Market Today: Despite mixed global cues, Indian indices opened higher with Nifty above 24300 on November 26
Benchmark equity indices ended their two-day winning streak to close lower on Tuesday. The BSE Sensex closed down 105.79 points, or 0.13%, at 80,004.06. The index traded between 80,482.36 and 79,798.67 during the session.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty 50 settled at 24,194.50, down 27.40 points or 0.11% after touching an intraday high of 24,343.30.
27 out of 50 stocks in the Nifty50 closed lower, with Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Ultratech Cement, Bajaj Auto and Sun Pharma losing up to 4.02%. On the other hand, shares of Shriram Finance, Britannia Industries, Asian Paints, Bharat Electronics and Infosys gained up to 3.26%.
Small-cap stocks outperformed the broader market with the Nifty Smallcap 100 index rising 0.82%. In contrast, the Nifty Midcap 100 index closed flat on the day.
Sectoral indices showed a mixed performance. The Nifty IT, FMCG and media sectors gained, while the auto, pharma, healthcare and OMC sectors ended in the red.
Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar said that the market boom is unlikely to last. “The two-day rally is unlikely to last due to earnings concerns. Short covering and positive sentiment from the Maharashtra election results may be temporary. The increase in FII buying was mainly due to MSCI’s rebalancing, with more emphasis on HDFC Bank. Leading banks continued buying and will remain resilient due to fair valuation,” he said.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) became net buyers for the first time on Monday, posting a 38-day record selloff. They paid Rs. 9,947.55 crore shares were bought, the highest since September 20. Meanwhile, Domestic Institutional Investors (DIIs) on November 25 invested Rs. 6,907.97 crore worth of shares were sold.
On the downside, the 23,850-24,000 range is expected to provide strong support in the event of a pullback. Traders and investors should focus on sectors showing relative strength, such as IT and banking, while being more selective in other sectors, advised Ajit Mishra, senior VP of research at Religare Broking.
Global signals
Despite the strong performance of US markets, global signals are mixed. Japan’s Nikkei fell about 1.5%, while data showed Japan’s services PPI rose 2.9% year-on-year, slightly higher than the previous month’s 2.8% growth.
Other Asian markets, including the Kospi, Taiwan and Straits Times, were down up to 0.7%, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng and China’s Shanghai Composite showed modest gains.
In the US, buoyed by optimism following Trump’s nomination for Treasury secretary, the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 closed at record highs. The Dow rose 1%, the S&P 500 gained 0.3%, and the NASDAQ also rose 0.3%.
Oil prices fell as Treasury Secretary nominee Bessant advocated increasing US production and Israel suggested a cease-fire deal with Hezbollah in Lebanon may be imminent.