The Indian stock market slipped into consolidation mode today, November 28, after hitting fresh record highs in the previous session, although the underlying sentiment continues to favour the bulls, supported by a recovery in domestic fundamentals, steady earnings growth, and positive global cues.
Both key indices ended the session flat, with the Nifty 50 closing 0.05% lower at 26,202, while the S&P BSE Sensex finished 0.02% down at 85,726.69. This week also proved special for market bulls, as both indices scaled fresh record highs after a gap of 14 months.
Despite higher US tariffs on Indian goods, investor sentiment remained undeterred, as market participants looked past these short-term worries to focus on long-term fundamentals, which remain strong.
Even though domestic equities began the week on a weaker note, the sharp surge on Wednesday, which cleared key hurdles for both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex and pushed them to new highs in the following session, helped the markets close the week higher, extending their winning streak to a third straight week.
Sector-wise, Nifty Auto led the gains with a 0.62% rise, while Nifty Pharma and Nifty Media also advanced by over 0.50%. On the flip side, Nifty Oil & Gas came under pressure, falling 0.69%, followed by Nifty Realty and Nifty IT, which declined 0.19% and 0.11%, respectively.
Welspun Living, Neuland Labs, Reliance Infra, Force Motors and Paytm lead gains
Welspun Living was the top performer among Nifty 500 stocks, as it advanced 12.3% to ₹148.8 apiece on the back of a sharp surge in trading volumes, keeping the stock higher for the third consecutive month.
After the recent weakness, Neuland Laboratories shares staged a comeback with a 4.20% spike to ₹17,288 apiece, closing November with a 5% rally and marking its sixth consecutive monthly gain.
Meanwhile, Reliance Infrastructure extended its bullish momentum with an additional 3.66% rise to ₹172. However, despite the day’s gains, the stock still ended the month with a 20.40% drop, marking its fifth straight monthly decline.
Force Motors shares also jumped 3.30% to ₹17,818 apiece, while Poonawalla Fincorp and SRF surged similarly by around 3% each. Varun Beverages continued to strengthen as the stock gained another 3% to ₹481 apiece.
Paytm shares rose 2.1% to ₹1,320 apiece after global brokerage firm Goldman Sachs turned bullish on the company, upgrading its rating to ‘Buy’ from ‘Neutral’ and sharply raising its 12-month target price by 123% to ₹1,570 apiece from the earlier ₹705.
Other key stocks, including Ipca Laboratories, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, KSB, Zee Entertainment, Laurus Labs, Abbott India, Latent View Analytics, Elgi Equipments, Kalyan Jewellers, M&M, and Hindustan Zinc, also gained in the range of 2% to 3.7%.
