The Sensex rose 299 points to 74,828, while the Nifty gained 118 points to 23,447. The Nifty Bank gained 333 points to 56,549, while the Midcap index rose 433 points to 62,396.
Crude decline, US-Iran talks boost sentiment
A decline in crude prices and US-Iran talks boosted sentiment, helping the market build on its opening gains. The Nifty held 24,400.
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Metal stocks lead gains
Metal stocks were among the top Nifty gainers, with Tata Steel, JSW Steel and Hindalco gaining 3% each. A price hike boosted certain steel names, with SAIL closing 6% higher. Copper prices extending gains led to higher moves for Polycab and KEI Industries.
Financial stocks, select names gain
Bajaj Finance gained 3% after reacting to a positive brokerage note. PB Fintech surged 5% on an expectation of an Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) paper, while IDFC First Bank ended 3% higher after UBS upgraded the stock.
MCX ended 3% higher ahead of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) board meeting, with certain Foreign Portfolio Investor (FPI)-related norms expected. 360 One WAM rose more than 3% following the new CEO announcement.
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IT remains a drag, Ather Energy extends losses
IT remained a drag, with HCL Technologies, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Infosys among the four top Nifty losers. Ather Energy fell 3% on the day and is down 9% this week.
Meanwhile, Hero Motors, Jindal Supreme and SS Retail saw gains of 17% to 76% on debut. Market breadth favoured advances, with the advance-decline ratio at 2:1.From the Sensex basket, Tata Steel Ltd, Bajaj Finance Ltd, Hindalco Industries Ltd, JSW Steel Ltd, ITC Ltd and Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd were the major gainers.
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HCL Technologies Ltd, Infosys Ltd, Coal India Ltd, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd, Titan Company Ltd and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd were the biggest laggards.
Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Research, Wealth Management, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd, on the metals sector, said, “I think overall, the metal prices are turning constructive, while the base industrial metals are touching record highs. I think in the core metals, which are steel and aluminium, there we are seeing some improvement, especially if you look at the HRC prices in Europe and the US, they continue to remain strengthened, while China export prices have largely remained stable.
We are seeing that in the domestic market, the steel prices, particularly the rebar, have seen a sharp recovery due to the tightening supply as well as lower inventories. On top of it, we have certain segments where the government has implemented anti-dumping duty on some flat-rolled aluminium products, which are additional positive triggers.
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So overall, we believe that with metal prices gaining momentum, there is also some element of higher input costs, which needs to be monitored, but the overall view is turning positive on the metal pack.”