Nifty, Sensex End Record Week With Closing Highs As HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank Lead: Market Wrap

The benchmark equity indices logged gains for a second consecutive week and hit new highs in four out of five sessions this week. On Friday, they tracked the gains in the US as well as other Asian markets and recorded fresh closing highs again.

The NSE Nifty 50 ended 375.15 points or 1.48% higher at 25,790.95, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed 1,359.51 points or 1.63% up at 84544.31.

After the Fed rate cut, the markets are assuming that additional inflow can rush in from the FPIs, according to Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president of research at Mehta Equities Ltd.

Tapse said the Nifty’s immediate goalpost continues to be at the psychological 26,000 milestone, he said. "The line in the sand is at Nifty's support at the 25,350 mark," he said, adding that fresh buying should be on a cautious note.

Shares of ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd. and Reliance Industries Ltd. contributed the most to the gains in the Nifty.

Grasim Industries Ltd., State Bank of India, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., NTPC Ltd. and Oil & Natural Gas Corp. minimised the upside.

The broader markets underperformed the benchmark indices, as the BSE MidCap and the SmallCap indices ended 1.16% and 1.37% higher, respectively.

On the BSE, all 20 sectoral indices ended Friday on a positive note, with BSE Realty emerging as the top gainer.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of the buyers as 2,466 stocks rose, 1,484 declined and 109 remained unchanged on the BSE.

The Nifty added 1.7% this week and the Sensex jumped 1.99%. Among sectors, Nifty Realty and Nifty Bank were the top gainers, and Nifty Media and Nifty IT fell.