Market rally stalls, Sensex, Nifty close flat as banking FMCG drag

Indian equity indices ended a volatile session flat on Tuesday, failing to sustain their record highs after Sensex and Nifty briefly crossed 85,000 and 26,000, respectively, during intraday trading, snapping a three-day winning streak. Though the market started the day with gains, driven by last week's Federal Reserve rate cut.
At close, the Sensex was down 14.57 points or 0.02 percent at 84,914.04, and the Nifty was up 1.35 points or 0.01 percent at 25,940.40.BSE Sensex and Nifty touched fresh high of 85,163.23 and 26,011.55, respectively.
Highlights of Trade:
●Nifty reaches the 26,000 mark for the first time,
●Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) plunges 9% following market coupling implementation reports,
●Western Carriers lists at a 1% discount on its stock market debut,
●Northern Arc Capital makes a strong debut, listing at a 34% premium,
●Arkade Developers stock surges 37% on its listing day, outperforming expectations.
●Reliance Power jumps 5% after receiving approval for a preferential issue,
●Sensex crosses the 85,000 milestone for the first time ever,
●Nifty touches a fresh all-time high during the trading session.
Tata Steel, Hindalco Industries, Power Grid Corp, Tech Mahindra, and Adani Enterprises were the top gainers on the Nifty, while losers included SBI Life Insurance, HUL, Grasim Industries, UltraTech Cement, and Shriram Finance.
On the sectoral front, the metal index rose 3 percent, oil & gas index was up 0.6 percent, power index added 1.4 percent. On the other hand, PSU Bank, FMCG, and telecom were down 0.5-1 percent. The BSE midcap and smallcap indices ended on a flat note.
 Rupee Close:
On 24 Sep'24,the Indian rupee depreciated 11 paise to close at 83.65 against the US dollar, weighed down by a muted trend in domestic equities and rising crude oil prices.
The Indian rupee opened higher on Tuesday as domestic equities touched fresh record highs. However, the rupee lost early gains and closed in the red and domestic equity markets also followed suit and closed in the negative territory. Forex traders reportedly stated a surge in crude oil prices weighed on the rupee, while the US Dollar weakened as China announced fresh stimulus to boost its economy.
Trading Guide:
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services reportedly quoted as saying,domestic benchmarks are attempting sustain new highs, driven by the US Fed’s aggressive rate cut. Meanwhile, the Chinese central bank’s rate cut, and additional stimulus measures have positively influenced global investor sentiment, resulting in gains for domestic metal stocks. Conversely, FMCG and banking stocks exhibited declines due to profit-booking at higher levels. In the near term, strong inflows from FIIs, driven by the US Fed’s dovish outlook and expectations of a rate cut by the RBI in October, are expected to maintain momentum.
Market experts have recommended five stocks to buy today-Bajaj Auto Ltd, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise LTD , Gujarat State Petronet Ltd , Indus Towers Ltd and Intellect Design Arena Ltd.

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