Sensex ends just above 39,100, Nifty gives up 11,600 on F&O expiry day; key things from trade today

The S&P BSE Smallcap index gained 52.12 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 15,025.51.

Headline indices BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 ended higher for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday, aided by buying in banks and auto stocks. In a volatile trade, Sensex hit intraday’s high of 39,327 and settled at 39,113. Similarly, the broader Nifty 50 index touched the day’s high of 11,617 and ended flat with a positive bias at 11,559. Index heavyweights such as Housing Development Finance Corporation, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, M&M and State Bank of India helped the indices’ to remain in the green. “Domestically, autos and financials contributed most to the gains after favourable earnings commentary and some earning upgrades prompted investor action. Global markets will react to the Fed Reserve statements, later in the day, and are expected to affect market movements tomorrow,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

IndusInd Bank jumps over 6.5%: Among 30 Sensex stocks, IndusInd Bank was the top gainer, rising 6.59 per cent to end at Rs 605.55 apiece. It was followed by M&M, SBI, HDFC and Axis Bank, all up in the range of 3.8-2 per cent. Sun Pharma, Maruti Suzuki, ICICI Bank were among other gainers.

RIL shares fall over 1%: A total of 16 stocks out of 30 Sensex stocks ended in the red. ONGC shares fell the most, down 1.47 per cent. Reliance Industries shares declined 1.18 per cent which capped the indices’ gains today. Bajaj-Auto, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Bharti Airtel and HDFC Bank were among other laggards on the index.

Nifty Realty up 6.4%: Markets cheered the Maharashtra government’s decision to cut stamp duty which pushed realty stocks higher today. Nifty Realty index ended 6.4 per cent higher led by gains in DLF (up 9.47 per cent), Prestige Estates Projects (up 8.17 per cent), Oberoi Realty (up 7 per cent) and Sunteck Realty (up 6.87 per cent).

Smallcaps outperform benchmarks: The S&P BSE Smallcap index gained 52.12 points or 0.35 per cent to settle at 15,025.51. While S&P BSE MidCap index settled flat at 15,155.

Technical talk: “We did not spend too much time above the 11600 levels and gave up most of the gains in the second half of trading. Expiry days are expected to be volatile. What needs to be seen is whether we can keep above 11600 in the new session tomorrow and in the following week. This would indicate a new high of close to 11700-11800 for the September expiry,” said Manish Hathiramani, proprietary index trader and technical analyst, Deen Dayal Investments.