Indian Stock Market Surge: Equity Benchmarks Rise for Fifth Straight Session
On Friday, March 21, the Indian Stock Market equity benchmarks rose for the fifth consecutive session. The 30-share SENSEX climbed by 694 points, and the NIFTY50 index reached an intraday high of 23,402.70, driven by strong performances from key stocks like ICICI Bank, Larsen & Toubro, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Axis Bank, and Bajaj Finance. The SENSEX closed 557 points, or 0.73%, higher at 76,905.51, while the NIFTY50 gained 160 points, or 0.69%, closing at 23,350.40. For the week, the NIFTY50 rose 4.25%, and the SENSEX increased 4.16%, making it the best week for the markets so far this year.
Market Surge: Key Factors Behind the Rise
The market’s surge came from value buying at lower levels, expectations of two rate cuts by the US Federal Reserve, and a slowdown in selling by foreign institutional investors. Additionally, rising hopes of a rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India at its upcoming policy meeting next month helped support positive sentiment in the stock market.
NIFTY50 Gainers and Losers
Top Gainers:
- SBI Life: The stock rose 3.43% to ₹1,549.75 after announcing its acquisition of 65.9 lakh equity shares in Bima Sugam India Federation.
- NTPC: Increased by 3.29%.
- ONGC: Rose by 2.72%.
- Bajaj Finance: Gained 2.67%.
- Bharat Petroleum: Climbed 2.56%.
Top Losers:
- Trent: The stock declined by 1.60% to ₹5,138.
- Mahindra & Mahindra: Dropped by 1.45%.
- Wipro: Fell 1.38%.
- Hindalco: Decreased by 1.27%.
- Infosys: Lost 1.25%.
NIFTY Midcap 100 Gainers and Losers
The NIFTY Midcap 100 index gained 1.38%, closing at 51,850.75. The Stock Market index rose for the fifth consecutive session and ended the week 7.74% higher. Out of 100 stocks, 85 advanced, while 15 declined.(Also read: Nationwide Bank Strike: Here’s How It Will Disrupt Your Banking Services for 4 Day)
Top Gainers:
- MRPL: Surged 14.61% due to heavy trading volumes.
- IDBI Bank: Rose by 7.77%.
- BSE: Increased by 7.23%.
- Mankind Pharma: Gained 7.07%.
- Hindustan Petroleum Corporation: Up by 5.82%.
Top Losers:
- Suzlon: Dropped by 2.74% to ₹56.79.
- Voltas: Fell 2.55% due to profit booking.
- Hindustan Zinc: Lost 1.99%.
- Polycab: Declined by 1.82%.
- CG Power: Decreased by 1.73%.
NIFTY Smallcap 100 Gainers and Losers
The Stock Market NIFTY Smallcap 100 index rose 2.06%, closing at 16,184.95. It has gained nearly 9% over the last five sessions.
Top Gainers:
- Ramkrishna Forgings: Gained 12.72% to ₹840, as the company plans to double its steel casting capacity.
- Tejas Networks: Increased by 12.46%.
- Jupiter Wagons: Rose by 10.78%.
- BLS International Services: Climbed 10.51%.
- Chennai Petro: Up by 9.64%.
Top Losers:
- Amber Enterprises: Dropped 4.97%.
- Aadhaar Housing Finance: Fell 4.63%.
- NALCO: Declined by 2.69%.
- Bata India: Decreased by 2.18%.
- Blue Star: Lost 1.52%.