Nifty nearing 24,000 milestone after 4-day rally, Sensex crosses 79,000

The domestic equity market on Thursday rallied for the fourth consecutive day amid buying in heavyweight bluechips, which took Nifty near the 24,000 milestone. Sensex also touched a new record high and crossed the 79,000-level following a 300-point surge.

Shares of UltraTech Cement rallied over 4% following acquisition of 20% stake in India Cements. Heavyweights RIL, HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank were among the biggest contributors to Nifty's rise. The momentum was maintained in mid and smallcap indices.

Among sectoral indices, buying was noticed in banks, FMCG, metals and pharma.

Expert Take
Prashanth Tapse of Mehta Equities has told clients to buy Nifty between 22,700-22,750 with a stop at 23,351, targeting 24,050-24,550, and Bank Nifty between 52,300-52,400 with a stop at 51,061, targeting 53,300-53,900.

Bullish stocks include Reliance Industries, Britannia, and RBL Bank, with RBL Bank being Tapse's top pick for the day.

"The market will remain bullish in the near-term despite the valuation concerns, and the ongoing momentum has the potential to take the Sensex to 80000 levels. A healthy trend in the market is that now the up move is being led by fundamentally strong largecaps in sectors like banking and telecom," noted Dr. V K Vijayakumar of Geojit Financial.

Global markets
US indexes ended marginally higher on Wednesday, lifted by Amazon.com Inc after it announced a major foray into generative AI.

The most anticipated economic data due this week is the US personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index - the Fed's preferred inflation gauge - on Friday.

Japan's Nikkei share average fell 1% on Thursday, giving up most of its gains from the previous session, as the yen's slide past the closely watched 160 per-dollar level put traders on high alert for intervention.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng was also trading around 2% lower.

Currency Watch
The rupee appreciated 8 paise to 83.49 against the US dollar in early trade on Thursday, as crude oil prices retreated from their elevated levels. Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading marginally lower by 0.10% at 105.94.

Crude Impact
Crude oil prices dipped on Thursday as a surprise build in U.S. stockpiles fuelled fears about slow demand from the world's top oil consumer, though declines were capped by worries a potential expansion of the Gaza war may disrupt Middle East supplies. Brent crude oil futures fell 28 cents, or 0.3%, to $84.97 a barrel.

(With inputs from agencies)