Mumbai, May 24 (PTI) Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty scaled new peaks on Friday in intraday deals before closing marginally lower due to profit booking in FMCG, IT and healthcare stocks.
A weak trend in global equities weighed on the sentiments, but renewed foreign capital inflows and stable crude oil prices in international markets supported the markets, traders said.
Markets were on a record-breaking rally for the second straight day ahead of the results of Lok Sabha polls on June 4.
In a highly volatile trade, the 30-share BSE Sensex dipped 7.65 points or 0.01 per cent to settle at 75,410.39. During the day, it rallied 218.46 points or 0.28 per cent to hit its all-time intra-day high of 75,636.50.
The NSE Nifty breached the 23,000 mark for the first time in early trade.
During the day, the benchmark climbed 58.75 points or 0.25 per cent to hit its lifetime peak of 23,026.40. However, it pared all the gains and ended with a marginal decline of 10.55 points or 0.05 per cent at 22,957.10.
“Markets ended flat in a sluggish trading session as investors preferred to stay on the sidelines due to weak global cues. As it was the last trading day of the week, investors didn’t want to increase exposure to equities and rather followed global cues,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said.
On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark zoomed 1,404.45 points or 1.89 per cent. The NSE Nifty climbed 455.1 points or 2 per cent.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs 4,19,99,274.85 crore (USD 5.05 trillion).
The market capitalisation of listed companies on the NSE stood at Rs 416 lakh crore (USD 5.01 trillion).
“Nifty climbed to the 23,000 level on May 24, 2024, with the latest 1,000-point move taking more than 4 months amidst global and local uncertainties. Late election outcome-related positioning helped Nifty reach this level ahead of the June 4 date.
“The surge in Nifty was primarily driven by favourable macroeconomic indicators, reformist policies, stability in politics, a forecast of favourable monsoons, and expectations of the start of rate cuts across the globe,” Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO at HDFC Securities, said.
The results of the ongoing general elections will be declared on June 4.
From the Sensex firms, Tech Mahindra, Asian Paints, Tata Consultancy Services, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, JSW Steel and ITC were among the major laggards.
On the other hand, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Larsen & Toubro, NTPC, Axis Bank and UltraTech Cement were the major gainers.
Gautam Adani Group firm Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone will replace IT major Wipro in BSE’s benchmark index Sensex from June 24, according to an official announcement on Friday.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.20 per cent while the midcap index climbed 0.23 per cent.
Among the indices, services declined 1.52 per cent, FMCG (0.71 per cent), IT (0.55 per cent), metal (0.41 per cent), commodities (0.35 per cent) and consumer discretionary (0.29 per cent). Energy, financial services, industrials, telecommunication, bankex and capital goods were among the gainers.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) turned buyers on Thursday after days of offloading equities. They bought equities worth Rs 4,670.95 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
“After making fresh highs above 23,000 in early trade, Nifty settled flat. Shares mostly fell in Europe and Asia on Friday after unexpectedly strong reports on the US economy raised the possibility of interest rates staying high,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled lower.
European markets were trading with cuts. Wall Street ended in negative territory on Thursday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.73 per cent to USD 80.77 a barrel.
With nearly a fortnight left for the results of Lok Sabha polls, benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty zoomed more than 1.6 per cent to close at lifetime high levels on Thursday.
“With India projected to remain the fastest-growing major economy, inflation at manageable levels, and expectations of continued reform momentum, the outlook for the Indian stock market remains positive over the medium term, though some hiccups may be expected in the interim,” Relli said. PTI SUM CS SUM BAL BAL
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