Mid-day Mood | Sensex, Nifty scale new highs, market on course for 7th week of gains

The market is on the verge to record a seventh straight week of gains, for the first time in 3 years.

Equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty extended their record run on December 15, as the Nifty topped 21,300 and the Sensex surpassed the 71,000-mark for the first time.

With the stellar gains, the indices were on course to end in the green for the seventh straight week, a feat last achieved three years ago.

Around noon, the Sensex was up 442.54 points, or 0.63 percent, at 70,956.74, and the Nifty was up 133.10 points, or 0.63 percent, at 21,315.80. Gainers outnumbered laggards, as about 1,777 shares rose, 1,338 fell and 93 remained unchanged.

The broader market, too, remained positive. Nifty smallcap 100 rose 0.6 percent and Nifty midcap 100 was marginally up.

Sectoral trends

Hopes of easing of macro conditions due to the earlier-than-expected cuts in US interest rates continued to drive sentiment for the information technology pack, lifting the Nifty IT index nearly 4 percent higher.

A cooling dollar index supported a rally in metal stocks, with the Nifty Metal index gaining nearly 2 percent.

Sectors like pharma, energy and infra also inched higher. On the downside, profit-booking was seen in FMCG, banks and automobile names.

Fundamental view

"Wall Street experiences an early Christmas as the Fed hints at easing interest-rate policy in 2024. Tracking that, the Nifty is also poised to surge into uncharted territory, with a trading range of 20,500-21,500,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities, said.

The 21,400-mark emerged as a crucial resistance zone. Amid a positive landscape, including a record Dow Jones close and FIIs investing Rs 20,494 crore in December, traders anticipate a bullish tone with hopes for an economic soft landing, Tapse said.

Also Read | F&O Manual | Market extends gains, Nifty's immediate support is at 21,000 

Technical view

"Prospects of the Nifty's extension into the 21,430-21,600 region now rests on the ability to hold above 21,160, which may be used as the downside marker for today," said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

If the index falls 21,160, it could seek support at 20,890 but will also expose 20,700. “Given how divergences are maturing in different oscillators, our bets are on a turn lower from the top," he added.

On the radar

The European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of England (BoE) decided to keep their respective interest rates unchanged in their latest monetary policy meeting.

US initial jobless claims for the week ended December 9 fell to 2.02 lakh against 2.21 lakh in the previous week.

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Key Nifty gainers

Infosys, TCS, LTIMindtree, Tech Mahindra, and HCLTech

Key Nifty losers

HDFC Life, Nestle, Britannia, Eicher Motors and SBI Life

Key Sensex gainers

Infosys, TCS, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, and HCLTech

Key Sensex losers

Nestle, Bharti Airtel, ITC, Axis Bank, Maruti Suzuki

Stock moves

KFin Technologies: The stock dropped around 9 percent after a large deal involving 20 percent equity worth Rs 1,650 crore took place on the exchanges. Moneycontrol could not immediately identify the parties involved in the transaction. However, a report by ET-NOW said the promoter General Atlantic was looking to pare a 6.2 percent stake in the company through a block deal.

Satin Creditcare Network: The share jumped 4 percent following the launch of qualified institutional placement (QIP) to raise Rs 300 crore. The floor price for the QIP has been approved at Rs 242.81 a share, a 2 percent discount from the December 14 closing price of Rs 248.55.

Sterling & Wilson Renewable Energy: Shares soared 5 percent after the company raised Rs 1,500 crore through the QIP route. The QIP witnessed a strong response from both domestic mutual funds and marquee global FIIs.

Also read |  Sensex tops 71,000, Nifty hits another high; hawkish BoE, ECB fail to break record run

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