Market extends record run: Sensex zooms 970 points; Nifty settles above 21,450; IT blue-chips shine

Domestic equity markets witnessed another historic trading session on Friday as headline indices posted big gains for the day. The optimism over rate cut possibilities propelled benchmark indices to new highs and BSE's barometer Sensex scaled the 71,000 mark for the first time. IT stocks, particularly the blue-chip counters, stole the show during the session.

For the day, BSE's Sensex surged 969.55 points, or 1.37 per cent, to settle at 71,483.75. NSE's Nifty50 gained 273.95 points, or 1.29 per cent, to end the day at 21,456.65. Broader markets were mixed as the BSE midcap index ended in red while BSE smallcap index advanced about half a per cent. Fear gauge spike about 7 per cent to 13.13-mark.

Markets extended gains and settled around the day’s high, in continuation to the prevailing trend. After the initial gap-up, the Nifty index remained in a range for most of the session however a sharp surge in the final hour again fueled the momentum. A mixed trend was witnessed on the sectoral front wherein IT pack was the highlight, said Ajit Mishra, SVP - Technical Research at Religare Broking.

"We could see a breather in the index after the recent surge and expect to hold the 21,000-21,200 zone in case of any dip.  Much on the expected lines, banking and IT majors are among the top contributors in the present leg of up move and we believe their outperformance could continue. Participants should align their trades accordingly and avoid contrarian positions," he said.

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On a sectoral front, the Nifty IT index rose about 5 per cent, while the Nifty PSU Bank and metal indices gained more than 2 per cent each. The Nifty oil & gas index ended about a per cent higher. Among the laggards, the Nifty realty index shed about a per cent, while the Nifty auto, FMCG, media and healthcare indices also settled in red.

In the Nifty50 pack, HCL Technologies and Tata Consultancy Services rallied 6 per cent each, while Infosys was up 5 per cent for the day. State Bank of India gained about 4 per cent, while Tata Steel, Tech Mahindra, NTPC, Adani Entertainment, LTIMindTree and Wipro added 3 per cent each.

Among the laggards, HDFC Life Insurance Company and Nestle India shed 2 per cent each. Bharti Airtel and SBI Life Insurance Company dropped more than a per cent each. Maruti Suzuki India, Britannia Industries and Bajaj Auto were other laggards for the day.

The buoyancy continued in the market as investors were expecting the clouds over US economic growth to recede by H2CY24 and that the economy would achieve a soft landing aided by normalization in monetary policy, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"The USD/INR witnessed a steep fall on account of the prospects of interest rates being cut next year. The IT index outperformed expectations of a rise in demand in the US economy," he said

A total of 3,888 shares were traded on BSE on Friday, of which 1,972 settled with gains. 1,798 stocks ended the session with cuts while 118 shares remained unchanged. During the day, 325 shares hit their upper circuit, whereas merely 222 shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

In the broader markets, Kiri Industries hit upper circuit of 20 per cent, while JM Financial surged about 14 per cent. Infobeans Technologies rose 12 per cent, while Zensar Technologies, Jubilant Pharmova and Sunflag Iron & Steel gained 11 per cent each. J Kumar Infraprojects ended 10 per cent higher for the day.

Among the laggards, PTC Industries tanked about 8 per cent, while 360 ONE WAM and BCL Industries shed 6 per cent each. 63 Moons  Technologies, Edelweiss Financial Services, Paramount Cables, Subros, Prestige Estate Enterprises and Bajaj Holdings & Investment shed 5 per cent each for the day.

Also read: Infosys, TCS, Wipro, HCL Tech, TechM: Why are IT shares rallying?

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