After a three-day strong rally, the Indian stock market cooled off slightly in Thursday’s session, with key indices remaining largely unchanged as traders awaited election results in the politically significant northern state of Bihar, which could have implications for government policy.
Although the markets opened in the red, they quickly reversed losses in the first half of the session. However, those gains were pared as the day progressed, causing the Nifty 50 to close 0.01% higher at 25,577 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex also settled flat at 84,447.
Sector-wise, Nifty Metal emerged as the top performer, gaining 0.33%, followed by Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty, gaining 0.30% and 0.26% respectively. On the downside, Nifty PSU Bank stood as the top laggard, dropping 0.78%, while Nifty IT, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Media and Nifty Auto, all fell between 0.30% and 0.60%.
Meanwhile, most Asian markets closed with healthy gains after U.S. President Donald Trump signed a funding bill into law, effectively ending the longest federal government shutdown in U.S. history.
As the U.S. government reopened, key economic data such as jobs and inflation figures—crucial indicators for assessing the health of the U.S. economy, were set to be released.
On the domestic front, October CPI inflation eased to 0.25%, reinforcing expectations of at least one more repo rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India in the upcoming monetary policy review.
Metals shine; select banks and industrials join the rally
Though the market came off sharply from the day’s high, several stocks managed to buck the trend, with Data Patterns leading the front as the stock closed 7.7% higher at ₹3,008 apiece after the defence electronics company reported strong September quarter results.
Valor Estate also witnessed a sharp surge of 6.4% to ₹153, ending its two-day losing streak amid positive sentiment after its demerged arm, Advent Hotels, made its debut on the NSE today.
Consumer durables supplier PG Electroplast closed with solid gains of 6% at ₹559 apiece, ahead of the company’s Q2 results, with the Street expecting a muted set of numbers amid a slowdown in the RAC segment.
Ashok Leyland was another stock that reacted positively to its Q2 earnings, rising 5.53% to ₹150.50 apiece, while Samvardhana Motherson International also closed higher with a 3% rally to ₹109 apiece after the company reported a better-than-expected performance in Q2.
Meanwhile, Asian Paints extended its post-earnings rally for the second consecutive day, with the stock gaining another 4% to ₹2,879 apiece, while its peer Berger Paints also rose 3.7% to ₹581 apiece.
Metal stocks such as Hindalco Industries, Hindustan Zinc, Vedanta, and Jindal Stainless rallied over 1.5%.
Other key gainers included City Union Bank, Elecon Engineering, Granules India, Biocon, Tata Communications, JK Cement, Motherson Sumi Wiring India, Indraprastha Gas, Global Health, Muthoot Finance, Adani Energy Solutions, ICICI Bank, and IndiGo, all closing with gains between 2% and 4%.