Stock Market Extends Rally To 6th Day: Sensex Rises 333 Points, Nifty Above 19,800. NTPC, TaMo Up 2%

Stock Update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, Tata Motors, L&T, Bajaj Firnserv, Airtel, Titan, HDFC Bank emerged gainers. UltraCemco, ITC, Wipro, TechM, Tata Steel, JSW Steel were the losers

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Friday extended their winning run into sixth straight session. The S&P BSE Sensex, which touched a high of 66,767, eventually settled 333 points higher at 66,599. Sensex has now rallied 1,767 points in the past six trading sessions. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty that hit a high of 19,867 closed with a gain of 93 points at 19,820.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, NTPC, Tata Motors, L&T, Bajaj Firnserv, Airtel, Titan, HDFC Bank emerged gainers. On the downside, UltraCemco, ITC, Wipro, TechM, Tata Steel, JSW Steel were among the losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices scaled fresh record highs and finished with gains of 0.9 per cent and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Sectorwise, capital goods, oil & gas, power and realty rose 1.5-2 per cent each, while pharma index lost 0.3 per cent. Bank stocks got a leg-up intra-day deals after the RBI said it would discontinue the incremental Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) in a phased manner starting September 09. The BSE Bankex was up 0.6 per cent, with Federal Bank, AU Bank, HDFC Bank, and SBI are the lead gainers.

In the previous session on Thursday, the S&P BSE Sensex rose 385 points to 66,265. On the other hand, the Nifty was up 116 points at 19,727.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services said that global markets stumbled as they processed August's jobless claims data from the US and the rise in gas prices due to strikes in Australia, rekindling further slowdown. "The domestic market, however, showcased its resilience once more by rallying, seemingly unfazed by global distress signals. Although selling was seen in IT and pharma stocks due to weak global cues, the gains in infra, industrial, and capital goods stocks due to improved order inflows coupled with the persistent preference for mid- and small-cap stocks contributed to the ongoing rally," Nair said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai, and Hong Kong ended in the negative territory. European markets were trading lower. The US markets ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.07 per cent to $89.98 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 758.55 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee snapped a four-day losing streak to close 24 paise higher at 82.99 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday, helped by a firm trend in domestic equities and suspected intervention by the RBI. Besides, the local unit appreciated after the Reserve Bank announced the discontinuation of incremental cash reserve ratio in a phased manner by October 7, 2023, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.13 against the US dollar and moved in a range of 82.91 to 83.17 in the day trade. The rupee finally settled 24 paise higher at 82.99 (provisional) against the previous close. On Thursday, the rupee depreciated 10 paise to its lifetime low of 83.23 against the US dollar.