Market Wrap, Dec 19: SENSEX jumps 447 pts, NIFTY50 ends at 25,966 amid rally in SMID stocks; Shriram Finance surges 4%

The Indian equity market snapped its four-day losing streak and closed higher on Friday, December 19, as auto, pharma and realty stocks rallied. Positive global cues and foreign fund inflows further lifted investor sentiment.

The broader market, however, outperformed both the equity benchmark indices.

Market participants' confidence also got a boost as the rupee appreciated against the US dollar on Friday after days of falling to record lows. On a provisional basis, the domestic currency closed at 89.55 against the US dollar, rising 65 paise.

Despite gains on Friday, the benchmark equity indices ended the week in the red, with the SENSEX declining 0.4% and the NIFTY50 slipping 0.3%. The Nifty Bank index also fell 0.5% for the week, while both the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 finished largely flat.

According to exchange data, on Thursday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹595.78 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹2,700.36 crore on a net basis.

Japan's Nikkei rose 1.19%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 0.82%, and South Korea's KOSPI surged 0.65%, while the Shanghai Composite ended 0.36% higher.

On Wall Street, major indices ended higher on Thursday after a softer-than-expected inflation report reinforced expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.14%, the S&P 500 climbed 0.79%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq jumped 1.38%.

Here are the key developments of Friday's session that you need to know

As many as 3,215 stocks traded on the NSE on Friday. Out of this, 2,185 advanced and 939 stocks declined, while 91 scrips remained unchanged.

This indicated that the market breadth was in favour of advances.

A total of 50 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 124 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 61 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 38 touched their lower circuit bands on Friday.

NSE-listed firms' market capitalisation stood at ₹468.87 lakh crore at the end of the session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 9.52 levels, falling 1.9%.

The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 1.2% to 60,310.15, supported by strong gains in Tata Elxsi (7.91%), Coromandel International (7.88%), and Waaree Energies (6.2%).

Driven by Ola Electric (9.98%), JBM Auto (4.76%) and NBCC (4.56%), the Nifty Smallcap 100 index surged 1.34% to close at 17,390.35.

All the sectoral indices ended in green, with Nifty Realty (1.67%) leading the gains. Nifty Auto (1.23%), Nifty Oil & Gas (0.96%), Nifty Pharma (0.86%) and Nifty FMCG (0.43%).

On the NIFTY50 index, 41 stocks advanced while only 9 declined on Friday.

Shriram Finance was the most contributing stock, rallying 4.1%, followed by Max Healthcare (2.62%), Bharat Electronics (2.49%), Tata Motors PV (2.43%) and Power Grid (2.05%).

On the flip side, HCL Technologies (-1.18%), Hindalco Industries (-0.34%), Kotak Mahindra Bank (-0.23%), JSW Steel (-0.2%) and ICICI Bank (-0.18%) were the biggest laggards on the 50-share index.