Stock market today: Sensex ends above 79,100, Nifty 50 closes flat; IT stocks shine

Stock market today: The Sensex and Nifty 50, the domestic benchmark indices, finished Wednesday's trading mixed amid a slightly choppy session. After positive US economic data, the Nifty IT index outperformed the other 13 key industry indices. On August 14, the IT index rose 1.5%, with TCS, HCLTech, and L&T Technology Services driving the uptick.

The 30-share BSE Sensex ended higher by 149.85 points or 0.19% at 79,105.88 level while the Nifty 50 closed at 24,143.75 level, up 4.75 points or 0.02%. On the broader market front, the Nifty Midcap 100 closed up 0.59%, while the Nifty SmallCap 100 closed 0.64%.

The domesticmarket experienced a restricted range of trading, despite a good rebound in global markets, according to Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services. The negative sentiment in the country and the possibility of profit downgrades made investors wary.

In the meanwhile, a drop in WPI inflation, primarily due to decreased food costs, indicates that the RBI is getting closer to its goal of price stability. The IT index slightly increased, indicating hope for better US CPI statistics that are anticipated later today, which may expand the Fed's room to maneuver in its loose monetary policy, explained Nair.

Global Markets

Global stocks had sloppy trading on Wednesday, according to an AP news report. Japan's benchmark index began to rise, but it soon lost momentum when it was revealed that the prime minister will not run for reelection as head of the ruling party. Early trade saw Germany's DAX rise 0.4% to 17,888.68, while France's CAC 40 gained 0.7% to 7,324.59. The FTSE 100 in Britain increased 0.6% to 8,280.28.

After a volatile day, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 increased 0.6% to close at 36,442.43. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.3% to 7,850.70. The Kospi of South Korea increased by over 0.9% to 2,644.50. The Shanghai Composite fell 0.6% to 2,850.656, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell around 0.4% to 17,113.36.

Top Nifty 50 Gainers and Losers

As many as 24 stocks settled in the green in the Nifty 50 index while the rest 26 ended in red.

Shares of Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (up 2.29%), HCL Technologies Ltd (up 1.96%), Tech Mahindra Ltd (up 1.47%), Infosys Ltd (up 1.25%) and Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd (up 1.16%) ended as top gainers. On the other side, Divi's Laboratories Ltd (down 4.03%), Hero MotoCorp Ltd (down 3.17%), Coal India Ltd (down 3.00%), UltraTech Cement Ltd (down 2.35%), and Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd (down 2.14%) were among the laggards.

Sectoral indices today

Barring IT, all the other sectoral indices ended in red with Nifty Metal Index falling down by over a percent yet again.

Experts' Views on Markets

Prashanth Tapse, Research Analyst, Senior Vice President of Research at Mehta Equities believes that Nifty 50 wavered in an uninspiring session. The benchmark Nifty 50 was also uninspired by latest WPI inflation which cooled to 3-month low of 2.04% in July as food prices declined.

The benchmark Nifty 50 was also uninspired by latest WPI inflation which cooled to 3-month low of 2.04% in July as food prices declined. The US CPI Inflation numbers will be closely watched tonight. The bulls will keenly watch if the inflation figures cool further to make room for more rate cuts by the Fed this year.

Technical Views

For Nifty 50, according to Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities, the overall trend is likely to remain weak, as the index continues to trade below the initial resistance level of 24,250. Additionally, the index has been sustaining below the middle Bollinger Band, confirming a weak near-term trend. This weakness might push the index towards 23,900/23,700. On the higher end, resistance is expected at 24,250/24,500.

Further, Tejas Shah, Technical Research, JM Financial & BlinkX explained that the Bank Nifty was clearly an underperforming sector as compared to Nifty 50 in today’s trading session.

“We believe that as long as Bank Nifty is trading below 51,000 Mark, the weakness in Bank Nifty is likely to continue and it can test the psychological support of 49,000 on the lower side,” added Shah.

Disclaimer: The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts, experts and broking companies, not of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before making any investment decision.