Sensex hits fresh high at 83,800, Nifty test 25,600; Metal, Realty surge

Markets in India opened higher on Friday, led by overnight gains in the US stock markets, which was also driving other Asian markets higher.

At opening bell, the BSE Sensex was higher by 421 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 83,606, while the Nifty 50 was at 25,528, up 112 points, or 0.44 per cent.

Gains on Sensex were led by steel stocks such as JSW Steel, Tata Steel, apart from Mahindra & Mahindra, Adani Ports & SEZ, and Bajaj Finserv, while losses were led by Axis Bank, Tata Motors, Titan, Asian Paints, and NTPC.

The trend was mirrored on the Nifty 50, with gains led by JSW Steel and Tata Steel, followed by Hindalco Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Coal India. Meanwhile, gains on the index was capped by Axis Bank, Cipla, Tata Motors, Titan, and Asian Paints.

Across sectors, the Metal and Realty indices had surged ahead, up to 1.73 per cent, while most other sectoral indices were also in the green, barring Consumer Durables.

The broader rebounded from their lower close on Thursday, with the BSE SmallCap gaining 0.59 per cent, and the BSE MidCap ahead by 0.50 per cent.

Despite a choppy trading session, the Indian markets ended on a higher note on Thursday, with the BSE Sensex adding 236.57 points, or 0.29 per cent, to close at 83,184.80. It had touched an all-time high of 83,773.61 during the day’s session.

Meanwhile, the Nifty 50 pulled back from the record high it had touched at 25,611.95, to close Thursday’s session at 25,415.80, up 38.25 points or 0.15 per cent .

However, the border markets closed lower, with smallcap stocks dragging the most.

Across sectors, Bank Nifty advanced for the sixth consecutive session, led by AU Bank and Kotak Bank. Nifty FMCG was the top sectoral gainer, ending 0.60 per cent higher, led by UBL and Balrampur Chini Mills.

Nifty Realty advanced 0.5 per cent to its 1-month high, led by Phoenix and Oberoi Realty. Meanwhile, Media, PSU Bank, Metal Pharma, IT, and OMCs indices settled lower among the sectors.

Meanwhile, markets in the Asia-Pacific region opened higher on Friday, following the surge on Wall Street.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 was leading gains, up 1.76 per cent, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.2 per cent. The broad-based Topix was ahead by 1.63 per cent.

South Korea’s blue chip Kospi had advanced 1.45 per cent and the small-cap Kosdaq was up 1.51 per cent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index futures were at 18,177, higher than HSI’s last close of 18,013, while futures tied to mainland China’s blue chip CSI 300 stood at 3,198.8, compared with the index’s last close of 3,196.

Overnight, major Wall Street indices broke record highs after global counterparts booked gains and Treasury yields rose on Thursday as the start of the Federal Reserve’s first rate-cutting cycle in more than four years whet investors’ risk appetite.

With a larger-than-usual move on Wednesday, the US central bank turned the page on more than a year in which borrowing costs were kept at their highest for decades to try to temper inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he did not see elevated risks of a slowdown, and policymakers projected the benchmark rate would fall again, reflected in a closely-watched tool known as a dot plot.

Megacap tech stocks gained, with Tesla and Meta posting solid gains. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.51 per cent to 18,013.98 points.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial average rose 1.26 per cent to 42,025.19 points, while the benchmark S&P 500 advanced 1.70 per cent to end the session at 5,713.64 points. Both were record-high closing levels.

Smaller listed companies, which might be expected to enjoy reduced operating costs and cheaper debt in a lower rates environment, also felt the benefit. The Russell 2000 small-cap index rose 2.1 per cent.

Gains were not limited to Wall Street. MSCI’s 47-country world stocks index gained 1.66 per cent, to 839.98.

Jobless claims for the week ended Sept. 14 came in lower than the market expected, with data showing the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits dropped to a four-month low.

This contributed to a sell-off in US government debt that pushed up yields. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield hit its highest level in about two weeks at 3.768 per cent and was last up 3.2 basis points to 3.719 per cent, from 3.687 per cent late on Wednesday.

Shorter-dated debt yields felt pressure after a separate data release showed existing home sales fell to their lowest level since 2023. The 2-year note yield, fell 1.5 basis points to 3.5876 per cent, from 3.603 per cent late on Wednesday.

In currency markets, the dollar wilted in choppy trading. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.41 per cent to 100.61.

The Bank of England’s decision to leave interest rates unchanged did not dampen market spirits in Europe, with the STOXX 600 index last up more than 1 per cent.

The bonanza week for interest rate decisions continues on Friday with the Bank of Japan. It is not expected to make a move now, but may buck the global trend and line up another rate hike for as soon as October.

Gold rose 1.15 per cent to $2,588.34 an ounce.

Oil prices rose, backed by the view that lower rates equal stronger demand. Benchmark Brent crude futures climbed back above $74 a barrel for the first time in more than a week, and settled at $74.88, 1.67% higher on the day. US crude settled 1.47 per cent higher, at $71.95 a barrel.