Equity benchmarks closed higher on Thursday. BSE Sensex closed at 79,243.18, higher by 568.93 pts or 0.72 per cent, and Nifty 50 closed at 24,044.50, up by 175.70 pts or 0.74 per cent.
Majority of sectoral indices closed in green. Nifty IT increased by 2.03 per cent to 36,123.70 and Nifty oil & gas was up 0.86 per cent at 12,021.55.
On the other hand, Nifty Bank dropped 0.11 per cent to close at 52,811.30.
Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd., said, “The rotational buying across key sectors is contributing to the index’s steady rise, and we expect this trend to continue. Following the banking sector, we anticipate that IT and FMCG will play crucial roles in maintaining the positive momentum. With the Nifty crossing the 24,000 mark, we see potential for it to test 24,500, with support around the 23,600 level. Participants should align their positions accordingly and look for buying opportunities on dips.”
Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, said, “We are of the view that the larger texture of the market is bullish but due to temporary overbought conditions, we could see some profit booking at higher levels.”
“For the breakout traders now, 23920/78600 would act as a key support zone while 24150 -24200/79400-79600 could be the immediate resistance zone for the bulls. For the day traders buying on intraday correction and sell on rallies would be the ideal strategy. However, below 23920/78600 traders may prefer to exit out from the trading long positions,” Chouhan added.
UltraTech Cement, LTIMindtree, Grasim, NTPCand Wipro were the top gainers on the NSE, while L&T, Shriram Finance,Eicher Motors,Divi’s Laboratories, and HDFC Bank were the major laggards.
A total of 4,006 stocks were traded on the BSE of which 1,507 advanced, 2,385 declined, and 114 remained unchanged. The number of stocks that hit a 52-week high was 300, while 26 hit a 52-week low.
In addition, 318 stocks hit the upper circuit and 227 hit the lower circuit.
The major stocks that hit a 52-week high on the NSE include Route Mobile (12.88%), India Cements (11.09%), Whirlpool (9.03%), Ritco (8.71%), and Mazagon Dock (7.65%).