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Informist, Monday, Mar. 24, 2025

 

By Gopika Balasubramanium

 

MUMBAI – Domestic benchmark indices posted strong gains and closed in the green Monday, with both indices notching fresh one-month highs. The indices closed higher for the sixth consecutive session, led by a sharp rise in shares of banks and financial services companies. Broader market indices mirrored the sharp gains in the benchmark ones. All sectoral indices also closed higher. However, the India VIX index, a gauge that measures volatility in the market, rose 14% amid a sharp rise in domestic benchmark indices.

 

There are some factors responsible for the upbeat sentiment in the market, Prashanth Tapse, senior vice president - research at Mehta Equities, said. These include the strengthening of the rupee against the dollar, strong buying in banking stocks, and the recent domestic inflation data which has cemented hopes for an interest rate cut in April, he said. While the market anticipates reciprocal tariffs from the US, it is unlikely to be as severe as with other trading partners of the US, such as Mexico, Canada, and China, he said.

 

The Nifty 50 closed at 23658.35 points, up 307.95 points or 1.3%. The index hit a fresh one-month high at 23708.75 points, crossing the 23700-point mark for the first time since Feb. 6. The BSE Sensex closed at 77984.38 points, up 1078.87 points or 1.4%, after hitting a one-month high at 78107.23 points during the day. The 30-stock index crossed 78000 points for the first time since Feb. 7.
 

Shares of Kotak Mahindra Bank were the top gainers among Nifty 50 constituents and closed 4.7% higher. Shares of the company rose after the bank announced a slew of senior management appointments Saturday. The private lender appointed Bhavnish Lathia as its chief technology officer. This appointment comes after the Reserve Bank of India recently lifted the restrictions imposed on the bank last year on issuing new credit cards and onboarding new customers digitally, with the central bank saying the private lender has taken remedial measures to address concerns. Other major banking stocks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, and Axis Bank also rose sharply.

 

Shares of NTPC and Tech Mahindra closed 3.5-4.5% higher and were among the top gainers on the Nifty 50. Shares of NTPC rose after Macquarie said the company continues to be a compelling play on India's power demand and its thermal assets provide an assured return-on-equity and benefit from a stable medium-term regulatory framework, according to media reports. Macquarie has an 'outperform' rating on the stock with a price target of INR 475 per share.

 

On the other hand, shares of Titan Co. closed 2.6% lower and fell the most in the 50-stock index. Shares of IndusInd Bank also closed 2.5% lower. The RBI has likely asked the private lender for a root-cause analysis on the issues in its derivatives portfolio reported by it earlier this month, ET Now reported Monday. This analysis will be conducted by Grant Thornton and will run parallel to the audit conducted by PwC, it said. 

 

Among sectoral indices, the Nifty PSU Bank gained the most and closed up over 3%. It was followed by Nifty Private Bank and Nifty Bank, which closed up 2.4% and 2.2%, respectively. Among these, Nifty Auto recovered after being in the red for a brief time. The index was dragged down by losses in Mahindra & Mahindra, which has a 24% weightage in the index. Shares of M&M fell over 3?ter the company announced a 3% price hike on its sports utility vehicles and commercial vehicles, effective in April, on Friday. But the shares came off lows and closed 1% lower after a media report said M&M was in talks to buy the entire promoter's stake in SML Isuzu. 

 

The price hikes announced by automakers recently are a good 'sales gimmick' to boost their sales volumes in the final days of March, a research analyst at a Mumbai-based brokerage said. The higher prices are unlikely to discourage customers from making purchases as they would want to buy the vehicles at a lower price now in comparison to April, he said. He also noted that valuations of automobile stocks appear reasonable. On the other hand, Saral Seth, vice-president of research at Indsec Securities, said M&M's recent price hike is expected to have a 3-4% impact on its volumes. He said that the stock is trading at an expensive valuation.

 

Shares of defence companies Zen Technologies, MTAR Technologies, Ideaforge Technology, Mishra Dhatu Nigam, Bharat Dynamics, Data Patterns, and Hindustan Aeronautics hit one-month highs Monday. These stocks closed up 1-7%. Tapse of Mehta Equities said defence companies have gained traction in receiving orders from the government and will likely be one of the outperforming sectors in the coming quarters. Late Thursday, the Defence Acquisition Council approved eight capital acquisition proposals totalling over INR 540 billion to enhance defence capabilities.

 

Among individual stocks, NCC rose nearly 4?ter the company said it received an INR 14.80-billion order from Bihar Medical Services & Infrastructure to redevelop a medical college, hospital, and other buildings at the existing campus of Darbhanga Medical College & Hospital in Bihar. Shares of PCBL Chemical rose more than 3% to an over-one-month high of INR 436.95 and closed up 1.8%. Brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher initiated coverage on the stock with a 'buy' rating and set the target price at INR 543.

 

* Of the Nifty 50 stocks, 32 rose and 18 fell

* Of the Sensex stocks, 24 rose and 6 fell

* On the NSE, 1,865 stocks rose, 1,082 fell, and 80 were unchanged

* On the BSE, stocks 2,496 rose, 1,640 fell, and 162 were unchanged

* Nifty PSU: up 3.2%; Nifty Private Bank: up 2.4%; Nifty Media: up 0.1%

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BSE                                               NSE

Sensex: 77984.38, up 1078.87 points or 1.4%       Nifty 50: 23658.35, up 307.95 points or 1.3%

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S&P BSE Sensitive Index	Nifty 50
Lifetime High: 85978.25 (Sept. 27, 2024)	: Lifetime High: 26277.35 (Sept. 27, 2024)
Record Close High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26, 2024)	: Record Close High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26, 2024)
2025 1st day close: 78507.41 (Jan. 1)	: 2025 1st day close: 23742.90 (Jan. 1)
2025 Closing High: 79943.71 (Jan. 2)	: 2025 Closing High: 24188.65 (Jan. 2)
2025 Closing Low: 72989.93 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Closing Low: 22082.65 (Mar. 4)
2025 High (intraday): 80072.99 (Jan. 3)	: 2025 High (intraday): 24226.70 (Jan. 2)
2025 Low (intraday): 72633.54 (Mar. 4)	: 2025 Low (intraday): 21964.60 (Mar. 4)
2024 1st day close: 72271.94 (Jan. 1)	: 2024 1st day close: 21741.90 (Jan. 1)
2024 Closing High: 85836.12 (Sept. 26)	: 2024 Closing High: 26216.05 (Sept. 26)
2024 Closing Low: 70370.55 (Jan. 23)	: 2024 Closing Low: 21238.80 (Jan. 23)
2024 High (intraday): 85978.25 (Sep. 27)	: 2024 High (intraday): 26277.35 (Sept. 27)
2024 Low (intraday): 70001.60 (Jan. 24)	: 2024 Low (intraday): 21137.20 (Jan. 24)
2023 1st day close: 61167.79 (Jan. 2)	: 2023 1st day close: 18197.45 (Jan. 2)
2023 Closing High: 72410.38 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 Closing High: 21778.70 (Dec. 28)
2023 Closing Low: 59288.35 (Feb. 27)	: 2023 Closing Low: 17311.80 (Oct. 17)
2023 High (intraday): 72484.34 (Dec. 28)	: 2023 High (intraday): 21801.45 (Dec. 28)
2023 Low (intraday): 58699.20 (Jan. 30)	: 2023 Low (intraday): 17098.55 (Jan. 17)
2022 1st day close: 59183.22 (Jan. 3)	: 2022 1st day close: 17625.70 (Jan. 3)
2022 Closing High: 63284.19 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 Closing High: 18812.50 (Dec. 1)
2022 Closing Low: 51360.42 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Closing Low: 15293.50 (Jun. 17)
2022 High (intraday): 63583.07 (Dec. 1)	: 2022 High (intraday): 18887.60 (Dec. 1)
2022 Low (intraday): 50921.22 (Jun. 17)	: 2022 Low (intraday): 15183.40 (Jun. 17)
2021 Closing High: 61305.95 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 Closing High: 18338.55 (Oct. 14)
2021 Closing Low: 46285.77 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Closing Low: 13634.60 (Jan. 29)
2021 High (intraday): 61353.25 (Oct. 14)	: 2021 High (intraday): 18350.75 (Oct. 14)
2021 Low (intraday): 46160.46 (Jan. 29)	: 2021 Low (intraday): 13596.75 (Jan. 29)
2020 Closing High: 47751.33 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 Closing High: 13981.95 (Dec. 30)
2020 Closing Low: 25981.24 (Mar. 23)	: 2020 Closing Low: 7610.25 (Mar. 23)
2020 High (intraday): 47896.97 (Dec. 31)	: 2020 High (intraday): 14024.85 (Dec. 31)
2020 Low (intraday): 25638.90 (Mar. 24)	: 2020 Low (intraday): 7511.10 (Mar. 24)
2019 High (intraday): 41809.96 (Dec. 20)	: 2019 High (intraday): 12293.90 (Dec. 20)
2019 Low (intraday): 35287.16 (Feb. 19)	: 2019 Low (intraday): 10583.65 (Jan. 29)
2018 High (intraday): 38938.91(Aug. 28))	: 2018 High(intraday): 11760.20 (Aug. 28)
2018 Low (intraday): 32483.8 (Mar. 23)	: 2018 Low (intraday): 9951.9 (Mar. 23)
2017 High (intraday): 34005.37 (Dec. 26)	: 2017 High(intraday): 10515.10 (Dec. 26)

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End

 

US$1 = INR 85.64

 

Edited by Tanima Banerjee

 

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