Stock market today: Indian benchmark indices surged in the afternoon session on Thursday led by across the board buying in sectoral indices. The 30-stock index climbed 1,322 pts to 82,278 and Nifty gained 379 pts to 24,846. Market cap of BSE-listed firms stood at Rs 459.16 lakh crore in today’s session. IT stocks led the gains with the BSE IT index rising 988 pts to 44,751.
Rate cut hopes
Global brokerage Nomura expects the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to start a rate-cutting cycle, with the first cut expected to be announced on December 6. According to the brokerage, RBI is expected to announce a 25 basis points repo rate cut and a 50 basis points Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) cut on December 6 to counter the economic slowdown and increase liquidity in the banking system.
FII buying
Sentiment was upbeat as foreign institutional investors bought Rs 1797.60 crore worth of equities on a net basis on Wednesday even as while domestic investors sold Rs 900.62 crore of shares, as per provisional NSE data.
This is the second straight session of buying by FIIs in Indian equities. On Tuesday, FIIs purchased shares worth Rs 3664.67 crore with DIIs selling equities worth Rs 250.99 crore.
US markets
US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comment about the resilience of the US economy. The recent performance of the US economy has been “remarkably good, ” said Powell giving central bankers room to lower interest rates at a careful pace. Buoyed by the Fed chief's comments, the Dow Jones crossed the 45,000 mark for the first time as it extended a 2024 rally that’s driven major benchmarks to a series of records.
Expert take
Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities said, "Bullish chart patterns like higher highs and lows are intact on the daily chart and any dips from here could be a buying opportunity. A decisive move above 24,500 is likely to open the next upside of around 24900 in the near term. The immediate support is at 24300.
Buying in heavyweights
Infosys, Titan, TCS, Bajaj Finance, HCL Tech and M&M were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 3%. Strong buying in heavyweights lifted sentiment on Dalal Street.
Coming back to market action, BSE bankex climbed 718 pts to 61,247. All 19 sectoral indices were trading in the green. BSE capital goods index gained 529 pts to 72,761.
With nearly a month remaining in 2024, Sensex has climbed 13.60% this year and Nifty rallied 14.27% during the period.
As many as 231 stocks hit their 52-week highs today. On the other hand, 11 shares fell to their 52-week lows on BSE.
Market breadth was positive as out of 4049 stocks traded, 2,108 stocks were trading in the green. Around 1814 shares were in the red and 127 stocks were unchanged.
BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose 77 pts to 47,449 and 96.47 pts to 56,713, respectively.
Around 385 stocks hit their upper circuits as the stock market rallied in the afternoon session today. On the other hand, 195 shares hit their lower circuit limits.
Later, Sensex rose 809 points to end at 81,765 and Nifty closed 241 points higher at 24,708 on Thursday.
Previous session
Benchmark indices extended gains for the fourth consecutive session on Wednesday. Sensex rose 110 points to 80,956, and Nifty was up 10 points at 24,467.