Last hour buying helps Nifty to end higher

16 May 2024 Evaluate

Indian equity benchmark -- Nifty – ended Thursday’s trading session in a positive terrain on account of buying in IT, Realty and banking sectors’ stocks. After making a positive start, soon index traded near neutral line, as traders were cautious with provisional data showing that foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) sold shares worth Rs 2,832.83 crore in the Indian equity market on May 15, 2024. Traders overlooked report that India's monsoon is forecast to hit the Kerala coast in the southwest on May 31, offering relief to farmers after below average rainfall last year. The monsoon, the lifeblood of the country's $3.5 trillion economy, delivers nearly 70% of the rain that India needs to water farms and recharge reservoirs and aquifers.

In afternoon session, index remained lackluster, amid a private report stating that the Reserve Bank of India may delay the expected policy interest rate cuts, but strong demand for bonds from long-term investors such as retirement funds and insurers will ensure that market interest rates are low, especially for the top-rated borrowers. Traders took a note of Financial Services Secretary Vivek Joshi’s statement that increasing Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) would be a key strategy for enhancing India's financial services exports. However, in last hour of the trade, index cut all losses to end in green, as investors hunt for fundamentally strong stocks.

Most of the sectorial indices ended in green except PSU Bank stocks. The top gainers from the F&O segment were Hindustan Aeronautics, Oberoi Realty and Mphasis. On the other hand, the top losers Bandhan Bank, Canara Bank and Maruti Suzuki India. In the index option segment, maximum OI continues to be seen in the 22900 - 23100 calls and 21900 - 22100 puts indicating this is the trading range expectation.