Nifty, Sensex Log Best Stretch Of Weekly Gains In Nearly Three Years: Market Wrap
HDFC Bank, Infosys, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies and Axis Bank were positively adding to the indices.
The benchmark indices rose for six straight weeks, logging the best weekly gains in nearly three years.
The NSE Nifty 50 and the S&P BSE Sensex ended at new record highs after the Reserve Bank of India's monetary policy committee kept the repo rate unchanged at 6.50% in line with expectations.
The NSE Nifty 50 ended 68 points or 0.33% higher at 20,969.40, while the S&P BSE Sensex closed 304 points or 0.44% up at 69,825.60.
The Nifty hit the 21,000 mark for the first time during intra-day trading. The Nifty Bank also touched a lifetime high during the last leg of the trade and ended 0.90% higher at 47,262.00.
"The Nifty opened on a positive note once again with a new record high and, thereafter, consolidated, finding resistance near the 20,950 zone for the rest of the session," Vaishali Parekh, vice president of technical research at Prabhudas Lilladher, said.
The near-term support will be 20,500 and once a decisive breach above 21,000 is established, further targets at 21,800–21,900 levels can be anticipated, according to Parekh.
"The Indian equities benchmark indices posted strong gains in an eventful week. The Nifty Index and the Sensex Index gained 3% this week and outperformed most global equity markets," Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities Ltd., said.
The BSE MidCap and the SmallCap also posted gains but underperformed the Nifty and the Sensex. Power and Oil & Gas posted strong returns this week, followed by Energy, Capital Goods and Bankex, Chouhan said.
He said the rally was fueled by strong macro-economic data and the outcome of the state election results. "The markets will now look forward to the outcome of the US Federal Open Market Committee meeting, scheduled for next week."
HDFC Bank Ltd., Infosys Ltd., ICICI Bank Ltd., HCL Technologies Ltd. and Axis Bank Ltd. were positively adding to the indices.
ITC Ltd., Bajaj Finance Ltd., Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., Adani Enterprises Ltd. and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. weighed on the indices.
Eleven out of the 13 sectors advanced this week, with Nifty Energy emerging as the top sector and Pharma declining the most this week.
The broader markets underperformed, with the BSE MidCap being 0.16% lower and the SmallCap Index declining 0.44%.
Twelve out of the 20 sectors compiled by the BSE advanced, while eight declined. BSE Teck and Bankex rose the most.
The market breadth was skewed in favour of sellers. As many as 2,002 stocks declined, 1,749 advanced and 129 remained unchanged.
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