Nifty, Sensex extend gains for fifth session led by auto, financial stocks; IT names pare losses

The Nifty and Sensex started the session on a weak footing but soon managed to shrug off jitters.

Buying made its way into the market as benchmark indices--the Nifty 50 and Sensex, extended the uptrend to the fifth consecutive session as of mid-trade on March 21. Strong gains in automobile and financial names drove the upmove, offsetting losses in information technology heavyweights like Infosys.

With the uptick in trade, the Nifty 50 also managed to move past the 23,300-mark, a move that market experts were largely anticipating. The turnaround for Indian equities seen in the past week was also triggered by changing sentiment among foreign institutional investors turned net buyers in two out of the past three sessions, after a month of relentless selling.

At 1.31 pm, the Sensex was up 598.30 points or 0.78 percent at 76,946.36, and the Nifty was up 178.55 points or 0.77 percent at 23,369.20. About 2,523 shares advanced, 1,016 shares declined, and 109 shares were unchanged.

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Technical factors also supported expectations of a sustained bullish momentum for Indian equities as the Nifty 50 managed to break through its 50-day exponential moving average (EMA) in the previous session. With that done,  Sameet Chavan, Head Research, Technical and Derivative at Angel One,  is eyeing the 89 EMA around 23,300 - 23,400, making it an immediate hurdle, followed by the previous high at 23,800 as the next key resistance.

On the flip side, Chavan sees immediate support is seen at 23,000, aligning with the 50-day EMA, while strong support lies at 22,800.

On the sectoral front, 11 out of the 13 major sectoral indices were trading in the green, with Nifty Realty being the frontrunner, up over 2 percent.

Aside from that, Nifty Energy, Nifty Auto, Nifty Infra, Nifty Pharma, Nifty Media, Nifty Media and Nifty PSU Bank rose 1-2 percent.

Among specific stocks, Bajaj Finance soared to a record high after its Managing Director, Rajeev Jain, was appointed to the board of Bajaj Finserv in an executive role. While he will continue to oversee Bajaj Finance, Jain will also play a key role in the group's newer ventures, including healthcare, and support the transition within its insurance businesses. Bajaj Finserv, the promoter of Bajaj Finance, holds a 54 percent stake in the Rs 3.25 lakh crore lending firm.

Information technology stocks witnessed selling after Accenture's lower-than-expected revenue guidance. Accenture is often viewed as a bellwether for Indian IT companies, providing insights into their potential performance. Its earnings report serves as a crucial indicator for the global IT industry, particularly for Indian tech firms that depend heavily on service exports for revenue.