Sensex, Nifty Register Best Monthly Gains So Far In 2024: Market Wrap

India's benchmark stock indices closed higher on a weekly basis for the fourth consecutive week, marking their best month so far in 2024. However, on Friday, they snapped their four-day record run to end lower.

The Nifty 50 ended June with 6.56% gains, the most since December 2023, when it had gained 7.9%. The top gainers this month were Shriram Finance Ltd., Wipro Ltd., UltraTech Cement Ltd., and Tech Mahindra Ltd. Of the 50 stocks in the index, only seven ended lower.

On Friday, the Nifty closed 0.14%, or 33.90 points, lower at 24010.60, and the Sensex fell 0.27%, or 210.45 points, to end at 79032.73. During the day, the Nifty touched a fresh record of 24,174, and the Sensex hit a lifetime high of 79,671.58.

"The improvement in market sentiment over the past week suggests that the market has steadied post-Lok Sabha elections," said Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Institutional Equities. "Markets remained optimistic about strong government support for the economy, especially for the manufacturing sector, in the upcoming Union Budget."

Shares of Reliance Industries Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd., Oil & Natural Gas Corp. Ltd., Dr Reddy's Laboratories Ltd., and State Bank Of India Ltd. contributed the most to Nifty 50.

While those of ICICI Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., Bharti Airtel Ltd., and Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. weighed on the index.

Most sectoral indices ended higher with Nifty Energy and Nifty Oil & Gas leading.

On a weekly basis the nifty gained 2.7%.

Broader markets outperformed benchmark indices, with the S&P BSE Midcap and Smallcap ending with 0.41% and 0.56% gains, respectively.

On BSE, eight sectors declined and 12 advanced. The S&P BSE Bankex declined the most, and the S&P BSE Energy rose the most.

Market breadth was skewed in favour of buyers. Around 2,144 stocks rose, 1,751 stocks declined, and 117 stocks remained unchanged on the BSE