Post Session Market Commentary

After rising to previous peaks at the start of the session, key indices ended with marginal gains on Thursday as investors sold for profits at higher levels.

“Frontline stocks have been in consolidation mode over the past week, so investors used today’s rise to book some profits. Technical indicators also showed the market was in an over bought zone in the morning, so the momentum eased in the latter half of the day. But the undertone remains strong; there are no signs of weakness,” said Suresh Kumar Iyer, technical analyst at Asit C Mehta Investment Interrmediates.

The National Stock Exchange’s Nifty soared to an all-time high of 6027.05 before settling at 5954.7, up 15 points or 0.25 per cent from the previous close.

The Bombay Stock Exchange’s Sensex ended up 58 points or 0.29 per cent at 19,795.87. From an intra-day high of 20,064.31, the index dipped to 19,716.57 before the close.

Hindalco Industries (down 3.11%), Grasim Industries (3.07%), Bajaj Auto (2.57%), HDFC Bank (2.41%) and Tata Steel (2.1%) were the biggest laggards.

However, heavyweights like ICICI Bank (up 3.24%), Reliance Energy (3.13%), HDFC (2.63%), Bharti Airtel (2.3%) and Infosys Technologies (1.97%) supported indices.

Real estate shares marched ahead despite a reversed trend in the rest of the market, adding3.58 per cent to the BSE Realty Index. Omaxe climbed 12.2 per cent, Unitech advanced 9.82 per cent Peninsula Land rose 6.62 per cent and Sobha Developers gained 2.12 per cent.

Stocks in the mid-cap space also ended weaker, snapping up a week-long rally. Jindal Saw shed 5.25 per cent, Godrej Consumer Products lost 4.96 per cent, Exide Indus slipped 3.96 per cent, Escorts dropped 3.88 per cent, Neyveli Lignite slipped 3.49 per cent and Arvind Mills fell 3.46 per cent.

The BSE Mid-cap Index ended down 0.21 per cent while the CNX Mid-cap Index finished flat.

The market breadth showed 1805 gainers and 1043 losers on BSE, while on NSE, 676 shares rose and 524 fell.

Key indices Asia ended with significant gains. The Nikkei was up 1.7 per cent, the Hang Seng up 1.1 per cent and the Straits Times up 1.08 per cent.

Stocks in Europe also posted gains with the FTSE, CAC and DAX trading about a per cent higher.