Stock market today: Sensex, Nifty 50 end with mild gains on profit booking at higher levels

Stock market today: The Indian stock market's record-setting spree continued on Thursday, July 4, as did investors' strategy of booking profits at higher levels. This was evidenced by the market benchmarks, the Sensex and the Nifty 50, which closed with nominal gains after rising half a per cent each and hitting fresh all-time high levels.

The Indian stock market started impressively and traded with gains throughout the session amid positive global cues. However, the key indices pared their gains significantly towards the end of the session, hinting at growing caution against the market's premium valuation.

According to Bloomberg data, the Nifty 50's current price-to-earnings (PE) ratio is slightly above 24 compared to its one-year forward PE of 19. The index's price-to-book (PB) ratio currently stands at 4 compared to its one-year forward PB of 3.2.

Read more: Sensex gains 8,000 points in 1 month, Nifty 50 tops 24,400; is Indian stock market overheated? A deep correction coming?

After opening at 80,321.79 against its previous close of 79,986.80, the Sensex rose 0.50 per cent to hit its fresh record high of 80,392.64 during the session. However, the index erased most gains and settled just 63 points, or 0.08 per cent, up at 80,049.67.

The Nifty 50 opened at 24,369.95 against its previous close of 24,286.50 and also clocked a gain of about half a per cent to make a fresh peak of 24,401. The index finally closed 16 points, or 0.06 per cent, up at 24,302.15.

Also Read: Sensex, Nifty at record highs again! From strategy to preferred sectors, experts advise how to navigate the market now

Notwithstanding concerns over their hot valuations, the BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices hit fresh record highs and closed with gains larger than those of the benchmarks.

The BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices ended 0.60 per cent higher each.

As many as 372 stocks, including many major ones such as JSW Steel, Lupin, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Wipro, Persistent Systems, HDFC Asset Management Company, and Federal Bank, hit fresh 52-week highs on the BSE.

The overall market capitalisation of the firms listed on the BSE rose to a record level of nearly ₹447.36 lakh crore. In the previous session, it stood at nearly ₹445.44 lakh crore. This means investors earned about ₹2 lakh crore in a single session.

Top Nifty 50 gainers

Shares of Tata Motors (up 2.75 per cent), HCL Tech (up 2.63 per cent) and ICICI Bank (up 2.53 per cent) ended as the top gainers among the 23 Nifty 50 stocks that closed in the green.

Top Nifty 50 losers

Shares of HDFC Bank (down 2.30 per cent), Bajaj Finance (down 2.06 per cent) and Adani Enterprises (down 1.47 per cent) closed as the top losers in the Nifty 50 index.

Also Read: Top Gainers and Losers today on 4 July, 2024: HCL Technologies, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Bajaj Finance among most active stocks; Check full list here

Sectoral indices today

Bank Nifty (up 0.03 per cent) closed almost flat, while the Private Bank index and PSU Bank index inched up by 0.07 per cent and 0.16 per cent.

Among the gainers, Nifty Pharma (up 1.39 per cent), Healthcare (up 1.28 per cent), IT (up 1.10 per cent) and Auto (up 0.73 per cent) stood at the top.

Expert views on markets

"The defensive bet on large caps like IT and pharma gained momentum due to the diminishing US inflationary pressure, improvement in quarter-on-quarter earnings outlook and a resultant sharp fall in the US 10-year bond yield. The buoyancy in government spending and the green shoots in corporate earnings are now supporting the premium valuation. Return of FIIs to the domestic market and expectation of a rate cut in September are supporting market sentiment," said Vinod Nair, the head of research at Geojit Financial Services.

Technical views on Nifty 50

According to Shrikant Chouhan, the head of equity research at Kotak Securities, pointed out that, for the day traders now, 24,400/80,390 would be the immediate breakout level. Above this, the market could rally up to 24,500-24,525/80,700-80,800. Below 24,280/80,000, the sentiment could change, and the market could retest the level of 24,200-24,165/79,700-79,550.

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Disclaimer: The views and recommendations above are those of individual analysts, experts, and brokerage firms, not Mint. We advise investors to consult certified experts before making any investment decisions.