Powell chips in as Nifty march continues for 8th consecutive session

The Indian stock market saw solid gains on Monday, August 26, with the Nifty 50 and the Sensex climbing nearly 1 percent each as investors welcomed US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's Jackson Hole speech last Friday, in which he signalled that the time had come for a policy adjustment.

Markets echo global sentiment

Indian stock market rose, mirroring positive global sentiment as a rate cut in September looks almost certain.

The Nifty 50 rose 0.90 percent to hit its intraday high of 25,043.80, just 35 points below its all-time high of 25,078.30. The index ended 187 points, or 0.76 percent, higher at 25,010.60, with 33 stocks in the green. With this, the index extended its gains into the eighth consecutive session. During these eight sessions, the index has risen 3.6 percent.

The Sensex closed with a gain of 612 points, or 0.75 percent, at 81,698.11, with 21 stocks in the green.

Mid and smallcap indices on the BSE also gained, but they underperformed the benchmark Sensex. The BSE Midcap index closed 0.66 percent and the BSE Smallcap index ended 0.20 percent higher.

The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE rose to a record ₹462.3 lakh crore from nearly ₹460 lakh crore in the previous session, making investors richer by over ₹2 lakh crore in the single session.

"US Fed has signalled a rate cut in September, which is reflected in the decline in US treasury yields and the dollar index, which has led to a rally in global markets despite there being no indication of the size of cuts," said Vinod Nair ofGeojit Financial Services.

Shares of HCL Tech (up 4.24 percent), Hindalco (up 3.96 percent), and NTPC (up 3.22 percent) closed as the top gainers in the Nifty 50 index. On the flip side, shares of Apollo Hospitals (down 1.18 percent), Hero MotoCorp (down 0.74 percent), and Adani Ports (down 0.69 percent) closed as the top loser in the index.

Most sectoral indices in green 

Except for Nifty PSU Bank (down 0.50 percent) and Media (down 0.22 percent), all sectoral indices ended with gains. With a gain of 2.16 percent, the Nifty Metal index ended as the top gainer among sectoral indices. Nifty Realty (up 1.76 percent), IT (up 1.39 percent), Consumer Durables (up 1.30 percent) and Oil & Gas (up 1.16 percent) also closed with significant gains.

"The Nifty remained strong throughout the day. On the daily chart, a visible green candle has formed after two consecutive negligible red candles, suggesting improving sentiment. However, resistance is evident at 25,080, and a decisive move is needed to witness a rise toward 25,300," said Rupak De of LKP Securities.

"The failure to move above 25,080 might trigger selling in the market, potentially bringing the index back toward 24,800," Mr De said.

                                                  (By arrangement with livemint.com)