Market Wrap: Sensex, Nifty hit fresh record highs; mid, smallcaps falter

Frontline indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, settled at fresh closing highs after scaling fresh all-time highs in intraday trade on November 29, as sentiment improved on hopes of easing of Covid-19 curbs in China.

However, sharp gains in crude oil prices and hawkish comments by the US Fed officials on rate hikes capped gains.

Sensex opened 143 points lower at 62,362.08 which also remained the intraday low level of the index. It soon moved higher and hit a fresh all-time high of 62,887.40 while the Nifty50 hit its fresh all-time high of 18,678.10 in intraday trade.

Eventually, the Sensex closed 177 points or 0.28 percent higher at 62,681.84 while the Nifty settled with a gain of 55 points, or 0.30 percent, at 18,618.05.

Mid and smallcaps failed to perform. The BSE Midcap index fell 0.39 percent while the Smallcap index ended 0.29 percent lower.

Crude oil prices saw sharp gains on hopes of easing of Covid curbs in China while reports of possible output cuts by OPEC+ also supported oil prices.

Brent Crude jumped nearly 3 percent and traded above the $85.38 per barrel mark. The dollar's rise against its peers kept the rupee under pressure; the domestic currency fell 5 paise to close at 81.72 per dollar.

Shares of Hindustan Unilever, Sun Pharma and Nestle ended as the top gainers while those of IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finserv and Maruti ended as the top laggards in the Sensex index.

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty FMCG rose 1.87 percent, followed by the Metal index which rose 1.03%. Realty, auto and oil & gas indices saw some profit booking as their sectoral indices ended in the red.

"While the winning streak continued and key benchmarks scaled new highs, investors traded with caution in a slightly volatile market. There are worries about growing protests in China over the imposition of strict lockdowns, which markets fear, could hurt the already slowing global economy," Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research ( Retail) at Kotak Securities, pointed out.

"If the situation doesn't improve, this could impact the market. But since India is in a slightly better position compared to other major economies, investors are willing to bet big on us," Chouhan said.

Technical view by experts

"The market has been consistently holding higher high and higher low formation which is broadly positive. The support has now shifted to 18,550 from 18,450. As long as the index is trading above 18,550, the uptrend wave is likely to continue. Above this, the market could move up to 18,750-18,800," said Chouhan.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities observed that the Nifty made a new all-time high during the day; however, the overall bias for the day remained sideways.

"The momentum oscillator RSI is in a positive crossover. The crucial short-term moving averages are sitting below the index value, confirming the positive trend. The trend is likely to remain bullish as long as it remains above 18,500, where significant Put writing has been seen. On the higher end, resistance is visible at 18,800," said De.

Key market data

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of MintGenie.