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Informist, Friday, Nov. 1, 2024

By Alina Geogy

MUMBAI – Benchmark indices ended higher in the one-hour Diwali Muhurat trading session Friday, which marked the beginning of Samvat 2081. While trade volumes were low, there was buying momentum across all sectors, with all sectoral indices ending in the green. Gains in this special session, which investors consider an auspicious hour for carrying out financial decisions and investments, helped the benchmark indices snap four weeks of declines.

Over 80% of all stocks traded on the benchmark indices ended with gains. The Nifty 50 rose to an intraday high of 24368.25 points, up 0.7%, but closed slightly off highs at 24304.35 points, up 99 points or 0.4%. Similarly, the BSE Sensex had risen to an intraday high of 80023.75 points, but later closed at 79724.12 points, up 335.06 points or 0.4%.

Benchmark indices opened up and sustained most gains during the session, despite weak cues from global markets. Key indices in the US had ended sharply lower Thursday owing to losses in some heavyweight stocks after disappointing quarterly earnings. Most indices in Asia had also ended lower Friday.

Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra, Reliance Industries, Oil and Natural Gas Corp., and Axis Bank were the top contributors to the rise of the Nifty 50. Shares of Mahindra & Mahindra rose over 4% during the session after the company said it sold a total of 96,648 units in October, the highest-ever automobile sales in a month. The stock ended up 3.3%.

Automobile stocks were in focus as some major companies released their sales data for October earlier in the day. Most automobile stocks rose, led by shares of M&M, Eicher Motors, and Tata Motors. Consequently, the Nifty Auto index closed up 1.2%.

Shares of Tata Motors and Eicher Motors ended over 1% higher each. Shares of Tata Motors rose despite the company's total vehicle sales being largely unchanged from a year ago as lower exports offset a marginal increase in domestic despatches. Meanwhile, Eicher Motors said it sold 110,574 motorcycles in October, the highest monthly sales at least since the beginning of the previous financial year. Motorcycles sales in October were up 31% from the same month last year. The stock rose despite the automaker's commercial vehicle sales falling 5% on year in October to 7,112 units.

Besides Nifty Auto, the Nifty Realty, Nifty Consumer, and Nifty Energy were all up nearly 1% and became the top gainers among sectoral indices. The Nifty IT and Nifty Healthcare indices, up around 0.1% each, gained the least. Some banking, pharmaceuticals, and information technology stocks came off highs in the second half of the session.

The broader market indices outperformed the benchmarks slightly, with all the Nifty small-cap indices ending up over 1%. On the Nifty 500, shares of Poly Medicure, BASF India, and Brigade Enterprises rose 6-9% and became the top performers. On the other hand, Rainbow Childrens Medicare, Vijaya Diagnostic Centre, and Narayana Hrudayalaya, down 2-4%, were the worst hit.

Among other stocks, buying momentum took shares of NCC up 4.6% after the company said it received orders worth INR 34.96 billion in October. Of these orders, those related to the building division were worth INR 26.84 billion. The stock's trade volume of 2.7 million shares was nearly the same as its one-month average volume.

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 44 rose and 6 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 28 rose and 2 fell

* On the NSE, 2,247 stocks rose, 436 fell, and 63 were unchanged

* On the BSE, 3,038 stocks rose, 539 fell, and 71 were unchanged

* Nifty Auto: up 1.2%; Nifty Realty: up 1%; Nifty IT: up 0.1%

BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 79724.12, up 335.06 points or 0.42%       Nifty 50: 24304.35, up 99 points or 0.41%

End

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

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