Stock Market Today, May 22: The Indian stock market ended the week on a positive note, with the benchmark Sensex closing higher by nearly 232 points following buying in blue-chip bank shares amid rising hopes for the much-awaited conclusion of a peace deal between Iran and the US. The 30-share BSE Sensex climbed 231.99 points, or 0.31 per cent, to settle at 75,415.35. During the day, it surged 627.61 points, or 0.83 per cent, to 75,810.97. The 50-share NSE Nifty edged higher by 64.60 points or 0.27 per cent to end at 23,719.30.

Sensex Heatmap Today - May 22: Top gainers and losers

Among 30 Sensex firms, Trent, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance were the major winners.

Sun Pharma, ITC, Power Grid and Bharat Electronics were among the laggards.

Among the top gainers on the Nifty index were Trent, Shriram Finance, and Axis Bank, as financial and banking counters remained in focus throughout the session.

Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities, said, "After showing weakness from the highs on Thursday, Nifty shifted into minor buying amidst range bound action on Friday and closed the day higher by 64 points. After opening on a positive note, the market struggled again to surpass the crucial overhead resistance of 23850 levels in the early-mid part of the trade. Minor weakness was seen from the highs in the mid to later part of the session and Nifty closed the day by erasing some of intraday gains."

"Smal bullish candle was formed on the daily chart on Friday beside the negative candle of Thursday. The short-term chart pattern signals continues testing of key overhead resistance around 23850 with the rising low formations. This is positive indication. The underlying trend of Nifty remains choppy with positive bias. A decisive move only above 23850-23900 levels could open broad-based buying in the Nifty towards 24150 levels in the near term. However, any weakness from here could find immediate support around 23600 levels," he added.

Stock Market Today - Quick Highlights

• Nifty 50 advances over 50 points and closes near 23700 mark
• Top performers- Trent and Shriram Finance
• Top losers - Max Health and Sun Pharma
• Nifty Bank advances ~1.2%, Axis Bank and AU Small Fiinance Bank
• Nifty Midcap & Nifty Smallcap closes flat
• Nifty Metal top sectoral gainer advances ~0.4%, mainly led by SAIL and Lloyd Metal
• Nifty PSU Bank advances 0.2% closes in green for 4th consecutive session, mainly led by BOB and PNB
• Nifty Auto closes in slight green closes in green for 4th consecutive session, Bosch and Ashok Leyland lead gains
• Nifty FMCG closes flat
• Nifty Realty declines ~0.1% , snaps 3 day gaining streak; Sobha and Anant Raj were the top losers
• Nifty energy declines 0.1%; mainly dragged by Thermax and Power India
• Nifty IT closes in red for 3rd consecutive session, declines over 0.4%; OFSS and LTM lead losses
• Nifty Pharma top sectoral loser, declines ~1.3%; mainly dragged by Aurobindo and Glenmark Pharma

Stock Markets This Week

• Nifty closes in green this week closes above 23700 mark
• Top performer -Grasim and Wipro
• Top Loser -Power Grid and Tata Steel
• Nifty Bank closes in green, advances over 0.6%; mainly led by Axis & IndusInd Bank
• Nifty Midcap gains over 1.5% this week, mainly led by Tata Communication and GE Vernova T&D
• Nifty Smallcap closes in green this week, Gland Pharma and Triveni Turbine lead gains
• Nifty IT top sectoral gainer, advances ~4.3%; all constituents close in green; Coforge and Wipro were the lead gainers
• Nifty Realty advances ~2.4% Lodha Developers and DLF were the top performers
• Nifty Energy advances ~1%
• Nifty Auto Nifty Metal declines over 0.2%
• Nifty FMCG top sectoral loser declines over 1.5%, Emami and United breweries lead losses
• Nifty Pharma closes in red snaps 6-session gaining streak; Glenmark and Aurobindo Pharma were the top losers
• Nifty PSU Bank declines over 0.2%, closes in red for 5th consecutive week; Central Bank of India and UCO bank dragged the index

Sectoral performance

The BSE MidCap Select index went up by 0.30 per cent, while SmallCap Select index declined 0.60 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, Private Banks Index rallied 1.35 per cent, Top 10 Banks jumped 1.23 per cent, Bankex by 1.18 per cent, Telecommunication by 0.93 per cent and Financial Services by 0.90 per cent.

Hospitals dropped the most by 1.39 per cent, followed by Healthcare (1.23 per cent), IT (0.32 per cent), Focused IT (0.29 per cent), Power (0.18 per cent) and Energy (0.09 per cent).

A total of 2,213 stocks advanced, while 1,971 declined and 179 remained unchanged on the BSE.

In the broader market segment, the Nifty MidCap ended 0.14 per cent higher, while the Nifty SmallCap slipped 0.15 per cent.

Sector-wise, the Nifty Private Bank, Nifty Financial Services, and Nifty Bank outperformed the broader market. On the other hand, the Nifty Pharma, Nifty Healthcare, and Nifty Media ended the session in the red.

Meanwhile, rupee strengthened by 51 paise to touch an intra-day high of 95.69 against the US dollar. However, it later pared some gains and settled at 96.20 per dollar.

Dilip Parmar, Research Analyst, HDFC Securities, said, "The Indian rupee maintained its upward momentum for the second straight day, effectively reversing the losses sustained at the start of the week. This turnaround is largely attributed to the Reserve Bank of India's active market intervention post the announcement of its USDINR Buy-Sell swap, alongside a reprieve in imported commodity prices as geopolitical risks eases."

Technically, spot USDINR faces resistance at 96.20 and support at 95.40, Parmar added.

On the weekly front, the BSE benchmark climbed 177.36 points, or 0.23 per cent. The Nifty went up by 75.8 points, or 0.32 per cent.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, climbed 2.3 per cent to USD 104.7 per barrel.

In Asian markets, South Korea's benchmark Kospi, Japan's Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai's SSE Composite index and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index ended higher.

Markets in Europe were trading in positive territory. US markets ended higher on Thursday.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,891.21 crore in the previous session, according to exchange data.

On Thursday, the 30-share BSE benchmark declined 135.03 points, or 0.18 per cent, to settle at 75,183.36. The Nifty skidded 4.30 points, or 0.02 per cent, to end at 23,654.70.

(Disclaimer: The above article is meant for informational purposes only, and should not be considered as any investment advice. ET NOW DIGITAL suggests its readers/audience to consult their financial advisors before making any money related decisions.)