Domestic equity benchmarks extended their winning momentum for a second straight session on Thursday, driven by strong buying in banking, metal and pharma stocks, even as IT counters remained under pressure. The broader market sentiment stayed firmly positive, lifting the Nifty by 277 points, or 1.18%, to 23,689.60, while the BSE Sensex advanced 789.74 points, or 1.06%, to close at 75,398.72.
Meanwhile, the volatility gauge India VIX ended at 18.61, down by 4.18% from the last closing.
Here's how analysts read the market pulse:
Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities said the index rallied sharply higher but faced resistance near the previous congestion zone around 23,800, leading to a slightly lower closing. "Nifty continues to trade below the critical 20 EMA, indicating that the broader trend remains bearish. "In the near term, a decisive move above 23,800 could trigger fresh upside momentum, potentially taking the index towards 24,200 and even higher levels. However, failure to sustain above 23,800 may invite renewed selling pressure and bring the bears back into control of the market," De said.
US markets
The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit fresh intraday record highs on Thursday, boosted by gains in chip giant Nvidia, while investors assessed economic data and monitored developments around the high-stakes U.S.-China summit.
A steady rally in technology stocks in recent weeks, particularly chipmakers, has pushed U.S. stocks to new highs even though concerns remain about the Middle East conflict and higher inflation due to surging oil prices.
U.S. retail sales increased 0.5% in April, in line with estimates, but some of the rise in receipts was likely due to higher inflation as the war with Iran boosted prices of energy products and other commodities.
European Markets
European shares closed higher on Thursday, after hitting the highest in a week with a boost from technology stocks, while investors remained cautious about developments in the U.S.-China talks.
The pan-European STOXX 600 ended up 0.8% at 616.05 points on broad-based gains.
The technology sector index jumped 2.6% led by semiconductor stocks, with STMicroelectronics up 5.4%, BE Semiconductor up 3.3% and Infineon jumping 5.7%.
UK shares edged up on Thursday, as strong first-quarter economic growth offered some respite to investors shaken by escalating political uncertainty in the country.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended 0.46% higher, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 1.33%.
Germany's DAX advanced 1.3% and led regional bourses higher, with SAP adding 3.6%. Bank of America said the software giant's ongoing cloud momentum and backlog growth of around 25% could boost revenue by double digits, supported by operating leverage and AI, alongside potential upside from capital deployment.
Tech View
Decoding the charts, Ajit Mishra, Senior Vice President, Research at Religare Broking said Nifty is witnessing a relief rebound after the recent slide, with the recovery in banking majors playing a crucial role, while IT stocks continued to remain under pressure. Going forward, the earlier support zone of 23,800–23,900, which coincides with the lower band of the previous consolidation range and the 20-DEMA, may now act as a key resistance hurdle, he said.
"On the downside, immediate support has shifted to 23,500, while the major support remains intact near 23,150. The overall structure still suggests a sell-on-rise bias unless the index decisively surpasses the resistance band. Meanwhile, we continue to recommend a stock-specific approach based on sectoral trends while maintaining caution on leveraged positions," Mishra added.
Most active stocks in terms of turnover
Axis Bank (Rs 1,009 crore), MTAR Technologies (Rs 363 crore), HDFC Bank (Rs 349 crore), Bharti Airtel (SBI, Rs 299 crore), Adani Enterprises (Rs 278 crore), Reliance Industries (RIL, Rs 275 crore) and Larsen & Toubro (L&T, Rs 307 crore) were among the most active stocks on BSE in value terms. Higher activity in a counter in value terms can help identify the counters with highest trading turnovers in the day.
Most active stocks in volume terms
Vodafone Idea (Traded shares: 4.97 crore), JP Power (Traded shares: 1.6 crore), YES Bank (Traded shares: 95.02 lakh), Axis Bank (Traded shares: 80.98 lakh), Suzlon Energy (Traded shares: 65.50 lakh), Indraprastha Gas (IGL, Traded shares: 59.17 lakh) and SpiceJet (Traded shares: 57.67 lakh) were among the most actively traded stocks in volume terms on BSE.
Stocks showing buying interest
Zydus Lifesciences, NLC India, Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), Cipla, Adani Enterprises, Amines & Plasticizers and Black Rose Inds were among the stocks that witnessed strong buying interest from market participants.
52-week high
Today, 114 stocks hit their 52 week highs while 53 stocks slipped to their 52-week lows. Among the ones which hit their 52 week highs included Acutaas Chemicals, Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, BHEL, HFCL, HFCL, Hindalco Industries and Vodafone Idea.
Stocks seeing selling pressure
Among the large cap names were Infosys, Tech Mahindra (M&M) and HCL Technologies. Other stocks which witnessed significant selling pressure were Tata Motors, Kaynes Technology, Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services, Sharda Cropchem, Interarch Building Solutions, Asian Star Company and Quality Power Electrical Equipments.
Sentiment meter favours bears
Sensex settled with strong gains lifted by HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel and ICICI Bank though the broader market breadth stood mildly negative. Out of the 4,373 stocks that traded on the BSE on May 14, Thursday, 2,009 stocks witnessed advances, 2,196 saw declines while 168 stocks remained unchanged.
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of Economic Times)
