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Markets extend gains for 6th day in row; Auto, IT stocks in lead, Tata Motors top gainer

Bharat Electronics

On Monday, the Indian markets gained traction, but the gains were limited by worries that the US Fed might raise interest rates again in the wake of the employment report. However, the unexpected rate hike suspension by the RBI and the upward revision of the GDP and inflation projections for FY24 held bears at bay. With big IT and banking corporations scheduled to release their quarterly financial results, Q4 earnings will take centre stage. On the sixth day in a row, the Sensex and Nifty 50 are up.

The Sensex closed at 59,846.51 up 13.54 points, or 0.02%. By reaching an intraday high of 60,109.11 during trading hours, the benchmark did indeed pass the psychological threshold.

Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 increased by 24.90 points, or 0.14%, to close at 17,624.05. The 50-scrip benchmark reached an intraday high of 17,694.10 as it approached the 17,700 level.

Tata Motors led all gainers on the Sensex index with gains of over 5.4%, followed by Wipro, Power Grid, L&T, and M&M, which all had increases of between 1.5% and 2%.

The top Sensex decliners were Bajaj Finance, which fell by 1.8%, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, and HUL, which fell by 1% to 1.5%.

On the BSE, the Capital Goods and IT indices both experienced gains of 296 points and 238 points, respectively, after auto stocks outperformed with gains of over 353 points. 205 points were added to the Oil & Gas index.

Geojit Financial Services’ Head of Research, Vinod Nair, stated: “When the RBI decided to maintain rates constant and after upward revisions to the GDP and inflation predictions, sentiment in the domestic market improved. Strong gains were seen in the auto and real estate sectors as a result of the excellent quarterly business updates from those companies, but the overall mood was slightly soured by the robust US job statistics, which increased concerns about more Fed rate hikes. The FOMC minutes and the release of inflation statistics from the US and India are now both significant indicators of the direction of the market.”

On the other hand, following a decline in Asian peers following the release of US job statistics, the rupee lost ground versus the dollar on the interbank forex market. In contrast to the previous print of 81.8850, the local currency concluded the day at 81.98 per dollar.

I’ll go ahead. According to Religare Broking’s Vice President of Technical Research, Ajit Mishra, “Still, the tone is likely to be optimistic. We anticipate more index consolidation. Now, the trend will be primarily determined by the future outcomes and global cues. In the meanwhile, we advise concentrating on stock-specific opportunities.”

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, commented on the Nifty 50: “The momentum oscillator RSI is increasing and in a positive crossover. As long as it maintains above 17500, the market will continue to be buy-on-dips. The index may rise to higher levels if it moves above immediate resistance at 17700 on the top end.”

For stocks in banks, Senior Technical Analyst Kunal Shah of LKP Securities stated, “After a robust gain last week, the BANK NIFTY index came under selling pressure from higher levels. If the index is unable to maintain its current level above 41,200, some profit taking may occur in the 40,600–40,500 range. If the upper resistance is broken, more short covering will occur towards the 42,000 level.”

The spotlight will be on IT and banking equities prior to TCS, Infosys, and HDFC Bank’s fourth quarter earnings for FY23.

According to Jateen Trivedi, VP Research Analyst at LKP Securities, the rupee benefits from FIIs’ positive flow while prices are sideways near 82.00, but once 82.00 is breached, the rupee may become weaker towards 82.20.