Sensex hits fresh high, ends 152 points higher; IT, telecom stocks rally

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Indian benchmark equity indices settled higher on Tuesday tracking a positive trend in global markets. BSE Sensex closed 151.81 points or 0.28% higher at record high of 54,554.66, while the broader NSE Nifty advanced 21.85 points or 0.13% to 16,280.10.

“Domestic market remained highly volatile as the early gains were trimmed off following selling pressure in global markets. Concerns over an early withdrawal of asset purchase programs by the Federal Reserve and US CPI inflation data to be released this week impacted the global market. However, strong support from large caps, especially from sectors like finance and IT, helped domestic main indices to end on a positive note. After a steady rally during the previous months, the small and mid-cap stocks are witnessing consolidation for the past few trading sessions while buying interest has shifted to large caps. The third wave of Covid and fall in liquidity will be a lethal combination for highly-priced mid & small caps,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Gainers and losers

Sectoral strand

IT & Financial services supported the market and cushioned the fall in the broader market, while most key sectoral indices ended in the red.

Nifty Metal lost the most as it slipped over 3%, followed by Nifty Realty index plunging 2.45%. While Nifty Auto, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Bank indices were down anywhere between 0.06-0.75%.

Bucking the trend was the Nifty IT and Nifty Financial Service index that rallied 0.79% and 0.25%, respectively.

Broader market

A sell-off was witnessed in the mid and smallcap companies amid profit booking. The BSE MidCap index fell 0.85% to end at 22,762. The selloff was much aggressive in the smallcap as the BSE SmallCap index settled at 26,065 tanking 2.05%.

With today’s fall, the BSE MidCap index has corrected 3.05% from its all-time high and the BSE SmallCap index was down by 4.60%.

Stocks like JSW Energy from the mid-cap segment while Tata Steel Long Products, Himatsingka Seide, Hindustan Oil Exploration Company, Trident, Neuland Laboratories, Praj Industries, Somany Ceramics, Godawari Power & Ispat and TVS Electronics were locked in their respective lower circuit bands on the BSE.

Overall market breadth also turned negative as 2,495 stocks on the BSE declined, while 763 advanced and 116 remained unchanged.

Global markets

Most shares in Europe and Asia advanced on Tuesday, 10 August 2021, looking to break out from a cautious approach seen globally at the start of the week.

Worries about the impact of Covid on global growth continued to weigh on investor sentiment, with countries grappling with the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant of the virus.