Sensex climbs 655 pts, Nifty ends above 22,300; capital goods, auto stocks top gainers

Benchmark indices ended higher on Thursday, boosted by a rally in capital goods, banking and auto stocks. Nifty rose 203 points to 22,326 and Sensex ended 655 points higher at 73,651 on the last trading day of FY24. The equity market is closed on March 29 on account of Good Friday.  

Market cap of BSE-listed firms rose to Rs 386.91 lakh crore today. Bajaj twins, SBI, M&M, PowerGrid and Nestle India were the top Sensex gainers, rising up to 3.91 per cent. Of 30 Sensex stocks, 27 ended in green.

Shares of Tech Mahindra, Axis Bank and RIL were the only Sensex losers, falling up to 0.69%.

Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities said, "Nifty has rallied significantly, surpassing the 22,500 mark after maintaining momentum beyond 22,100. Furthermore, there's a clear breakout in consolidation on the daily timeframe, signaling rising optimism. Nevertheless, Nifty encountered initial resistance near its previous swing high of 22,526. Consequently, to sustain a continued rally, it must surpass the 22,525 level decisively. On the downside, 22,200 could serve as a short-term support."

Capital goods, banking and auto stocks were the top sectoral gainers with their BSE indices rising 924 points, 435 points and 578 points, respectively on BSE.

All 19 BSE sectoral indices ended in the green. However, market breadth was negative with 1809 stocks rising against 2014 ending lower on BSE. 115 shares were unchanged.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said, "Indian equities closed the day and fiscal year on an optimistic note, with volatility by the end of the session, as buying by retails, DIIs, and FIIs surged across categories. The mid- and small-cap stocks have emerged as frontrunners, rebounding from the initial sell-off earlier in the month. An upgrade in the domestic economy forecast hints at an encouraging outlook for the stock market in FY25. However, the emphasis is on large caps due to the persisting premium valuations of mid-cap stocks, which could pose a concern on the broad market in the short to medium term."

 Previous session

The domestic equity market ended in the green on Wednesday. Sensex gained 526.01 points, or 0.73%, to 72,996.31, Nifty50 climbed 118.95 points, or 0.54%, to 22,123.65. Top Nifty gainers were Reliance Industries, Maruti, Bajaj Auto and Bajaj Finance. The laggards were UPL, Hero MotoCorp, Wipro and Dr Reddy’s.