Nifty50 closes in on 20k-mark as upbeat sentiments continue

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The benchmark Nifty50 crossed the psychologically significant mark of 19,900 points and closed only 20.85 points away from 20,000 points, although it came very close to 19,991.85 on the day.

The index closed up 146 points, or 0.74 percent, at 19,979.15 points, led by financial stocks, fast-moving consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. With the exception of information technology and consumer durables, all other sectors finished in the green. The benchmark index recovered from initial weakness to climb to a record high in intraday trades.

The BSE Sensex Index rose 474.5 points, or 0.71 percent, to 67,571.90 at the close.

Shares in the broader market also closed higher, but lagged the index. The Nifty midcap 100 index increased by 0.24 percent, while the Small Business 100 index increased by 0.37 percent.

The Nifty50 Index rose for the sixth consecutive session. The main contributors to the rise were ICICI Bank (up 2.3 percent), while the International Trade Center rose 2.8 percent. Analysts said that the NSE’s cash market volumes were above average.

The sentiment is optimistic

“Market sentiment remains bullish on strong foreign inflows and a healthy macroeconomic outlook,” said Devarsh Vakil, vice president of retail research at HDFC Securities. “Expectations of the end of the monetary tightening cycle in the US after the policy meeting in July also contribute to the increase in foreign inflows to Indian stock exchanges.”

Foreign portfolio investors have pumped $3.3 billion into Indian stocks in July so far and $16.5 billion in 2023 so far.

The Nifty50 index is up 15 percent since April 1st and in July it is up 4 percent.

RIL results

“The strong heavyweight results are likely to influence the market direction in the near term,” said Siddhartha Kimka, Head of Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

He added that investors were eagerly awaiting Friday’s first-quarter results from Reliance Industries (RIL), “and management’s comments on that along with more details on Jio Financial’s listing.” The unmerged financial services entity, Jio Financial Services, is set to list at $261.80, the indicative price discovered in a private trading session for RIL on Thursday.

Market expects Nifty50 to cross 20,000 on Friday. Technical analysts said that the chart models showed no signs of “fatigue or building a reversal pattern at new highs,” and further upsides were indicated.

“The current bullish momentum is likely to continue in the short term and the next crucial bullish resistance to be watched around 20450….” said Nagaraj Shetty, Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.