Sensex, Nifty hit fresh lifetime highs on buying in blue-chips HDFC Bank, Reliance

Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty hit their new closing lifetime highs on Friday, following buying in market heavyweights HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries and Mahindra & Mahindra amid encouraging export data.

However, foreign capital outflows amid lack of fresh triggers capped sharp gains, traders said.

Rising for the third straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 181.87 points or 0.24% to settle at a new closing peak of 76,992.77. During the day, it jumped 270.4 points or 0.35% to 77,081.30.

The NSE Nifty rallied 66.70 points or 0.29% to hit a record closing high of 23,465.60. Intra-day, it rose 91.5 points or 0.39% to hit a fresh all-time high of 23,490.40.

On a weekly basis, the BSE benchmark climbed 299.41 points or 0.39%, while the Nifty advanced 175.45 points or 0.75%.

“There is a temporary blip in the market momentum, due to a lack of fresh triggers after the hawkish commentary from the U.S. Fed, lowering the plausibility of a rate cut in the short-term. A near-term consolidation seems probable as domestic investors await cues from the upcoming union budget,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

Among the 30 Sensex companies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Titan, HDFC Bank, Reliance Industries, UltraTech Cement, Bajaj Finance, Axis Bank, Tata Motors and Asian Paints were the biggest gainers.

On the other hand, Tech Mahindra, Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, HCL Technologies, Larsen & Toubro and State Bank of India were among the major laggards.

India’s merchandise exports in May 2024 rose by 9% to $38.13 billion, from $34.95 billion in the year-ago month, according to government data released on Friday.

Imports also increased by 7.7% to $61.91 billion from $57.48 billion in May 2023.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge jumped 1.18%, and smallcap index climbed 1.03%.

Among indices, industrials jumped 1.68%, capital goods (1.62%), telecommunication (1.31%), auto (1.26%), consumer discretionary (1.15%) and realty (0.94%).

In contrast, IT and teck were the laggards.

“Asian stocks were mixed on Friday as Japanese shares rose after the Bank of Japan surprised markets by signalling no near-term changes to its bond-buying programme, while Chinese markets were the worst performers for the day, hit by new European Union tariffs against the country’s major electric vehicle makers,” Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, said.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai settled higher, while Hong Kong ended lower.

European markets were quoting lower in mid-session deals. U.S. markets ended on a mixed note on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth ₹3,033 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude dipped 0.12% to $82.65 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the wholesale inflation rose to a 15-month high of 2.61% in May, as heatwave conditions pushed up prices of food items, especially vegetables and costlier manufactured products.

The wholesale price index (WPI) based inflation has been rising for three months in a row. It was 1.26% in the previous month and (-) 3.61% in May 2023.

Equity markets will remain closed on Monday on account of Bakri Id.

The BSE benchmark jumped 538.89 points or 0.70 to hit its lifetime peak of 77,145.46 on Thursday. It later ended at 76,810.90, up 204.33 points or 0.27%. The Nifty rallied 75.95 points or 0.33% to settle at 23,398.90.