Sensex snaps 2-day losing streak, climbs 491 pts, Nifty above 21,650

The Indian equity market indices bounced back on Thursday after the last two negative trading days led by strong monthly business updates of leading banks, emphasizing robust credit growth. Investors continue to gauge the trajectory for US Fed rate cuts after the December meeting minutes overnight showed officials seeing higher rates for some more time. At close, the Sensex was up 490.97 points or 0.69 percent at 71,847.57, and the Nifty was up 141.25 points or 0.66 percent at 21,658.60.
Stocks and Sectors
Bajaj Finance, NTPC, ONGC, Tata Consumer and IndusInd Bank were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included BPCL, LTIMindtree, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, HCL Technologies and Hero MotoCorp.
On the sectoral front, the Realty index was up 6.6 percent, the power index was up 2 percent, while bank, capital goods, healthcare and oil & gas index were up 0.5-1 percent.BSE Midcap and smallcap indices were up 1 percent each and touched fresh record highs.
On 04 Jan'24,the Indian rupee appreciated 7 paise to close at 83.23 against the US dollar on Thursday, helped by a bullish trend in domestic equities and weakness of the American currency in the overseas market.However, rising crude oil prices capped sharp gains for the local unit, forex traders said.
Experts Take
Market experts have recommended six stocks to buy for Thursday- IRCTC, Trent, Hindustan Petroleum, CESC, Greaves Cotton and Borosil Renewables.

(Writer is a Finance Research Analyst, based in Gandhinagar, Gujarat)