Sensex, Nifty settle with marginal gains after record rally; key reasons

The equity benchmark indices — Sensex and Nifty — surged marginally to settle at new record highs on Friday, tracking gains in index heavyweights ICICI Bank, SBI and HDFC Bank. However, India’s GDP growth forecast cut by Fitch Ratings for FY20 trimmed the gains at the fag end of the intraday trading session. Sensex ended 7.62 points up at a new high of 41,681.54, while Nifty advanced 12.10 points to record a peak of 12,271.80. Tata Steel was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rallying 3.23 per cent, followed by SBI, Yes Bank, Hero MotoCorp, ICICI Bank and Bharti Airtel. On the other hand, Vedanta was the biggest loser, shedding 3.45 per cent. Kotak Bank, Tata Motors, ITC, M&M and Sun Pharma too ended in the red.

“Nifty consolidates as bulls take a break. Market breadth was tad negative however nothing alarming. Undertone for the index continues to remain positive and we continue to maintain our tgt for the nifty at 12400-12,450 zone. Near term support for the nifty is placed at 12,150 zone and dips should be utilized to build long positions. We expect Mid & small caps to perform going ahead. Metals sector will continue to remain in limelight,” Manav Chopra, CMT, Head Research – Equity, Indiabulls Ventures said.

Also read: Fitch affirms confidence in Indian economy: Growth outlook still ‘solid’ vs others

The rupee fell 13 paise against the US dollar to 71.16 intraday. The brent futures, the global oil benchmark, fell 0.14 per cent to $66.45 per barrel.

Expectations for the Week

“The year-end is likely to witness extremely stock specific movement with only a few pockets showing strength. A lot of rotation is also expected from highly-priced stocks/ sectors to value buying in cyclical and commodities. Investors having a one-year horizon can allocate capital to metals, cement, sugar and ceramic sectors. One can look at FMCG too as it is also giving opportunities to accumulate at the current levels. But invest only in quality companies from the above sectors to secure your portfolio from any micro risks. Nifty50 closed the week at 12271, up by 1.5%,” Jimeet Modi, Founder & CEO, SAMCO Securities & StockNote said.

Source: Financial Express