Indian benchmark indices traded marginally higher on Thursday, with the Nifty 50 up 0.15% at 24,114.40 and the BSE Sensex gaining 0.20% to 77,307.41 as of 13:05 IST. According to reports from LiveMint, this cautious advance comes after a strong four-session rally that lifted the Nifty and Sensex by around 4% and 4.5% respectively. Market breadth remained broadly positive, with 14 of the 16 major sectoral indices trading in the green, while broader markets outperformed benchmarks with the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.2% and 0.4% respectively.
Investor sentiment continued to be supported by softer oil prices, with Brent crude falling about 1.7% to $78.2 per barrel after the United States and Iran signed an interim peace agreement. As reported by LiveMint, this development eased concerns about supply disruptions and reduced global inflationary pressures. However, gains were capped by weakness in information technology stocks, with the Nifty IT index declining 1.5% after the Federal Reserve signalled the possibility of another rate hike later this year, prompting investors to reassess the outlook for rate-sensitive sectors.
According to Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst of HDFC Securities, the Nifty 50 continued to show consolidation at the highs and is currently trading flat after opening higher but failing to sustain above the 24,100 hurdle for an extended period. As reported by LiveMint, repeated testing of 24,100 resistance could eventually lead to a decisive breakout, with the lower support at 23,800 and near-term upside targets around the 24,500 level. A higher US interest-rate environment may reduce the appeal of emerging markets for foreign investors and weigh on spending across key export markets, particularly impacting Indian IT companies that derive significant revenue from the United States.
Indian Railway Finance Corporation Ltd (IRFC) is recommended as a buy at ₹100 with a target of ₹105 and stoploss at ₹97 for a 1-week timeframe. According to LiveMint's analysis, the Railways' finance stock witnessed a sharp breakout after moving into consolidation and has sustained above the hurdle of the down-sloping trend line at ₹99.50 levels. Lloyds Enterprises Ltd is also recommended as a buy at ₹77.50 with a target of ₹82 and stoploss at ₹75 for a 1-week timeframe, with the stock showing sharp upside momentum after a minor downward correction and positive volume patterns indicating a decisive upside breakout. Recent trading data shows Lloyds Enterprises opened at ₹76.50 with a high of ₹78.56 and low of ₹76.50, while the 50 DMA stands at ₹67.16 and 200 DMA is at ₹62.41, indicating an uptrend in the stock's intraday movement.
