Nifty Posts Muted Close After 26,000 Milestone: Market Wrap

Benchmark equity indices ended on a flat note after the NSE Nifty 50 hit the crucial 26,000-mark for the first time in the last hour of trade. Despite this, the index managed to record its highest close in the third consecutive session.

The Nifty recorded its highest closing at 25,940.4, up 0.01%, or 1.35 points and the S&P BSE Sensex ended down 0.02%, or 14.57 points at 84,914.04.

Intraday, both Nifty and Sensex rose around 0.3% to hit their new record highs of 26,011.55 and 84,639.23, respectively.

It took 37 sessions for the Nifty to cover 1,000 points from the 25,000 mark. Tuesday's gains were led by metal stocks after China's central bank announced a slew of measures to boost the world's second-largest economy.

Intraday, both Nifty and Sensex rose around 0.3% to hit their new record highs of 26,011.55 and 85,163.23, respectively.

"Several factors contributed to this rally, including strong corporate earnings, resilient macroeconomic indicators, and increased foreign institutional investor inflows," said Vikram Kasat, head of advisory at PL Capital, Prabhudas Lilladher Pvt.

The market momentum was further bolstered by a bullish outlook on India’s economic growth, supported by expectations of structural reforms and investor optimism around the Indian economy's ability to withstand global headwinds, such as inflationary pressures and geopolitical uncertainties, added to the positive sentiment, he said.

The market now expects a cool-off. For now, 26,000 could be the top and there might be some cool-off of 100-150 points both in Nifty and bank Nifty, said Aditya Agarwala, co-founder and director at invest4Edu Pvt. He recommends moving to sectors like IT and metal, while also advising holding NBFCs and banks in the portfolio.

Kush Bohra, founder of Kushbohra.com, expects a pullback; options data is not really as cautionary. The put base has moved from 25,800 to 25,900 and a dip to those levels should be a good entry point.

Shares of Tata Steel Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Power Grid Corp. of India, Hindalco Industries Ltd., and HCL Tech Ltd. positively contributed to changes in the Nifty.

While those of Hindustan Unilever Ltd., Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd., SBI Life Insurance Co., Reliance Industries Ltd., and UltraTech Cement Ltd. weighed the index.

On NSE, sectoral indices ended on a mixed note. Nifty Metal rose the most.

Broader markets ended on a mixed note on Tuesday. The BSE Midcap ended 0.21% higher, and the BSE Smallcap settled 0.04% lower.

On BSE, 12 out of 20 sectoral indices advanced and eight declined. The BSE Metal rose over 2% to become the best performing index. The BSE FMCG declined the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. Around 2,036 stocks declined, 1,940 stock rose, and 100 stocks remained unchanged on BSE.