Nifty above 25,700, nears all-time high, Sensex rises 500 points as FMCG, auto stocks gain

Nifty 50, Sensex close the week with 2 percent gains.

Dalal Street rallied for the third consecutive session as the bulls got into the festive mood on Friday, October 17, with the benchmark indices closing the week with two percent each. The gains were supported by strong buying seen in FMCG and auto shares, while losses in IT and metals capped the wins.

The Nifty 50 settled above the 25,700 mark, hitting its 52-week high in trade. At this juncture, the index is just shy of two percent away from its all-time high of 26,216.05, recorded in September 2024. The Bank Nifty index hit a fresh record high at 57,830.20, led by gains in blue-chip banking stocks.

At close, the Sensex was up 484.53 points or 0.58 percent at 83,952.19, and the Nifty was up 124.55 points or 0.49 percent at 25,709.85. About 1656 shares advanced, 2314 shares declined, and 158 shares unchanged.

Sectoral performance for the session was mixed, with gains led by FMCG, auto, and healthcare stocks. The Nifty FMCG index rose 1.33 percent, while Nifty Auto and Nifty Healthcare gained 0.69 percent and 0.79 percent, respectively. Consumer durables and financials also saw modest advances.

On the other hand, IT and media stocks came under pressure, with Nifty IT falling 1.64 percent and Nifty Media slipping 1.45 percent. Metal and PSU Bank indices also ended lower, while realty and oil & gas were largely flat.

"The domestic investor sentiment remains constructive, underpinned by steady FII & domestic inflows, resilient Q2 earnings, and a recovery in Indian rupee against the dollar, keeping market participants optimistic about near-term momentum," said Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money.

Nifty continued with the strong, robust move further ahead, indicating a breakout above the resistance zone of the 2,5500 level, with bias gaining strength, expecting a further upward move in the coming days.

"With the undertone getting strong, the index would have the next target of the 25,800 zone, above which the trend would turn bullish to retest the previous peak zone of the 26300 level with the important support positioned at the 25,000 level from here on," said Vaishali Parekh, Vice President - Technical Research at PL Capital.

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