Nifty, Sensex Rise As HDFC Bank, L&T Gain, Fed Policy Boosts IT Stocks: Midday Market Update
As of 11:52 a.m., Nifty and the Sensex were trading 0.90% and 0.84% higher, respectively.
India's benchmark stock indices were trading higher through midday on Thursday, led by gains in index-heavyweights HDFC Bank Ltd. and Larsen & Toubro Ltd.
Gains in IT stocks following the Fed's decision to maintain its rate-cut outlook for 2024 also supported the indices.
As of 11:52 a.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 196.15 points, or 0.90% higher, at 22,035.25, and the S&P BSE Sensex gained 602.64 points, or 0.84%, to 72,704.33.
The Sensex rose 1.08% to hit an intraday high of 72,882.46, and the Nifty touched a high of 22,080.95 so far on Thursday.
"The Nifty 50 witnessed a gap-up opening, fueled by positive global cues and supported by the commentary from the U.S. Federal Reserve, which aligned with market expectations regarding three potential rate cuts," said Shrey Jain, founder and chief executive officer of SAS Online.
"If the Nifty manages to sustain levels above 22,000 post-opening, there could be further momentum from short-covering, potentially propelling it towards the 22,100–22,150 range. Notably, there's substantial open interest at the 22,200 call strike, around 110 lakh shares, while significant interest is seen at the 21,700 put strike, approximately 50 lakh shares," Jain said.
Shares of HDFC Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., NTPC Ltd., Reliance Industries Ltd. and State Bank of India were positively contributing to the Nifty.
While, Infosys Ltd., Hero MotoCorp Ltd., Nestle India Ltd. and Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. were weighing on the index.
All 12 sectors on NSE were trading in positive, with NSE Nifty PSU Bank index rising the most. Nifty FMCG was the worst performing sector.
Broader markets rose in line with the benchmark indices, with the S&P BSE Smallcap outperformed with a 2.01% gain and S&P BSE Midcap was trading 1.85% higher.
On BSE, all 20 sectors advanced. Both the S&P BSE Industrials and S&P BSE Oil and Gas emerged as top performers and were trading 2.58% higher, each.
The S&P BSE TECK was the worst performing sector.
Market breadth was skewed in the favour of buyers. Around 2,841 stocks advanced, 732 declined, and 139 remained unchanged on BSE.
