The Indian stock market witnessed a positive close on May 22, with the 30-share BSE Sensex gaining 231.99 points or 0.31% to close at 75,415.35, while the NSE Nifty50 surged 64.60 points or 0.27% to end at 23,719.30. According to reports from ET Now, the market showed strong intraday performance before paring some gains, with Sensex soaring to an intraday high of 75,811 and Nifty hitting its day's high at 23,836. This positive momentum helped the Nifty close above the crucial 23,700 mark for the week. During the day, Sensex had surged as much as 627.61 points or 0.83% to 75,810.97, demonstrating significant volatility before settling at the final close.
The market witnessed mixed sectoral performance during the trading session. As reported by ET Now, Nifty IT emerged as the top sectoral gainer, advancing approximately 4.3% with all constituents closing in green, led by Coforge and Wipro. The Nifty Realty sector advanced around 2.4% with Lodha Developers and DLF being the top performers. However, the Nifty FMCG sector declined over 1.5%, with Emami and United Breweries leading the losses. The Nifty Pharma sector also closed in red, snapping a 6-session gaining streak with Glenmark and Aurobindo Pharma as the top losers. Among individual stocks, Trent, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance were the major winners, while Sun Pharma, ITC, Power Grid and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards. The Nifty PSU Bank and Metal indices fell by 0.8% each, indicating cautious sentiment in these sectors.
The Indian rupee strengthened significantly during the session, rising 51 paise to touch an intraday high of 95.69 against the US dollar before settling at 96.20 per dollar. According to Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, as reported by ET Now, the rupee maintained its upward momentum for the second straight day, effectively reversing losses from the start of the week. The turnaround is attributed to the Reserve Bank of India's active market intervention post the announcement of its USDINR Buy-Sell swap, alongside a reprieve in imported commodity prices as geopolitical risks ease. Technically, spot USDINR faces resistance at 96.20 and support at 95.40. On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark climbed 177.36 points, or 0.23%, while the Nifty went up by 75.8 points, or 0.32%.
Looking at the weekly performance, as reported by ET Now, Nifty closed in green for the week, closing above the 23,700 mark. The Nifty Bank sector advanced over 0.6%, mainly led by Axis Bank and IndusInd Bank. The Nifty Midcap index gained over 1.5%, led by Tata Communication and GE Vernova T&D. The Nifty Smallcap index also closed in green, with Gland Pharma and Triveni Turbine leading the gains. However, the Nifty Auto and Nifty Metal sectors declined over 0.2% during the week. Among sectoral indices, Private Banks Index rallied 1.35%, Top 10 Banks jumped 1.23%, Bankex by 1.18%, Telecommunication by 0.93% and Financial Services by 0.90%. Conversely, Hospitals dropped the most by 1.39%, followed by Healthcare (1.23%), IT (0.32%), Focused IT (0.29%), Power (0.18%) and Energy (0.09%).
According to ET Now reports, top performers for the week included Grasim and Wipro, while Power Grid and Tata Steel were the top losers. The Nifty IT sector was the top sectoral gainer for the week, advancing approximately 4.3%, with all constituents closing in green. The Nifty Energy sector also advanced around 1% during the trading period. Meanwhile, the Nifty PSU Bank sector declined over 0.2%, closing in red for the fifth consecutive week, with Central Bank of India and UCO Bank dragging the index. Among broader market segments, a total of 2,213 stocks advanced, while 1,971 declined and 179 remained unchanged on the BSE. The BSE MidCap Select index went up by 0.30%, while the SmallCap Select index declined 0.60%, indicating cautious sentiment among investors in mid and small-cap stocks.
