Bulls finish week in style! Sensex zooms 1,000+ points, Nifty50 takes out 26,000 decisively

Market participants witnessed yet another eventful week on Dalal Street, with a gain of 1,027.5 points, or 1.2 per cent, in the Sensex and 388 points, or 1.5 per cent, in the Nifty50. Both indices broke a series of records during the five trading sessions, the last of which occurred on Friday, with the Sensex crossing 85,950 for the first time and the 50-blue-chip index coming within 23 points of 26,300 just days after it closed above the psychologically important 26,000 mark for the first time.

Investors grew wealthier by Rs 6.2 lakh crore during the trading week, as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies rose to Rs 477.9 lakh crore from Rs 471.7 lakh crore, according to provisional exchange data.

Many analysts suggest that hopes of lower-for-longer interest rates in major economies and a bright outlook back home continue to support investor optimism on Dalal Street, following the Fed's surprise move last week to deliver a better-than-expected rate cut of 50 basis points (bps).

"The combination of strong macroeconomics, good domestic flows, and now the prospect of reviving foreign flows on the back of rate cuts drove the rally. The lowering of rates by the Fed is highly correlated with robust emerging market inflows, which India is well positioned to garner a good share of," eminent market expert Ajay Bagga told Zeebiz.com. 

Sectors such as automobiles, metals, and energy led the broad-based rally on Dalal Street, with gains of 7.0 per cent, 5.0 per cent, and 4.5 per cent in their respective sectoral indices on the NSE. Other prominent gainers among sectors included PSU banking, healthcare, and pharma shares, with their indices rising around 1-3 per cent each.

The Nifty Bank—whose 12 constituents include some of the largest lenders in the country, such as SBI and HDFC Bank—logged a modest weekly gain of 41.1 points, or 0.1 per cent.

How the various sectors fared this week

In the Nifty basket of 50 blue-chip stocks, there were as many as 41 gainers, led by BPCL (10.9 per cent), Tata Steel (9.6 per cent), M&M (7.9 per cent), Hindalco (7.6 per cent), Maruti Suzuki (7.0 per cent), Bajaj Auto (6.1 per cent), Coal India (5.1 per cent), Bajaj Finserv (4.9 per cent), and Sun Pharma (4.5 per cent).

On the other hand, LTIMindtree, ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Tata Consumer Products, and IndusInd Bank—closing between 1.2 per cent and 3.7 per cent lower—were the worst hit among the top losers.

Mixed moves were recorded in the broader markets, with the Nifty Midcap 100 rising by 0.3 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 fell by half a percentage point during the week. In the Nifty 500 basket—the broadest index on the bourse—263 stocks were weekly gainers.

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