The Indian market continued enjoying the bull run as the key equity indices the Sensex and the Nifty ended with healthy gains on August 17 amid mixed global cues.
Sensex opened at 59,938.05 against the previous close of 59,842.21 and touched a high of 60,323.25 in intraday trade. The 30-share pack eventually closed 418 points, or 0.70% higher at 60,260.13. The benchmark index is now just 3% below its all-time high of 62,245.43 that it hit on October 19, 2021.
Nifty closed the day at 17,944.25, up 119 points or 0.67%. BSE Midcap index closed 0.64% higher while the smallcap index rose 0.53%.
Shares of Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Bharti Airtel, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech ended as the top gainers in the Sensex index, rising between 2-6%.
On the flip side, shares of Mahindra & Mahindra, Maruti, UltraTech Cement, Tata Steel and Kotak Mahindra Bank, Power Grid and Titan ended as laggards in the index.
Among the sectoral indices, BSE Telecom, Consumer Durables, IT and Teck rose more than a percent each.
More than 150 stocks, including ICICI Bank, Apollo Tyres, Bank of Baroda, Cholamandalam Investment and Finance Company and Eicher Motors, hit their 52-week highs in intraday trade on BSE.
The risk appetite of investors has improved amid sustained buying by foreign investors after months of selling. Besides, the fall in crude oil and commodity prices has also influenced the mood.
Brent Crude traded near the $90 a barrel mark amid concerns of subdued demand and a supply glut. The rupee ended 6 paise lower at 79.45 per dollar.
"Consistent participation by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) is the backbone of the current rally in the domestic market. This reversal in the FII trend is owed to the resilience showcased by the Indian economy even as inflation continues to plague the western markets. Declining commodity and oil prices also instilled confidence in foreign investors," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Sensex is now above the psychological level of 60,000 and some analysts now anticipate it to hit an all-time high.
“Sensex hits 60,000 level after four months led by consumption related stocks and sectors. From the macro factors, crude oil prices helped our markets to revive from lower levels. At one point Sensex was about to break the psychological level of 50,000 on the downside but the confidence in the domestic economy from the retail investors, domestic institutions and fund manager managers helped the markets to stay above it. The market is not far from crossing the all-time high levels,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.
Technicals
Chouhan said the market is consistently forming higher high and higher low series formations, indicating the continuation of an uptrend in the near future.
"The Nifty formed a bullish candle on daily charts that also supports the uptrend. However, a quick intraday correction is not ruled out if the index trades below 17850, and below the same, it could touch 17,700-17,680 levels. On the flip side, above 17,850 the first upside target for the index would be 18,000 and on a further upsurge, it could move up to 18,175,” said Chouhan.
Nifty has remained above the falling trendline, confirming the continuation of the ongoing bull run. The up-trend remains intact as the barometer index has not shown any weakness, Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, observed.
"The popular momentum oscillator is in a deep overbought zone but has no bearish crossover, suggesting a continuation of bullish momentum. On the higher end, resistance is seen at 18,000-18,100. On the lower end, support is visible at 17,700," said De.
Key market data
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