Stock market today: Sensex, Nifty 50 end at fresh closing highs; midcaps, smallcaps falter | Stock Market News

Stock market today: The Indian stock market benchmarks, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, achieved fresh closing highs on Thursday, August 1, marking their fifth consecutive session of gains. The upward momentum was primarily driven by strong performances from index heavyweights HDFC Bank and Reliance Industries.

The Sensex hit its fresh all-time high of 82,129.49, and the Nifty 50 made a fresh peak of 25,078.30 during the session.

Eventually, the Sensex closed at 81,867.55, up 126 points, or 0.15 per cent, while the Nifty 50 ended 60 points, or 0.24 per cent, higher at 25,010.90, thus ending at their fresh closing highs.

However, mid and smallcap indices ended with losses due to profit booking amid rising concerns over rich valuations. The BSE Midcap index fell 0.80 per cent, while the Smallcap index lost 0.70 per cent.

Global cues were mixed. Major European markets fell, reacting to corporate earnings. However, US stock futures were in the green as the US Fed signalled that rate cuts could start in September.

Speaking to the media after the policy decision on July 31, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said, “The first interest rate cut could come as soon as the Fed’s next rate meeting in September if the data continue to suggest it is on track to meet its twin objectives of tackling inflation and employment.”

“Overnight gains in the US markets and ongoing optimism over the strong corporate earnings aided benchmark indices to scale fresh all-time highs with Nifty clocking the milestone of 25k mark and Sensex entering the 82k zone. However, weak European market cues and mixed Asian indices tempered the domestic market gains at the close,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities, observed.

“Overall, the trading session was skewed with most of the broader and sectoral indices faltering amid profit-taking whereas metals, oil and gas, and power stocks notched up gains, indicating that investors are now getting into cherry-picking of stocks instead of mounting full-fledged bullish bets,” Tapse said.

Among the 28 stocks that ended in the green in the Nifty 50 index, Power Grid (up 3.82 per cent), Coal India (up 3.47 per cent), and ONGC (up 2.03 per cent) stood at the top.

On the flip side, shares of Mahindra and Mahindra (down 2.78 per cent), Tata Steel (down 1.37 per cent) and Hero MotoCorp (down 1.35 per cent) closed as the top losers in the index.

Among the sectoral indices, Nifty Media (down 1.89 per cent), Realty (down 1.70 per cent), PSU Bank (down 0.99 per cent) and Auto (down 0.74 per cent) lost significantly.

The Nifty Bank and the Private Bank indices ended flat.

“The broader market closed with a negative bias due to escalating geopolitical tensions in the Middle East leading to rising crude oil prices. Sector-wise, capital goods and realty were impacted by profit-booking coupled with auto sectors owing to below-expected monthly auto sales figures,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services.

“From a short-term perspective, we expect the rally to continue towards 25,330–25,530. Crucial support now stands at 24,850–24,800. The divergence between the daily and hourly momentum indicators can lead to a consolidation; however, price action is suggesting a breakout. We assign more weightage to the price action and continue to maintain our positive outlook on the Nifty,” said Jatin Gedia, a technical research analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

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