Santa rally continue, Sensex,Nifty rises for 3rd straight session

After Christmas, the key domestic share indices ended on a positive note following a rally for the third straight session on Tuesday, tracking a muted mood in Asian markets.At close, the Sensex was up 229.84 points or 0.32 percent at 71,336.80, and the Nifty was up 91.95 points or 0.43 percent at 21,441.35.
Stocks and Sectors
Divis Laboratories, Hero MotoCorp, Adani Enterprises, Hindalco and NTPC were the biggest gainers on the Nifty, while losers included Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Infosys, TCS and Tata Motors.
On the sectoral front,except for Information Technology, all other sectoral indices ended in the green with oil & gas, power, metal, auto, healthcare gaining 1 percent each.BSE midcap index added 0.7 percent and smallcap index up 0.5 percent.
On 26 Dec'23,the Indian rupee appreciated 3 paise to close at 83.13 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, tracking positive cues from domestic equity markets and a weak American currency against major overseas rivals.However, forex traders said the Indian currency remained under pressure due to selling of equities from foreign institutional investors amid volatility in crude prices.
Experts Take:
The global rally in December led by the mother market US has lifted most markets significantly and India was fortunate to have the lift from the state election results too. The 6% rally in Nifty in December has heated up the market a bit and the bulls are likely to wait for the New Year for further action. High valuations continue to be a short-term concern. However, the global market construct continues to be favourable with the US inflation, bond yields and the dollar index trending down, according to financial experts.Market experts have recommended six stocks to buy for Tuesday- Eichermot, Rhim, BharatForge, Ibulhsgfin, Patanjali Food and Lauras Lab.

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