Nifty, Sensex End Muted Week Higher With Jackson Hole In Focus: Market Wrap
The NSE Nifty 50 ended 0.05% higher at 24,823.15, and the S&P BSE Sensex closed 0.04% up at 81,086.21.
India's benchmark stock indices ended the muted session little changed on Friday, helping post a two-week winning streak even as market participants await US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the Jackson Hole gathering.
The Fed Chair will speak at the annual summit at 10:00 a.m., New York time, on Friday.
The NSE Nifty 50 ended 11.65 points, or 0.05%, higher at 24,823.15, and the S&P BSE Sensex closed 33.02 points, or 0.04%, up at 81,086.21. During the day, the Nifty 50 rose 0.19% to 24,858.40, and the BSE Sensex rose 0.22% to 81,231.49.
Gains in ICICI Bank Ltd. and Bajaj Auto Ltd. supported the indices, while losses in Infosys Ltd. and Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. weighed on the benchmarks.
"Global markets were in a bullish mood, as data prints supported views of a rate cut in the US. Meanwhile, domestic sentiments remained bullish, with investors hoping for a strong earnings recovery after the first quarter of the financial year 2024–25 earnings reported modest growth on a year-on-year basis," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities.
On a weekly basis, the Nifty added 1.15% and the Sensex rose 0.81%.
"The index concluded the week with positive momentum, closing over 290 points higher than the previous week. The market breadth displayed a marginal negativity, while the majority of sectors, with the exception of auto, consumption, infrastructure, and energy indices, concluded with losses," said Avdhut Bagkar, technical and derivatives analyst at StoxBox.
ICICI Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., Bajaj Auto Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. were added to the benchmark index.
Infosys Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., Oil and Natural Gas Corp., and the State Bank of India weighed on the index.
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On the NSE, 11 sectors ended higher and one declined. The NSE Nifty Metal was the best-performing sector of the week, and the NSE Nifty Realty was the worst-performing sector.
Broader indices ended mixed, with the BSE Midcap ending 0.7% lower and the BSE Smallcap settling 0.15% higher on Friday.
"The mid-cap index gained around 2.3% and the small-cap index gained 3.5%, outperforming large caps," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities.
Nine out of 20 sectoral indices on the BSE ended higher and 11 declined. BSE Realty was the top loser.
Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. As many as 2,061 stocks rose, 1,861 declined, and 103 remained unchanged on the BSE.
