Benchmark stock market indices ended marginally higher on Thursday after falling for three straight sessions. It seems investors will continue to remain cautious ahead of key upcoming results.
The S&P BSE Sensex settled 64.55 points higher at 59,632.35, while the NSE Nifty 50 ended 5.70 points higher at 17,624.45. Both indices had registered strong gains earlier in the day but failed to hold on to the momentum as investors turned cautious.
one of the sectoral indices managed to see strong gains, with Nifty Bank, Nifty Auto, Nifty Consumer Durables, and Nifty Financial Services ending barely in positive territory. Nifty Pharma, Nifty Metal, Nifty FMCG, and Nifty IT were the top losers.
The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 were NTPC, Adani Ports, Asian Paints, Bajaj Auto and Tata Motors. On the other hand, the biggest drags on the 50-share index were Divi’s Laboratories, Hindustan Unilever, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Eicher Motors, and Hindalco.
The domestic stock market movement will largely depend on HCL Tech Q4 results, due later in the day. It may be noted that IT stocks remain shaky after weaker-than-expected Q4 results update by TCS and Infosys.
Analysts have asked investors to remain cautious, adding that banking, financials, auto, and FMCG stocks could be ideal bets for long-term trades. However, most analysts said domestic markets are likely to face near-term volatility.
