Nifty and Sensex close in the green for third straight day on Thursday
- India’s Nifty and Sensex settled higher on Thursday.
- Nifty and Sensex gained on global market optimism, encouraging Indian trade data.
- All eyes on the US economic data for Friday’s moves in Nifty and Sensex.
The Sensex 30 and Nifty 50, India’s key benchmark indices, ended Thursday on a positive note, marking the third straight daily gain. The Indian indices took the positive lead from their Asian and European counterparts while capitalizing on encouraging India’s Trade Deficit data.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) Nifty 50 index finished 0.40% higher on the day at 21,927 while the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) Sensex 30 also gained 0.40% on Thursday to settle at 72,091.61. The focus now remains on the upcoming US econonic data, including the top-tier Retail Sales report.
Stock market news
- Nifty and Sensex drew support from the impressive gains in the automobile and utility sector stocks.
- Additionally, India’s trade data for January showed a shrinking Trade Deficit to $17.49 billion, which added to the market optimism.
- Mahindra & Mahindra, Power Grid, BPCL, ONGC and NTPC are the top gainers in the Nifty 50 so far. While Axis Bank, Brittania, Hindustan Unilever, ITC and Apollo Hospitals emerged as the key losers, capping the gains in Nifty.
- Mahindra & Mahindra stocks touched its all-time highs in Thursday’s session.
- Automaker Hero Motocorp is in the news for the launch of the brand’s premium motorbike Mavrick 440.
- Aluminium producer Hindalco’s net profit rose 71.1% increased to Rs 2,331 crores but missed analysts’ estimates.
- The Indian Supreme Court strikes down electoral bonds, terming it as “unconstitutional”. The court further stopped SBI from issuing fresh bonds for political funding.
- The US stock markets closed higher on Wednesday, as investors weighed whether the Federal Reserve (Fed) can bring down inflation without de-railing the economy. Dow Jones, NASDAQ Composite, and the S&P 500 indices gained up to 1%..
- The Indian WPI inflation dropped to 0.27% in January, as against a 0.73% increase in December. The data missed the market consensus of 0.53%.
- The Lunar New Year holidays in China could keep the liquidity thin around the Indian indices.
- All eyes now turn toward the top-tier US Retail Sales report for trading impetus in Nifty and Sensex indices.
- Following Tuesday’s hot US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, markets are pricing in a no Fed rate cut in March and a lower than 50% chance of easing in May.
Sensex FAQs
What is the Sensex?
The Sensex is a name for one of India’s most closely monitored stock indexes. The term was coined in the 1980s by analyst Deepak Mohoni by mashing the words sensitive and index together. The index plots a weighted average of the share price of 30 of the most established stocks on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Each corporation's weighting is based on its “free-float capitalization”, or the value of all its shares readily available for trading.
What factors drive the Sensex?
Given it is a composite, the value of the Sensex is first and foremost dependent on the performance of its constituent companies as revealed in their quarterly and annual results. Government policies are another factor. In 2016 the government decided to phase out high value currency notes, for example, and certain companies saw their share price fall as a result. When the government decided to cut corporation tax in 2019, meanwhile, the Sensex gained a boost. Other factors include the level of interest rates set by the Reserve Bank of India, since that dictates the cost of borrowing, climate change, pandemics and natural disasters
What are the key milestones for the Sensex?
The Sensex started life on April 1 1979 at a base level of 100. It reached its highest recorded level so far, at 73,328, on Monday, January 15, 2024 (this is being written in Feb 2024). The Index closed above the 10,000 mark for the first time on February 7, 2006. On March 13, 2014 the Sensex closed higher than Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index to become the major Asian stock index with the highest value. The index’s biggest gain in a single day occurred on April 7, 2020, when it rose 2,476 points; its deepest single-day loss occurred on January 21, 2008, when it plunged 1,408 points due the US subprime crisis.
What major corporations are in the Sensex?
Major companies within the Sensex include Reliance Industries Ltd, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, ITC Ltd, Bharti Airtel Ltd, Tata Steel, HCL Technologies, Infosys, State Bank of India, Sun Pharma, Tata Consultancy Services and Tech Mahindra.
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