Stock market ends marginally higher on last trading day of Samvat 2079

The Indian equity market indices recovers to close the last day of Samvat 2079 at its day's high on Friday, despite decline in early trade due to weak trends in global markets and unabated foreign fund outflows. At close,the Sensex settled 72.48 points or 0.11 percent higher at 64,904.68, and the Nifty ended with gains of 30.05 points or 0.15 percent at 19,425.35. The market breadth also favoured gainers over losers as about 1,812 shares rose, 1,747 fell, and 141 remained unchanged.
Stocks and Sectors
Bajaj Finance, Power Grid, Tech Mahindra and NTPC were the top gainers among the Sensex firms , while losers included Titan, Mahindra & Mahindra, IndusInd Bank, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Maruti, Tata Motors and Nestle.
On the sectoral front, selling was seen in the auto,IT and Oil & Gas names while buying was witnessed in the metal, capital goods and power names.BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices settled largely flat.
On 10 Nov'23 the Indian rupee appreciated by 1 paisa to close at 83.28 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday amid a weak American currency and softening crude oil prices. Forex traders said negative equity market sentiment and selling pressure from foreign investors kept the Indian currency range- bound.
Experts Take:
"Concerns are mounting as FIIs continue their persistent selling, potentially jeopardizing Nifty's positive outlook. Additionally, Jerome Powell's (Federal Reserve Chair) hawkish comments, signalling the possibility of further interest rate hikes in response to persistent inflation and robust economic growth, could lead to instability in today's trading," Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd, said in his pre-opening market comment.
Market experts have recommended six stocks to buy for Friday— MSIL, LT, Tata Power, Bharat Forge, PI Industries and FDC.

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