Sensex, Nifty off day's highs but continue in green; IT, financial stocks drive rally

IT and banks kept indices afloat while profit-booking hit autos and PSU bank

Indian benchmark indices held on to gains in the afternoon session on September 18, with buying in financials and IT stocks offsetting profit-booking in autos and PSU banks.

Around noon, the Sensex gained 153.98 points, or 0.19 percent, to trade at 82,847.69, while the Nifty advanced 44.35 points, or 0.18 percent, to 25,374.60. Market breadth remained slightly weak, with 1,798 stocks advancing, 1,889 declining, and 155 remaining unchanged.

The Nifty IT index, which initially led the upmove, trimmed some of its gains by midday. Optimism around the US Federal Reserve’s signal of two more rate cuts lent support to IT services companies, improving visibility for spending on outsourcing and tech projects.

The Bank Nifty index, meanwhile, stretched its winning run to the 12th straight session. Shares of Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have surged as much as 7 percent during this streak, driven by signs of improving credit demand and expectations of a re-rating in the sector.

Apurva Sheth, Head of Market Perspectives and Research at SAMCO Securities, said, “The Fed is walking a tightrope between growth and inflation. Corporates have been slow in passing tariff hikes to consumers, but both delaying or passing on costs pose risks to profitability and inflation. For now, the markets are choosing to focus on the positives.”

ICICI Securities analysts see the Nifty gradually heading higher towards 25,500 in the coming weeks. “The US dollar index sustaining below 97 bodes well for emerging markets. With improvements in the broader structure, we revise our support for Nifty to 24,900, marking a 50 percent retracement of the recent upmove,” the brokerage said.