Following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) outcome overnight, the Nifty opened with a gap-up, crossing the 23,000 mark. Despite some initial hesitation, the market maintained strong upward momentum on the weekly expiry day, Thursday.

Bulls continue to dominate as the market gained for the fourth consecutive session. This was also the longest winning streak in nearly two months. Frontline indices crossed key levels, with the Nifty climbing to its highest level since February 13.

A brief phase of range-bound movement was seen towards the end, but the index still closed at the day’s high, gaining 283 points to settle at 23,191.

The midcap and smallcap segments mirrored the broader market’s strength, continuing their fourth straight day of upward movement. The Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.64%, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 index gained 0.7%.

All sectoral indices settled in the green, rising up to 2%. As many as 47 Nifty stocks closed higher.

The dovish stance of the US Federal Reserve, which kept interest rates unchanged, provided relief to global markets and set the stage for a strong opening in the domestic market.

The Indian rupee continued its winning streak for the seventh consecutive day, supported by weakness in the dollar index after the Fed’s policy hinted at a slightly lower rate outlook, boosting overall market sentiment. This marks the rupee’s longest gaining streak in 14 months, since January 2024.

Foreign investors, meanwhile, turned net buyers in the cash market on Thursday, while domestic institutional investors were net sellers.

The Nifty is now placed at the long-term resistance of around 23,200 levels. The current strong upside momentum indicates possibility of an upside breakout of the hurdle.

Nagaraj Shetti of HDFC Securities said the underlying trend of the Nifty is strongly positive. A decisive upside breakout of 23,200 levels could pull the Nifty towards another resistance of 23,800 levels in the near term. Immediate support is placed at 23,070.

With the Nifty decisively surpassing the 23,100 resistance and the banking index reclaiming its long-term moving average, the next target is now set at 23,400, said Ajit Mishra of Religare Broking.

According to Rupak De of LKP Securities, the overall outlook remains optimistic, with the potential for a further rally in the short term. On the higher end, the Nifty could move towards 23,400 and beyond, while on the lower end, support is placed at 23,000.

Here are the stocks to watch ahead of Friday’s trading session:

– Manappuram Finance to issues shares worth ₹4,385 crore at ₹236 per share to Bain Capital on preferential basis and allotment will be done via warrants & equity shares.

– Bajaj Finance elevates Rajeev Jain to the post of Vice Chairman for three years, effective April 1, 2025.

– Hindalco plans to invest ₹45,000 crore for the next generation high precision engineered products.

– JSW Energy to raise up to ₹800 crore via NCDs in two tranches.

– Ministry of Corporate Affairs approves change in name of the company to ‘Eternal’ from ‘Zomato‘.

– Ashoka Buildcon re-appoints Satish Parakh as Managing Director of the company for three years, effective April 1, 2025.

– CDSL: Arm Centrico Insurance Repository signs agreement with Life Insurance Corporation of India’ (LIC) to provide insurance repository services.

– Lloyds Metals gets environment clearance for 1.2 MTPA wire rod project and 4.0 MTPA pellet plant project at Ghugus in Chandrapur, Maharashtra.