Stock Market Today: Sensex climbs 456 points, Nifty settles above 18,000-mark; financials rally

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 455.95 points (0.76 per cent) to end at 60,571.08 while the Nifty 50 surged 133.70 points (0.75 per cent) to end above the 18,000-mark for the first time since April, settling at 18,070.05. Both the indices had opened over 0.5 per cent earlier in the day and extended gains as the trade progressed with the BSE benchmark hitting an intraday high of 60,635.28 and the broader Nifty touching 18,088.30.

Gains on the Sensex pack were led by Bajaj Finserv, IndusInd Bank, Bharti Airtel, Titan Company, Larsen & Toubro (L&T), HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Power Grid Corporation of India and ITC. In contrast, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asian Paints, Tech Mahindra and Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories ended with marginal cuts.

Among sectors, the Nifty Financial Services index rose 0.91 per cent, Nifty Bank inched 0.74 per cent, Nifty Metal rallied 1.28 per cent and Nifty FMCG inched 0.75 per cent.

In the broader market, the S&P BSE MidCap index rose 84.65 points (0.32 per cent) to end at 26,252.08 while the S&P BSE SmallCap climbed 70.29 points (0.24 per cent) to settle at 29,893.97.

Commenting on the Nifty’s view, Kunal Shah, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities, said, “The Nifty index surpassed the psychological mark of 18,000 and managed to close above it indicating the continuation of the ongoing momentum. The index lower end support stands at the 17,900-17,875 zone and as long as the mentioned support is held it remains in a buy mode. The index immediate resistance on the upside is at 18,100 and once taken out will open the room for 18,400-18,500 on the upside.”

“The Bank Nifty index witnessed a gap up opening and sustained the level throughout the day which confirms the strength. The index immediate hurdle is placed at 41,000 where the highest open interest is built up on the call side and once breached will see a sharp sort covering towards 41,500-41,800 levels,” he noted.

Global Market (from Reuters)

The dollar was heading for its longest losing streak in a year and world stocks were higher for a fifth straight day on Tuesday, ahead of US inflation data expected to show the furious surge in prices may finally be cresting.

Asian markets rose overnight and another dip in gas prices helped Europe’s STOXX 600 move up 0.2 per cent, despite a modest lift in government bond market borrowing costs.

On Tuesday morning, traders were already digesting German business confidence data that showed ongoing recession angst . But the day’s main event will be US inflation figures due at 1230 GMT, data that will feed into next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

Wall Street indexes were pointing to a fifth straight day of gains for the main S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial and Nasdaq markets later. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares ex-Japan overnight continued its bounceback from two-year lows. It rose 0.7 per cent, led by a 2.7 per cent jump for South Korea’s KOSPI , while Japan’s Nikkei put on 0.25 per cent.