Stock Market Updates: Sensex Rises 150 points, Nifty Above 21,950; Shriram Finance Jumps 3%

Market Closing: Equity markets recorded wild swings in trade on Thursday as investors adjusted their positions ahead of the February F&O expiry. The S&P BSE Sensex oscillated 631 points before closing at 72,500, up 195 points or 0.27 per cent.

The Nifty50, on the other hand, ended the Feb derivatives series at 21,983, up 32 points or 0.14 per cent.

In the broader market, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices outperformed the benchmarks as they closed with gains of 0.84 per cent and 0.50 per cent, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty Media index closed with losses of 0.76 per cent. On the upside, the Nifty PSU Bank index eked out gains of 1.8 per cent, followed by the Nifty Bank index (0.6 per cent).

“The market has suddenly turned unpredictable amidst high volatility. Resistance has become strong at the Nifty 22200 level. The cut in Nifty by more than 1 per cent yesterday despite the FII selling getting neutralised by DII buying is significant. This is due to the rebalancing of the positions a day ahead of the monthly expiry. The volatility will continue today, too, being the last day of the monthly expiry. Investors may wait for the volatility to subside,” said Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, at Geojit Financial Services.

Global cues

Asian shares were mostly in red barring Straits Times which advanced 0.4 per cent. Kospi shed 0.7 per cent, Nikkei dipped 0.5 per cent and Taiwan was down 0.2 per cent.

On Wednesday, the US market ended slightly lower a day ahead of a key inflation reading that could heavily influence expectations on timing of rate cuts. Dow and the S&P 500 were marginally in red, while Nasdaq slipped 0.6 per cent.

The 10-year US Treasury bond yield hovered around 4.29 per cent. Whereas, Brent Crude Oil futures consolidated around $82 per barrel. Meanwhile, Bitcoin zoomed past the $60,000 mark for the first time since November 2021.