Market Wrap, March 21: Indices shine for 5th day; NIFTY50 settles above 23,300, SENSEX near 77K level, broader market outperforms

The Indian stock market on Friday, March 21, closed the week in the green, extending its winning streak for the fifth consecutive day as the broader market continued to outperform the equity benchmark indices.

During the intraday trade, SENSEX surged above the 77,000 mark, while NIFTY50 also crossed the 23,400 level. The 50-share index touched the 23,400 level for the first time in two months and it was the best week in more than four years for the index. But both shied away from the day’s high and settled below these levels.

At close, the S&P BSE SENSEX stood at 76,905.51, rising 557.45 points, or 0.73%, while the NSE's NIFTY50 index ended at 23,350.40, surging 159.75 points, or 0.69%.

This week, the midcap index rose as much as 8%—its biggest weekly gains since April 2020. Similarly, the small-cap index gained 9% this week, its biggest weekly gain since June 2020.

Further, 48 out of 50 nifty stocks gave positive returns this week. SBI Life, NTPC, ONGC among top most contributing stocks on Friday.

In the last five trading sessions, BSE SENSEX has jumped almost 2614 points, while NIFTY50 has gained 3.6% during the period.

According to NSE’s data, the market sentiment remained in favour of positives as 2,120 scrips advanced out of 2,988 stocks traded on Friday.

IT stocks saw big recovery during the day after opening in red.

Meanwhile, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) took a U-turn from their selling spree and bought equities worth ₹3,239.14 crore in the Indian market on a net basis on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Globally, the US markets ended lower on Thursday amid economic worries and rising oil after tensions in the Middle East.

The WTI crude oil prices gained nearly 2% overnight as sanctions on Iran, fresh attacks on Gaza by Israel and output cuts by seven OPEC members added to supply concerns.

Brent crude futures climbed 0.36%, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 0.4%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 11.31 points, or 0.03%, to 41,953.32, the S&P 500 slipped 12.40 points, or 0.22%, to 5,662.89 and the Nasdaq Composite fell 59.16 points, or 0.33%, to 17,691.63.

Following this, Asian stocks declined on Friday amid rising geopolitical tensions and fear of US tariffs. The Japan, Chinese and Hong Kong indices remained in the red on Friday.

As many as 2,988 stocks traded on the NSE on Friday. Out of this, 2,120 advanced, and only 804 stocks declined, while 64 scrips remained unchanged.

A total of 33 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 49 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 192 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 53 touched their lower circuit bands on Friday.

At the end of the session, the volatility index India VIX stood at 12.58 levels, falling 0.21%.

The broader market continued with its rally and outshone the broader index. Nifty Midcap 100 jumped 1.38% to settle at the 51,850.75 level, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 advanced by 2.06% to the 16,184.95 level.

Except for Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.77%) and Nifty Metal (-0.55%), all the other sectors closed with gains. Nifty Midsmall Financial Services (2.45%), Nifty Midsmall IT & Telecom (2.37%), Nifty Media (2.20%), Nifty Oil and Gas (1.84%) and Nifty Financial Services Ex Bank (1.76%) were the top gainers.

As many as 38 stocks on the NIFTY50 index traded in the green, while only 12 ended in the negative territory. The biggest contributing stocks on the index were SBI Life Insurance, NTPC, ONGC, Bajaj Finance and Bharat Petroleum, rising as much as 3.43%.

On the flip side, the top losers were Trent, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), Wipro, Hindalco and Infosys, tumbling as much as 1.60% on the 50-share index.

The stock soared after the SBI Life Insurance on Thursday announced the acquisition of 65,90,000 equity shares in Bima Sugam India Federation, a not-for-profit firm aimed at creating a centralized insurance marketplace.

The deal will make it one of the promoters of the company and provide joint control.

According to the PTI, the total February registrations by Ola Electric stood at 8,652 on the Vahan portal, while the company had reported sales of more than 25,000 units. Following this, the Ministry of Heavy Industries directed the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to probe the incident.