Mumbai. The local stock market rose on Thursday and both the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty touched new peaks. The domestic market got support from the positive global sentiment amid the US Federal Reserve’s policy rate cut after more than four years.
The 30-share BSE Sensex closed at its highest level of 83,184.80 points with a gain of 236.57 points or 0.29 percent. During trading, it jumped 825.38 points or 0.99 percent to reach a new peak of 83,773.61 points.
The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty also closed at 25,415.80 points with a gain of 38.25 points or 0.15 percent. During the day’s trading, it had reached its highest level of 25,611.95 points with a gain of 234.4 points or 0.92 percent.
Among the 30 companies listed on the Sensex, shares of NTPC, Nestle, Titan, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Maruti, Hindustan Unilever, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank were the biggest gainers.
On the other hand, the stocks that remained in loss include HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services, Adani Ports, Larsen & Toubro, JSW Steel, State Bank of India, Tech Mahindra and Bajaj Finance. Markets Mojo Group CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Amit Golia said, “In the domestic market, Nifty has climbed 2.1 percent in the last 10 days in anticipation of a cut in the policy rate. However, today market activities remained almost stable. The enthusiasm that was there in the beginning, softened in the afternoon.” He said, “This shows that the market has already cashed in on the talk of a cut in the policy rate and is waiting for other indicators for further direction. Apart from this, the price of crude oil is at a 52-week low. Also, iron ore and steel are around the lowest level of many years. It is clear from this that the global economy is slowing down.” BSE Smallcap, linked to the shares of small companies, fell 1.06 percent while the Midcap index linked to mid-sized companies was in loss of 0.53 percent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said, “After the Federal Reserve cut the policy rate by 0.50 percent in the US and hinted at further reduction in it, the domestic market reached record levels. However, in the end it closed with a slight increase. The big cut in the policy rate has increased the concern about the slowdown at the global level. Due to this, profit booking was seen in the shares of medium and small companies trading at high prices.” In other Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei, China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng were in profit. There was a bullish trend during trading in major markets of Europe. US markets were in loss on Wednesday.
According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors bought shares worth Rs 1,153.69 crore on Wednesday.
Vijay B., founder of Wallfort Financial Services Ltd., said, “The 0.50 percent reduction in the policy rate by the US Federal Reserve is a bold step. Due to this, central banks of other countries including RBI can also adopt the path of reducing interest rates.” Global oil benchmark Brent crude jumped 1.21 percent to $ 74.54 per barrel.