Muhurat Trading: Sensex gains over 300 points, Nifty holds above 24,300; car stocks shine

Indian stocks closed higher after the announcement of the new Samvat 2081 on a good note amid widespread buying. At the end of the day, the Nifty ended at 24,304.35, up 0.41 percent or 99 points, while the Sensex added 335.06 points or 0.42 percent to 79,724.12.

In comparison, broader markets closed higher with the Nifty Smallcap 100 closing nearly 1 percent higher.

On a sectoral basis, the auto index recorded the biggest gain, ending up over 1 percent, led by gains in stocks including M&M, Tata Motors, Eicher Motors, Bajaj Auto and Hero MotoCorp among others. That’s because investors are closely monitoring October vehicle sales from major automakers.

During the previous month, Maruti Suzuki India’s total sales (including domestic and overseas sales) stood at 2,06,434 units, registering a 3.6 percent year-on-year increase.

Other indices that posted strong gains included Consumer Durable, Oil & Gas, PSU Banking and Metal, with IT being the only laggard with moderately negative returns.

In the Nifty pack, the top gainers in the special trading session were M&M, ONGC, Bharat Electronics, Adani Ports and Eicher Motors, but the top losers were stocks like Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, Britannia, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra and Grasim Industries.

Dr. V.K. Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services, said, “With Nifty returning 25 percent and Nifty 500 returning 30 percent in Samvat 2080, investors should be happy. But the 6.2 percent correction in October is the first correction above 5 percent. over 54 months, has raised concerns about market performance going forward. Of serious concern is the relentless selling of FIIs in October to the tune of Rs. 113858 crores through exchanges.”

Given India’s stretched valuations and concerns about slowing earnings growth, FII selling may continue, weighing on benchmark indices. In such a scenario, investors should focus on investing in specific stocks where the Q2 results were good and earnings are clear, Vijaykumar added.