Nifty rallies 15% in FY24 so far; on track to hit 20,000-mark tomorrow

Sensex finally closed 474 points, or 0.71 per cent, higher at 67,571.90 while Nifty closed the day at 19,979.15, up 146 points, or 0.74 per cent, which was a fresh closing high achieved by both indices today. Sensex had hit its fresh record high of 67,619.17 and Nifty also hit a new high of 19,991.85 during the session.

This came after Sensex opened 23 points lower at 67,074.34 against the previous close of 67,097.44 following subdued global cues. However, the index witnessed smart buying in the final hour of trade.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) pumped ₹3,371 crore in Indian stocks today. FIIs have pulled off a 700 point rally in the Nifty since the 3rd of this month at the start of the earnings season for the first quarter, according to analysts.

The BSE Midcap also hit its fresh record high of 29,671.6 during the session but pared gains and closed at 29,623.67, up 0.05 per cent. The BSE Smallcap index also hit its fresh record high of 34,193.74 during the session but closed 0.19 per cent higher at 34,101.53.

Among the sectors and stocks, the top gainers on Nifty included ITC, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, ICICI Bank, and Cipla, while the losers were Reliance Industries, Infosys, UltraTech Cement, HCL Technologies, and Bajaj Finserv.

Among sectors, FMCG, bank, and pharma indices rose 1 per cent each, with the Oil & Gas index up 0.5 percent. On the other hand, the IT index was down 0.8 percent, and the power index declined 0.4 per cent.

Nifty has rallied by 15 per cent since the beginning of current fiscal (April 1, 2023) and four per cent month till date, said Siddhartha Khemka, Head – Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd.

Market analysts reckon that the Nifty index will hit the 20,000-mark in Friday’s session with Nifty IT index in focus after IT heavyweight Infosys declared its April-June quarter results on July 20. 

The IT major’s sharp downward revision of its FY24 revenue guidance seems to have disappointed the market as the American Depositary Receipts (ADR) of the company suffered massive losses in the pre-market session on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Infosys ADR fell almost 9 per cent to $16.20 in the pre-market session on NYSE. Due to this, market observers reckon that Nifty IT is likely to sink in the next session.

‘’On the backdrop of consistent FIIs buying ( ₹16,300 cr month till date), sound macros and micros, and surplus monsoon so far, Nifty has rallied by 15 per cent since 1st April’23 and 4 per cent month till date. Nifty should most likely cross the 20k mark on Friday given the ongoing momentum and clear strength visible in the market,” said Motilal Oswal’s Khemka.

‘’Strong heavy weights results are likely to further influence the market direction in the near term. Investors eagerly await Reliance Q1 results, which will be announced Friday, and management commentaries on the same along with further details on Jio’s financial listing,” he added. 

Technical Outlook:

‘’Nifty reached a fresh all-time high, stopping just 9 points shy of the 20,000 mark. The index’s value remains above the critical moving average, indicating a positive trend. Furthermore, the RSI shows a bullish crossover, suggesting potential market strength,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical analyst at LKP Securities.

‘’In the short term, the index is expected to stay positive. However, if it fails to surpass the 20,000 level, investors might engage in profit-taking. There is a support level at 19,800, which could attract buying interest during potential pullbacks,” added De.

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Updated: 20 Jul 2023, 08:45 PM IST