Market Wrap, Nov 20: SENSEX rises 446 pts, NIFTY50 ends off high at 26,192; Eicher Motors, Bajaj twin shares top gainer

After a strong rally, the Indian stock market closed off the day’s highs but still ended in positive territory on Thursday, November 20, supported by upbeat global cues and solid gains in banking stocks. The foreign fund inflows further lifted investor sentiment.

Further, the BSE SENSEX traded 176.5 points below its record high of 85,978.25 after touching a one-year high of 85,801.70.

However, underperformance in the broader market weighed on the overall equity benchmarks.

Nifty Bank hit another record high for the second consecutive session at the 59,440.10 level, driven by strong gains in HDFC Bank (up 1.41%) and Axis Bank (up 1.24%). The index eventually closed slightly lower at 59,347.70.

According to exchange data, on Wednesday, the foreign institutional investors (FIIs) purchased shares worth ₹1,580.72 crore, while the domestic institutional investors (DIIs) bought equities worth ₹1,360.27 crore on a net basis.

On the global front, Asian markets were trading higher, led by strong gains in chipmakers after Nvidia’s robust earnings helped ease concerns about an AI-sector bubble.

South Korea's KOSPI and Japan's Nikkei soared 1.88% and 2.77%, respectively. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.4%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed up by 0.1%.

On Wall Street, after a volatile session, US stocks ended higher on Wednesday. The S&P 500 rose 0.38%, the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.1%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq rose 0.59%.

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

As many as 3,202 stocks traded on the NSE on Thursday. Out of this, 1,385 advanced and 1,721 stocks declined, while 96 scrips remained unchanged.

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

A total of 82 stocks hit their 52-week highs, while 138 stocks touched their one-year lows. Besides, 84 stocks hit their upper circuit limits, and 62 touched their lower circuit bands on Thursday.

The market capitalisation of NSE-listed firms stood at ₹473.88 lakh crore at the close of the session.

India VIX, the volatility gauge, stood at 12.14 levels, rising 1.35%.

The broader markets underperformed the main equity indices as the Nifty Smallcap 100 index dropped 0.05% to close at 18,067.25, while the Nifty Midcap 100 index rose marginally by 0.02% to settle at 60,963.55.

Among sectors, Nifty Oil & Gas took the lead among the gainers’ pack, rising 0.55%, followed by Nifty Auto (0.44%), Nifty Private Bank (0.31%), Nifty FMCG (0.08%) and Nifty Metal (0.02%).

On the flip side, Nifty Media (-1.54%), Nifty PSU Bank (-0.89%), Nifty Consumer Durables (-0.53%), Nifty Pharma (-0.18%) and Nifty Realty (-0.11%) were the losers.

On the NIFTY50, 34 stocks ended in the green, while 16 declined on Thursday.

Eicher Motors, which hit a record high of ₹7,138 per share, was the top contributor to the 50-share index, rising 3.31%.

Bajaj Finance (2.3%), Bajaj Finserv (2.29%), Reliance Industries (2.01%) and Tech Mahindra (1.82%) were the other top gainers.

On the contrary, Asian Paints (-1.16%), HCL Technologies (-1.09%), Titan Company (-0.84%), Hindustan Unilever (-0.52%) and ONGC (-0.48%) were the top laggards on Thursday.