Final Trade: Indian equities end higher; Nifty ends tad higher below 25,000, Sensex gains 144 points

Indian equities ended higher amid losses in the pharma and even IT pack which is set to kick Q2 earnings season later today with TCS set to announce Q2 results later today. Sensex at the close was up 0.18 per cent or 144 points at 81,611.41 points, while the Nifty 50 index ended below 25,000 levels at 24,998.45, up 0.07 per cent  or 16.5 points higher.

Broader markets, meanwhile, ended mixed, with the smallcap Nifty Smallcap 100 ending in the green, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index ended with mild weakness. Bank Nifty, however, led by HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Axis Bank ending with sharp gains of over 1 per cent.

Sectorally, private bank, financial services and metal pack posted gains, while all other indices saw sell-off.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said, "The market traded on a range bound trend with a negative bias ahead of the start of Q2 result."

The Asian market started well but could not hold on to the gains as European markets waved on a negative trend in anticipation of the key US inflation data, global bond yields are rising, he added.

Tata group stocks following the death of the Group's Chairman Ratan Tata ended mixed, with Tata Investment Corporation ending with gains of 6 per cent.

From the Nifty50 pack, top gainers included stocks like Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, Bharat Electronics, Maruti Suzuki and Power Grid Corporation of India, while laggards were Cipla, Tech Mahindra, Trent, Sun Pharma and Hero MotoCorp.

Hitesh Thakkar, Acting CEO, ITI Mutual Fund on the September mutual fund data remarked, “The mutual fund (MF) industry’s net assets under management (AUM) marginally increased by 0.58 per cent to ₹67,09,259 crores at the end of September 2024, as against ₹ 66,70,305.14 crores as on August 31,2024 as per data released by the Association of Mutual Funds in India."

Some corrections are healthy for the market & even for SIP investors. Domestic investment story is very encouraging. Investors are now able to understand that short-term volatility in the market is part of long-term wealth creation journey. That is the reason why share of Financial assets has been increasing rapidly & within financial assets, MF share is increasing gradually, he added.

Meanwhile, European markets traded in the red ahead of the US CPI print later today.