Nifty and Sensex Extend Rally to Eighth Consecutive Week

Arjun Pandit
15 Dec, 2023
Mumbai

Stocks in Mumbai advanced in Friday's trading after major central banks around the world announced their rate decisions.

The Sensex and the Nifty indexes advanced around 0.5% and extended their weekly gains to 1.3% following the interest rate decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Swiss National Bank.

Market indexes in India and around the world advanced after the Fed held its key lending rate range between 5.25% and 5.50% steady and signaled multiple rate cuts over the next two years.

On the other hand, the European Central Bank held its reference rate for the second time in a row at 4.0% and stressed the need for higher rates, citing inflationary pressure above the target rate of 2%.

The Bank of England also held its policy rate at 5.25% for the third time in a row and announced that rates are likely to remain higher for an extended period.

The Swiss National Bank held its interest rate at 1.75%, but the Norges Bank hiked its policy rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% and said inflation is still way too high and needs to be brought down to 2% from the current 5% level.

The Banco Central do Brasil lowered its key Selic rate by 50 basis points for the fourth time in a row to 11.75%.

Closer to home, India's wholesale price index increased 0.26% from a year ago in November after contracting 0.52% in October, the statistical office reported late Thursday.

Wholesale inflation rebounded to a positive zone and rose to an eight-month high after contracting for seven months in a row.

 

India Indexes and Yields

The Sensex index increased 176.59 points to 70,690.79, and the Nifty index rose 58.15 points to 21,240.80.

On the Mumbai stock exchange, 211 stocks traded at their 52-week highs and 9 stocks traded at their 52-week lows.

The yield on the 10-year Indian government bonds held firm at 7.18%, and the Indian rupee hovered near ₹83.13 against the U.S. dollar.

The gold price increased by 0.1% to ₹62,533 per ten grams, and silver soared by 0.07% to ₹75,127 per kilo.

Crude oil decreased by 0.4% to ₹6,044 per barrel, and natural gas rose by 3.2% to ₹202.90 per thermal unit.

 

India Stock Movers

Tech services providers and metals and mining stocks were among the gainers, but financial services providers and banks struggled.

TCS, Infosys, Tech Mahindra, and Wipro gained 2% and 4%.

State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Kotak Bank, HDFC Bank, and Canara Bank declined between 0.1% and 1.3%.

Maruti Suzuki, Tata Motors, and Mahindra & Mahindra traded mixed.

Sterling and Wilson Renewable Energy gained 2.7% to ₹435.85 after the company raised 1,500 crore in an institutional offering priced at ₹347 per share.

Texmaco Rail & Engineering advanced 4.6% to ₹178.60 after the company won an order to supply 3,400 rail wagons for ₹1,374 crore.

Xpro India increased 2.2% to ₹1,063.80 after the company scheduled a board meeting on December 19 to consider different fund-raising plans.

Genus Power Infrastructures soared 5% to ₹234.50 after the company's subsidiary won a project worth ₹1,026 crore.

Infibeam Avenues jumped 6.7% to ₹23.90 after the company acquired a 49% stake in digital lending software developer Pirimid Fintech for ₹25 crore.