Summary of this article
Sensex closed 76.54 points higher at 80,787.30, while Nifty 50 ended higher by up 32.15 points at 24,773.15
Nifty Auto emerged top sectoral gainer, rising 3.30 per cent during the session
Crude Oil prices jump amid fresh Russian strikes on Ukraine
Domestic stock market pared its early gains to settle flat-to-positive on September 8, as most of the intraday rally faded towards the fag-end of the session.
The Sensex rose as much as 460 points, or 0.57 per cent, to an intraday high of 81,171.38, before settling 76.54 points, or 0.09 per cent, higher at 80,787.30. Likewise, Nifty 50 advanced 144.5 points, or 0.58 per cent, to the day's high of 24,885.50, and then gave up most of the gains to close at 24,773.15, up 32.15 points, or 0.13 per cent.
The broader markets showed a similar behavior. The Nifty Smallcap 100 surged up to 0.57 per cent to its day's high before closing with 0.16 per cent gains. Similarly, Nifty Midcap 100 rose as high as 1 per cent and ended with 0.5 per cent gains.
"The domestic market failed to sustain its early gains as a late-session sell-off reflected the prevailing 'buy-on-dips, sell-on-rallies' strategy, highlighting investor caution," Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments, said.
Auto Extends GST Cut Rally
Nifty Auto emerged as the top sectoral gainer, rising 3.30 per cent during the session as several automakers announced price cuts across models following GST Council's tax reforms. This raised prospects of domestic demand recovery. The Auto index rose 3.30 per cent during the session. Over the previous three sessions, it rallied over 5.5 per cent.
Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty Realty, Nifty Metal, Nifty Oil & Gas were other gainers, however, none of the indices closed higher by 0.5 per cent.
The biggest pullback came from IT stocks, as Nifty IT closed lower by 0.94 per cent. Following the IT index, Nifty Consumer Durables, Nifty Healthcare, Nifty Pharma, and Nifty FMCG also closed in the red.
Nifty Energy and Nifty Private Bank ended flat, with a slight negative bias.
Nifty Bank, which tracks the performance of the 12 most valuable and liquid banking stocks, ended up by 0.13 per cent at 54,186.90.
Nifty 50 Top Gainers And Losers
Auto stocks led the gains in the 50-share benchmark index. Tata Motors rose 4.25 per cent, Bajaj Auto advanced 4.08 per cent, Mahindra & Mahindra jumped 4.01 per cent, and Eicher Motors climbed 3.31 per cent, Maruti Suzuki India jumped 2.42 per cent, and Hero Moto Corp inched up 1.43 per cent. Apart from the auto stocks, JSW Steel gained 2.79 per cent, Adani Ports rose 2.21 per cent, Adani Enterprises gained 1.65 per cent.
On the other hand, Trent lost the most, falling nearly 4 per cent, followed by Asian Paints, which fell 1.74 per cent, Coal India, which dropped 1.35 per cent and Dr Reddy's Laboratories, which slipped 1.35 per cent. Nestle India, SBI Life Insurance, Tech Mahindra, and HCL Technologies also ended the day in red.
Crude Oil Price Today
Crude oil prices rose more than 2 per cent today amid prospects of a further sanction on Russian crude as Russia launched a massive air strike overnight on Ukraine, targeting government's cabinet building. The strike overpowered the bearish sentiment induced after OPEC+ countries' oil output hike in October. OPEC+ countries on September 7 decided to increase output by 1,37,999 barrels per day in October amid concerns of oversupply.
Brent Crude November futures rose 1.94 per cent to $66.76 per barrel, and the WTI Crude October futures jumped 1.96 per cent to $63.08 per barrel, recovering most of their losses in the previous sessions.
Gold Price Today
Gold prices remained elevated, extending gains, as continued tariff uncertainty kept the demand for safe-haven assets higher.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange (MCX), Gold October futures traded Rs 322, or 0.30 per cent higher at 1,08,050 per 10 grams. On Comex, Gold December futures climbed $3.7, or 0.10 per cent, to $3,657 per ounce.
Market Outlook
Market participants will be tracking the aftermath of Russia's fresh airstrikes on Ukraine's key government building. Further developments in US tariffs will also be tracked closely by traders.
