Market hits fresh record high led by IT stocks; rupee gains

Indian market erased the previous week’s losses to finish at fresh record highs in the volatile week ended January 12, mostly led by IT stocks, firm global cues, and hopes of a rate cut by the end of this financial year.

For the week, the BSE Sensex added 0.75 percent or 542.3 points to end at 72,568.45, while Nifty50 gained 183.7 points or 0.84 percent to close at 21,894.50. On January 12, the Sensex and Nifty touched fresh record highs of 72,720.96 and 21,928.25, respectively.

The BSE Small-cap index touched a fresh record high of 44,644.04 and gained 1.5 percent. Wardwizard Innovations and Mobility, Kamdhenu, Suven Life Sciences, Network 18 Media & Investments, Praveg, TARC, Bharat Wire Ropes, Entertainment Network India, MSTC, AGS Transact Technologies, Avanti Feeds and Global Surfaces added 20-39 percent. On the other hand, Sanmit Infra, Inox Wind, Waaree Renewable Technologies, KEI Industries, Inox Wind Energy, Mangalam Cement, Anupam Rasayan India and Metropolis Healthcare shed 10-34 percent.

The BSE Large-cap Index touched a fresh record high of 8,431.05 and ended the week nearly a percent higher supported by Hero MotoCcorp, FSN E-Commerce Ventures (Nykaa), Mankind Pharma, HCL Technologies, DLF, Infosys and Reliance Industries. However, losers included Bandhan Bank, SRF, Godrej Consumer Products, Nestle India, Bajaj Finserv, Divis Laboratories, and Dabur India.

The BSE Mid-cap Index rose 0.5 percent and touched a new record level of 37,941.29 led by JSW Energy, Solar Industries India, Bank Of India, Abbott India, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, and Nippon Life India Asset Management. Losers included Polycab India, Zee Entertainment Enterprises, Vodafone Idea, Emami, New India Assurance Company and Biocon.

In terms of the market value, Reliance Industries added the most in terms of market value, followed by Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, and HCL Technologies. On the other hand, HDFC Bank, Hindustan Unilever, and Nestle India lost most of their market cap. 

On the sectoral front, the BSE Information Technology index rose 4.5 percent, the BSE Realty index rose 4.3 percent, and the BSE Energy, BSE Oil & Gas, and BSE Auto indices added 2 percent each. However, the BSE FMCG index was down 1.7 percent and the BSE Bank index fell 0.9 percent.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold equities worth of Rs 3,901.27 crore, while Domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth Rs 6,858.47 crore.

This week, the Indian rupee closed higher against the US dollar. The domestic currency gained 24 paise to end at 82.92 in the week ended January 12 against the January 5 closing of 83.16.