Sensex ends at record closing high; Nifty settles May F&O expiry above 9500

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at record closing high on Thursday as traders seemed to have covered most of their short positions as the May series of derivative contracts expired today. 

World stocks hitting their record highs after the US Federal Reserve signalled a more cautious approach to future rate hikes, also contributed to the gains. 

The S&P BSE Sensex ended at 30,750, up 448 points, while the broader Nifty50 settled at 9,501, up 141 points. In intraday trade, the 30-share Sensex rallied as much as  492 points to 30,793, while the 50-share Nifty gained 163 points to 9,523, just two-point shy of its all-time high. 
 

Meanwhile, the broader market snapped six-session long losing streak to gain 1.4% and 2%, respectively. 

The market breadth, indicating the overall health of the market, was strong. On BSE, 1,881 shares rose and 801 shares fell. A total of 147 shares were unchanged.

"An indication of a gradual rate hike in the FOMC minutes gave impetus to the global indices, which instilled energy in the domestic markets. Decline in VIX also bolstered sentiments. Banks’ swing higher was solid, as traders cut short positions with expectations rising on NPA resolution measures shortly. Consumer goods and agro based sectors have also started to show strength which is expected to continue, taking cues from IMD's report on early monsoon,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

Rollovers

Nifty future has seen Rollover of around 70% from May to June series as per provisional data with the negative roll cost. Negative roll cost is the mainly due to two reasons, first as few index companies are giving dividend and secondly less attraction among the bulls to carry their position to the next series, said Chandan Taparia, Derivatives & Technical Analyst at Motilal Oswal Securities. 

Sectors and stocks

Shares of private sector banks were in focus with Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Sector Bank indices hitting their respective record highs after a strong run-up in ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, YES Bank and IndusInd Bank.

HDFC Bank hit a new high of Rs 1,608, up 2.6%, while ICICI Bank touched its fresh 52-week high of Rs 318, up 3.6% on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in intraday trade.

The Nifty Bank index valuted 654 points to settle at its lifetime high of 23,191, while Nifty Pvt Bank ended at 12,855, up 362 points.

Infosys rose as much as 2% after the IT services exporter touted its strategy to hire and train 10,000 American workers over the next two years.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also moved higher by 2% to Rs 2,612 in intra-day trade, extending its Wednesday’s 1.5% gain on the BSE. 

Kesar Enterprises ended in upper circuit for the fourth straight trading day, up 10% at Rs 112, also its fresh 52-week high on BSE, after the company reported a strong set of numbers in March quarter (Q4FY17).

In past four trading days, the stock zoomed 90% as compared to 0.56% decline in the S&P BSE Sensex.

Among losers, Lupin hogged the limelight with the stock hitting its lowest level since August 2014 after the company’s quarterly net profit nearly halved to Rs 380 crore in March quarter (Q4FY17) from a year ago. The stock settled 7% lower at Rs 1,136.

Dish TV slipped 11% to Rs 81.30 after the company reported a net loss of Rs 28 crore in March quarter due to a fall in subscription revenue.

Global markets

World stocks hit record highs on Thursday and the dollar dipped after the US Federal Reserve signaled caution in raising interest rates, while oil prices rose in anticipation of top producers agreeing to extend output cuts for up to a year.

European shares opened higher, but quickly dipped into negative territory. The pan-European STOXX 600 index was last down 0.3%, led lower by resources companies after a 4% drop in iron ore on China's Dalian Commodity Exchange.

Earlier, Asian stocks, as measured by MSCI gained almost 1% to a two-year high after the US S&P 500 index hit a closing record on Wednesday. This helped push MSCI's 46-country world stock index to a record high of 464.38, up 0.3% on the day.

E-mini index futures indicated Wall Street would open higher while the VIX "fear gauge" of expected volatility in the S&P 500 opened at 9.82, its lowest since May 10.

(With inputs from Reuters)