Market fails to hold early gains; FMCG hits all-time high
At close, the Sensex was up 13.65 points or 0.02% at 81,711.76, while the Nifty was up 7.20 points or 0.03% at 25,017.80.
Sensex crossed 81,000 points for the first time to set a new record of 81,203 while Nifty 50 crossed 24,700 for the first time to hit a new all-time high of 24,746.
Photo: IANS
Benchmark indices escalated to record fresh highs on Thursday and extended the winning run for the fourth straight session led by IT, banking, and FMCG names.
Sensex crossed 81,000 points for the first time to set a new record of 81,203 while Nifty 50 crossed 24,700 for the first time to hit a new all-time high of 24,746.
At the close, the Sensex was up 626.91 points or 0.78% at 81,343.46, and the Nifty was up 187.85 points or 0.76% at 24,800.85.
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Among sectors, bank, auto, IT, FMCG, and telecom rose 0.3-2%, while capital goods, metal, power, and media were down 1-3.5%.
Nifty IT index extended its winning streak for the fourth consecutive trading session, crossing the 40,000 mark for the first time and hitting a new all-time high of 40,059 points, marking a gain of 2.10%.
This milestone comes after the index first surpassed the 39,500 mark on Monday, a level it had not seen in 28 months. In the last 4 days, the index has gained 7.35%.
Five of the 10 index constituents reached new 52-week highs, posting gains ranging from 2% to 3%. These include TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Mphasis.
Indian rupee closed lower at 83.65 per dollar on Thursday against Tuesday’s close of 83.58.
The BSE midcap and smallcap index shed one percent each.
On the Nifty, TCS, LTIMindtree, ONGC, Bajaj Finserv, and Wipro were among the top gainers. The losers included Asian Paints, Hero MotoCorp, Grasim, Coal India, and Bajaj Auto.
Shares of Eicher Motors fell as much as 3% to Rs 4,784 apiece on Thursday after a host of brokerages issued bearish calls on the stock following the company’s launch of Royal Enfield Guerrilla 450.
Morgan Stanley maintained its ‘underweight’ call and has a price target of Rs 3,533.
Shares of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) skyrocketed 19% to hit a multi-year high at Rs 63.32 on NSE amid heavy volumes. The rise comes after the government deposited Rs 92 crore to clear immediate bond interest dues of the state-owned telecom service provider.
Further, the shares of IDBI Bank soared nearly 6% to Rs 93 per share after RBI issued a ‘fit and proper’ report on bidders, advancing the divestment process.
On Friday, the market will also be awaiting Wipro’s Q1FY25 results, which are expected tomorrow, July 19. The analyst projects flat sequential revenue growth for Wipro in the June-ended quarter.
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