausing after wednesday's gains. After an initial rise, the nifty fluctuated throughout the day and settled near its lowest point at 24,306.55. Sector-wise, there was a mixed trend with pharmaceuticals, IT, and automotive sectors seeing moderate gains, while FMCG and metals remained subdued. The broader indices performed better than the benchmark, each gaining about half a percent. The Nifty has approached its immediate target of 24,500 and appears slightly overextended. It would be prudent to take some profits and wait for a potential dip before considering new long positions in the index".

Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities notes that for traders, 24,400/80,390 would be the immediate breakout level. "Above this, the market could rally up to 24,500-24,525/80,700-80,800. On the flip side, below 24,280/80,000 the sentiment could change. Below the same, the market could retest the level of 24,200-24,165/79,700-795,50", he continued.