CAS chaos: Nifty ends flat but Sensex jumps 374 points on expiry day

The Indian stock market closed in the green on Thursday, but the newly-launched closing auction session (CAS) continued to create divergence in benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty.

Sensex jumped nearly 374 points to end at 78,955 on its expiry day, while Nifty 50 ended almost flat, gaining only 11 points to close at 24,636 on Thursday. Nifty Midcap 100 slipped into the red, falling more than 0.4%, while Nifty Smallcap 100 index closed around 0.5% higher.

Reliance Industries (RIL) and State Bank of India (SBI) shares gained more than 3% each to lead gains on Sensex, while Power Grid shares dropped around 4% to lead losses on the benchmark index.


Among the sectors, Nifty PSU Bank index rallied over 2% while Nifty Auto and Nifty Realty fell more than 1% each. The overall market breadth slightly favoured the bears, with NSE seeing 1,668 advances against 1,672 declines, while 138 stocks remained unchanged.


US-Iran peace hopes


US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran seemed "to be working out quite well". "I hear they are doing very well," Trump said during an interview. "I am not looking to kill people and totally obliterate everything, and that's where we were headed. And they wanted to negotiate and we're doing that, and it seems to be working out quite well," he added.

Although the war in the Middle East has entered its sixth month and the two sides have so far failed to reach a permanent end to the conflict, Trump has repeatedly attempted to portray the talks positively.


What lies ahead?

Markets drew support from the moderation in crude oil prices, aided by intensified diplomatic efforts to restore regional stability and normalise shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments. He added that the positive sentiment was further reinforced by the RBI's steady policy stance and constructive growth outlook, prompting selective buying in heavyweights, banking, and energy stocks.

Investors are also increasingly pricing in an improvement in upcoming quarters' earnings, as softer crude prices could ease inflationary pressures and support margin expansion, the analyst said. "Reflecting this shift in sentiment, Reliance Industries attracted renewed investor interest, with bargain buying emerging after an extended phase of O2C-led underperformance as markets reassess its long-term value proposition across energy, telecom, retail and others. However, profit booking was witnessed across many sectors like auto, metals, IT, realty and cement, but the broader market remained resilient, led by a stock-specific rally in small caps," he added.


Technical view on Nifty


Nifty 50 remained range-bound throughout the day as participants stayed indecisive about the market's direction, said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst at LKP Securities. On the higher side, the Nifty repeatedly faced resistance near the previous day's closing level, with buying momentum fading at higher levels, he added.


"On the downside, 24,600 acted as a crucial support throughout the session. In the near term, as long as the Nifty sustains above 24,600, it has the potential to move towards 24,800. A sustained breakout above 24,800 could trigger a fresh directional rally and strengthen the bullish momentum," according to the analyst.


(With inputs from agencies)
(Disclaimer: Recommendations, suggestions, views and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times)