Market extends record run: Sensex settles above 69,000; Nifty tops 20,850; Adani stocks rally up to 20%

Domestic equity markets settled at fresh record highs on Tuesday as the buying momentum continued. Buying in financials and metal stocks pushed the markets higher, while Adani Group stocks hogged limelight for the day. Headline indices gave up gains marginally, but staged a smart recovery in the latter half.

For the day, BSE's Sensex surged 431.02 points, or 0.63 per cent, to end at 69,296.14. NSE's Nifty50 jumped about 168.30 points, or 0.81 per cent, to end the day at 20,855.10. Broader markets underperformed the headline indices as BSE midcap and smallcap indices settled marginally up. Fear gauge spiked about 4 per cent to 13.46-mark.

On a sectoral front, the Nifty metal index surged more than 3 per cent. The Nifty oil & gas, PSU Bank and private bank indices gained more than a per cent each. The Nifty financial services and consumer durable indices were other key gainers. On the contrary, the Nifty IT and media indices shed about a per cent each, while the Nifty realty and FMCG indices were other laggards.

Markets scaled fresh record highs on the back of impressive gains led by power, oil & gas and banking stocks, as investors continue to bet big on India growth story with fresh election victory for the ruling party in recent state elections further aiding the sentiment, said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

"Helping investors' sentiments were hopes that the US Federal Reserve will initiate rate cuts in the coming year. Technically, Nifty has support at 20,647-20,407 levels and resistance is at 21,001-21,331" he said.

Adani Group stocks were in demand for the day after Bloomberg's report. Adani Energy Solutions, Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas surged 20 per cent each. Adani Enterprises rallied 17 per cent, Adani Power was up 16 per cent and Adani Ports gained 15 per cent for the day. Adani Wilmar was up 10 per cent, while NDTV rallied 18 per cent for the day.

In the Nifty50 pack, Power Grid surged 5 per cent other than Adani group stocks. NTPC surged more than 4 per cent, while State Bank of India, Bharat Petroleum and ICICI Bank rose 2 per cent each. Titan Company and Mahindra & Mahindra were other key gainers for the day.

Among the losers, LTIMindTree and Hindustan Unilever shed 2 per cent each, while Divis Laboratories, HCL Technologies and Bajaj Auto declined more than a per cent each. Eicher Motors, Bajaj Finance, Wipro and Infosys were among the other key laggards for the day.

 Markets edged higher for yet another session and gained nearly a percent, in continuation of the prevailing up move.  After the initial surge, Nifty remained in a range for most of the session and settled around the day’s high at 20,855.10 levels, said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research at Religare Broking

"The rotational buying across heavyweights is pushing the Nifty to a newer high despite the overbought reading and it is now heading towards 21,000-mark. We recommend focusing on the stocks that were on the sidelines for some time and are likely to join the move now. Traders should keep on trailing stop losses in the existing trades to capitalize on the prevailing trend," he said.

A total of 3,875 shares were traded on BSE on Tuesday, of which 1,969 settled with cuts. 1,787 stocks ended the session with gains while 119 shares remained unchanged. During the day, only nine shares hit their upper circuit, whereas merely six shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, Spencer Retail gained about 13 per cent while Panama Petrochem soared 12 per cent. Inox Green Energy, Indo Amine, Music Broadcast (India) and Entertainment Network (India) gained 11 per cent each. Rallis India settled 10 per cent higher for the day.

Among the laggards, Cyient tanked about 7 per cent, while Shalimar Pains, Gokaldas Exports declined 6 per cent each. Sanmit Infra, Indraprastha Medical Corp, Goldiam International and Inox Wind Energy shed 5 per cent each for the day.

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