Ending the highly volatile trading session in the green, the benchmark indices managed to end higher for the fifth session in a row on Thursday, 18 June. Continued weakness in crude oil prices following the US-Iran peace deal helped to tide over the hawkish commentary from the US Federal Reserve.
The BSE barometer Sensex ended the session at 77,410, up 254 points or 0.33%. Its NSE counterpart Nifty 50 settled the day at 24,168, higher by 82 points or 0.34%.
Brent crude fell about 2.1% to $75.9 a barrel on the day, after the United States and Iran signed an interim agreement to end their war.
Stock market today: 10 key highlights
Here are 10 key highlights from the Indian stock market today:
1. What moved the market today?
Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial, said that the domestic equities traded within a range, maintaining a positive bias as the initial optimism surrounding the US–Iran peace deal was tempered by hawkish remarks from the US Fed.
“Energy-driven inflationary pressures may prompt central banks to consider rate hikes in the latter half of the year, leading investors to adopt a cautious stance. However, the sustained decline in crude oil prices and moderation in Indian bond yields could offset inflationary concerns in the second half of FY27, with market participants awaiting further clarity on the peace agreement,” he said.
2. Market cap jumps by ₹2.5 lakh crore
The market capitalisation of all BSE-listed stocks witnessed a ₹2.57 lakh crore increase today as it rose to ₹477.69 lakh crore or $5.07 trillion.
3. Top Nifty 50 gainers
Among the 33 Nifty 50 stocks that gained today, Max Health was the biggest gainer as it rose 6.46%. It was followed by IndiGo, which gained 2.78%. Easing crude oil prices have driven the aviation stock higher.
Adani Enterprises, Trent and BEL were among other gainers which rose 2% or more.
4. Top Nifty 50 losers
Tech stocks emerged as the top losers among the 17 stocks that ended in the red. Infosys was the top loser with a 2.6% decline. Tata Consumer shed 1.20%. Meanwhile, Tech Mahindra, Maruti and TCS shed around 1%.
5. Broader market watch
The broader markets also rose in today’s trade, with BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap 100 indices gaining over 0.40% each.
6. Sectoral watch: Banks, healthcare rise
Supported by expectations of strong credit growth and the sector’s attractive valuations, bank stocks emerged as one of the top sectoral performers today, driving Nifty Bank 0.6% higher. Nifty Healthcare also recorded healthy gains of 0.98%. IT, on the other hand, declined amid a hawkish US Fed commentary.
7. Most active stocks
Vodafone Idea remained the most active stock with 34.34 crore shares of the telco changing hands today. IFCI, YES Bank, Bharat Coking Coal and Vedanta Oil & Gas emerged as other most active stocks in volume terms on NSE today.
8. Stocks at 52-week high and low
On NSE, 133 stocks touched their 52-week high levels. Some of the prominent names to achieve this feat were Angel One, Balaji Amines, Rategain, Netweb, WeWork and YES Bank. Among 25 stocks that hit 52-week lows, some names include Bharti Hexacom, Vedanta Aluminium and Parsvnath Developers.
9. Advance-decline ratio
The advance-decline ratio favoured buyers as 1902 stocks rose and 1384 fell.
10. Tech view
Shrikant Chouhan, Head Equity Research, Kotak Securities, said that a bullish candle on daily charts and an uptrend continuation formation on intraday charts indicate a further uptrend from the current levels.
For trend-following traders, 24,060/77200 and 24,000/77000 would act as key support zones. As long as the market is trading above these levels, the uptrend wave is likely to continue. On the higher side, it could bounce back to 24,300-24,375/77800-78000. On the flip side, if the market falls below 24,000/77000, the uptrend would become vulnerable. Traders may then prefer to exit their long positions.
Disclaimer: This story is for educational purposes only. The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decisions.
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