FINAL TRADE: Sensex ends 173 pts higher; Nifty settles at 19,716; pharma stocks jump

Stock market today: The Indian equity market on Wednesday, September 27, edged higher amid buying in auto financial services, FMCG, IT, pharma, and realty. Also, Nomura's rating upgrade from 'Neutral' to 'Overweight' built confidence in investors.

At close, both indices were up 0.26 per cent. The S&P BSE Sensex was up 173.22 points at 66,118.69, and the NSE Nifty was up 51.75 points at 19,716.45.

"The market inched higher in the second half, driven by positive openings in European markets. Concerns about global interest rates and elevated oil prices are being balanced by several domestic factors, such as promising economic growth prospects and the potential for strong earnings, which validate the premium valuation," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

The FMCG and pharmaceutical sectors outperformed, with investors adopting a defensive approach to navigate global challenges. However, persistent outflows of foreign funds and rising US bond yields are expected to keep the broader indices in bleak terrain, in the near term, the market expert added.

In the broader market, the Nifty Mid Cap 100 and Small Cap 100 closed on a positive note.

Nifty Bank ended flat at 44,588.3.

TECHNICAL VIEW 

"Considering the weightage of HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank in the Bank Nifty, which currently stands at 60 per cent, these two stocks need to resume their upmove for the Bank Nifty to post decent returns for the coming quarter," said Jatin Gedia, Technical Research Analyst at Sharekhan by BNP Paribas.

"We believe that both of these stocks have now reached their crucial support levels. We expect them to hold on to their support and provide a decent pullback which shall in turn help the Bank Nifty to move towards its 46,370 initially and beyond that potentially towards 48000 which translates into an 8-10 per cent return from current levels. So one can expect decent returns in the coming quarter," Gedia added.

NIFTY STOCKS 

L&T, Coal India, ITC, Cipla, and LTIMindtree were the major winners. On the flip side, Titan, Grasim, Hero MotoCorp, SBI, and ICICI Bank were the top laggards.
 
BUZZING STOCKS 

Senco Gold shares closed over 14 per cent higher.

Tata Investment Corporation shares settled over 9 per cent higher.

Ujjivan Small Finance Bank shares were up over 9 per cent. 

Conversely, Vedanta shares were down over 6 per cent after Moody's downgraded the corporate family rating (CFR) of Vedanta Resources Ltd., the parent company of India-listed Vedanta Ltd to Caa2 from Caa1.

GLOBAL MARKETS

World shares were mixed on Wednesday after a sharp decline on Wall Street that took benchmarks back to where they were in June.

Germany's DAX edged 0.1 per cent lower to 15,241.78, and the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1 per cent at 7,082.75. In London, the FTSE 100 shed 0.1 per cent to 7,621.77. The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.4 per cent, while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 per cent

On Tuesday, the S&P 500 tumbled 1.5 per cent and the Dow Industrials fell 1.1 per cent. The Nasdaq composite lost 1.6 per cent.

(with agency inputs)

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