FINAL TRADE: Indices settle near life highs; Sensex settles at 67,572, Nifty near 20,000 level

Stock market today: The benchmark indices once again settled at fresh closing peaks on Thursday, July 20, amid buying in Ashok Leyland, ITC, Polycab India, PB Fintech, and RVNL. At close, the 30-share index of the BSE stood at 67,571.9, up 474.46 points, or 0.71 per cent while the NSE's Nifty closed at 19,979.15, up 136.4 points, or 0.74 per cent. 

"The Nifty broke out of the two-day consolidation on the upside and closed with gains of 146 points. On the daily charts, we can observe that the Nifty has resumed its up move after a brief consolidation. On the upside, we expect Nifty to target levels of 20,200 from a short-term perspective. We shall continue to maintain a positive outlook on the index. In terms of levels, 19,880 – 19,850 shall act as a crucial support zone as per the principle of role reversal, and on the upside, 20,150 – 20,200 shall act as an immediate hurdle zone and our short-term target zone," said Jatin Gedia – Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

Broader market 

The Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 ended higher by 0.25 per cent and 0.37 per cent, respectively. 

Sectoral watch 

Nifty Bank ended over 1 per cent higher at 46,186.90 along with Nifty Financial Services and FMCG. Nifty Oil & Gas also supported the Benchmark index and closed 0.65 per cent higher. 

"Bank Nifty witnessed a breakout from the inside bar pattern on the upside and also witnessed follow-through buying interest. The daily and hourly momentum indicators also have a positive crossover. Thus, both price and momentum indicators are suggesting a continuation of the up move, and we expect the Bank Nifty to target levels of 46500," said Gedia.

Buzzing stocks 

Reliance Industries stock ended over 1 per cent. Polycab India ended over 9 per cent higher. Newgen Software's stock ended over 11 per cent higher after posting strong Q1 results.

Conversely, ABB India closed over 6 per cent lower after ABB Global released its quarterly numbers. Transformers and Rectifiers stock closed 20 per cent lower after the company received a stop-deal notice from Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation. Krsnaa Diagnostics stock closed over 13 per cent lower after the Rajasthan government terminated a tender to supply lab services under the National Health Mission.

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