Sensex soars over 730 points, Nifty crosses 24,000 on positive cues

Indian equity markets surged on Friday, with Sensex jumping over 730 points and Nifty crossing the 24,000 mark. The rally was fuelled by strong earnings, positive global cues, and gains in IT stocks, with all sectoral indices trading in green.

Sensex, Nifty Surge on Positive Cues

Indian equity markets opened on a positive note on Friday with Sensex surging over 730 points and Nifty trading above the 24,000 mark after yesterday's range-bound session, supported by strong earnings by heavyweight, positive global cues and other factors fuelling investor sentiment.

Sensex opened higher at 77,395.63, hitting an intraday high of 77,526.85 as against the previous close of 76,741.82. Nifty on the other hand opened at 24,124.70 as against the previous close of 23,962.80.

Sectoral Performance and Top Movers

At the time of reporting, Sensex was trading at 77,441.52, up 699.70 points or 0.91 per cent while Nifty was trading at 24,161.60, up 198.80 points or 0.83 per cent. Sectorally, all indices were trading in the green with Nifty IT emerging as the top gainer, surging 2.08 per cent followed by Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom (1.44 per cent) in the early morning trade. On BSE, Tech Mahindra, TCS, Infosys, HCL Tech, Indi Go, ICICI Bank, Asian Paint, Reliance, BEL, M&M, Maruti, HDFC Bank, Eternal, Kotak Bank among others were the top gainers. Meanwhile, Bharti Airtel and Sun Pharma were the top drag.

Commodity Market Update

In the commodity market Gold prices inched higher on Friday as the US dollar weakened, but the yellow metal remained on course for a weekly decline amid concerns that escalating US-Iran tensions could stoke inflationary pressures and prompt the US Federal Reserve to maintain a hawkish monetary policy stance. Spot gold rose 0.2 per cent to USD 4,128.92 an ounce as of 0303 GMT, though it was still set to post a weekly loss of more than 1 per cent. Meanwhile, US gold futures for August delivery were little changed at USD 4,139.50 per ounce.

Brent crude was trading at USD 76.57 per barrel, hitting an intraday high of USD 76.66 per barrel at the time of writing this article.

Market Expert Analysis

Ajay Bagga, Banking and Market expert noted, "The positive momentum from Wall Street successfully carried over into Friday morning's Asian trading session. Regional indices broadly moved higher, with Japan's Nikkei leading the charge by gaining, and technology-heavy indices in Taiwan and South Korea finding firm footing as bargain hunters rushed to snap up semiconductor giants after the recent spell of valuation anxiety."

"The domestic bourses will look to immediately reclaim the psychological 24,000 mark as institutional liquidity remains robust and the broader indexing seeks to shrug off earlier weekly corrections," he said.

Market analyst Vipin Dixena noted, "Nifty is attempting a short-term recovery after the sharp sell-off, but the structure is still cautious because price is only back near the 50-EMA around 24,150 and has not yet convincingly reclaimed the 24,300 zone. The immediate support is around 24,100, then 23,900-23,850, while resistance sits at 24,300; RSI has bounced sharply from oversold, which supports a technical rebound, but follow-through above 24,200-24,300 is needed to confirm that the panic leg is ending."

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