Stock market closing: Nifty, Sensex close the day with minor gains, Bajaj Finserv, Mahindra and Mahindra amongst top gainers

Both indices, Sensex and Nifty ended the day's trade with marginal gains. While Nifty closed at 24,836.10 points, up by 0.01%, Sensex closed at 81,355.84 points, up by 0.03%.

Divis Labs (up by 2.93%), BPCL (up by 2.92%), LT (up by 2.58%), Bajaj Finserv (up by 1.99%) and Mahindra and Mahindra (up by 1.98%) were amongst the leading gainers during the day, while Bharti Airtel (down by 2.08%), Titan (down by 1.95%), Cipla (down by 1.40%), ITC (down by 1.18%) and Tata Consumers (down by 1.12%) were amidst the leading laggards.

All broad market indices closed the day in green, with Nifty Next 50 up by 1.21%, midcap 100 up by 1.03%, small cap 100 up by 1%, India VIX up by 5.69% and smallcap 250 up by 1.07%. As for sectoral indices, with the exception of financial services (down by 0.01%), FMCG (down by 0.34%), IT (down by 0.38%) and consumer durables (down by 0.01%), all other indices closed in green. Media was up by 1.80%, PSU banks rallied by 2.25%, realty was up by 1.43% and oil and gas rallied by 1.04%.

Out of the 2,827 stocks traded during the day, 1,629 stocks advanced, while 1,102 saw declines, while another 96 remained unchanged. 245 stocks hit their 52-week high, while 16 stocks also hit their 52-week low. 179 stocks remained in the upper circuit during the day, while 16 stocks also hit the lower circuit, or the minimum permissible trading price during a singular trading session, during the day.

Aditya Gaggar, director of Progressive Shares noted that Indian bourses commenced the week at yet another record level of 24,940. After a minor dip in the morning trade, Banking counters set the stage for the Index to surpass the psychological barrier of 25,000 but a hidden bearish divergence in the RSI pulled BankNifty lower which put pressure on the Index to trade lower to end the day at 24,836.10 with a minuscule gain of 1.25 points.

"On a sectoral front, PSU Banks and Media were the outperformers while FMCG and IT ended the session in red. Despite a steep reversal in the markets, Mid and Smallcaps held their gains to outshine the Frontline Index. On the daily chart, the Index has formed a small red candle with a probable bearish divergence in RSI indicating a temporary pause in its journey towards the north. A level of 25,000 will continue to act as an immediate resistance while 22,560 is a strong support point", he continued.

Shrikant Chouhan, Head – Equity Research, Kotak Securities highlights that after today's volatile trading session, PSU bank index outperformed and rallied 2.35% whereas intraday profit booking were seen in selective FMCG and IT stocks. The market opened with a positive note but due to profit booking at higher levels, it failed to touch 24,950/81,750 levels. From the day's highest level, market shed over 200 /750 points.

"We are of the view that, the intraday market texture is non-directional hence buying on intraday correction and sell on rallies would be the ideal strategy for the day traders. For traders now, 24,700-24,650/81,000-80,800 would be the key support areas while 24,950 -25,000/81,750-82,000 would act as a crucial resistance areas for the bulls. On the flip side, below 24,650/80,800 uptrend would be vulnerable", he continued.