Nifty, Sensex close with minor gains after hitting new highs; market in consolidation

Equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty hit new highs but ended a special two-hour trading session on March 2 with minor gains.

The Nifty ended the day at 22,378.4, up about 40 points, or 0.18 percent, from the previous close, while the Sensex gained 73,806, up 61 points, or 0.08 percent.

In the first phase of trading, from 9.15 am-10 am, which was conducted from a primary site, the Nifty hit a new high of 22,420 and the Sensex 73,868.32.

The market is normally closed on a Saturday but a special session in two phases was held on March 2 to check the National Stock Exchange and the Bombay Stock Exchanges’ preparedness in case of an emergency.

The second part of the trading from 11.30 am to 12.30 pm was from a "disaster recovery site" where trading would be moved or switched to in case of an emergency like a security breach unexpected events.

The Nifty Metals index was one of the biggest sectoral gainers, closing nearly a percent higher.

The biggest Nifty gainers were Tata Steel, Adani Ports, Hero MotoCorp, JSW Steel and Tata Motors. Biggest losers were M&M Sun Pharma, NTPC and Grasim.

The biggest Sensex gainers were Tata Steel, Tata Motors, JSW Steel and Asian Paints and the biggest losers were M&M, NTPC, Sun Pharma and Power Grid stocks.

Data Patterns (Rs 2,796.05), Havells (Rs 1,591.35) and Tata Investment Corp (Rs 8027.5) were among the Nifty 500 stocks to hit a 52-week high.

Market outlook

The risk-reward ratio seems to have moved from mid and smallcaps to largecap stocks, said Anirudh Garg, Managing Partner, INVasset.

“We are still very bullish on largecaps on Nifty. When it comes to sectors, I believe that the old economy sectors that have been neglected so far such as metals are set to do well,” he said.

While markets are in a consolidation phase, Kranthi Bathini of WealthMills Securities said that GDP data surprised the market and helped it move higher. “The market needs to gain some more momentum when it comes to the positive news flow cycle,” he added.

V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said in February, FPIs turned buyers picking up shares worth Rs 1,539 crore despite the US bond yields ruling high with the 10-year yield at around 4.25 percent.

"FPIs may again turn sellers in some of the coming days but they are unlikely to sell aggressively because their selling is not having any impact on the market which is setting new record highs," he added.

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