The domestic bourses on Tuesday created new milestones as both benchmark indices – BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty - hit fresh record highs for four consecutive sessions. The BSE Sensex crossed the 65,500 mark for the first time and the Nifty50 logged a fresh all-time high on the back of sustained fund inflows from foreign investors amid improving optimism about the Indian economy. The market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed firms also crossed the historic ₹300 lakh crore mark for the first time.
On Tuesday, the 30-share Sensex opened nearly 300 points higher at 65,503 against the previous closing level of 65,205. Extending opening gains, the index gained as much as 381 points, or 0.58%, to hit a new record high of 65,587 mark.
Similarly, the Nifty50 belled the day at 19,407, up 84 points against Monday’s closing level of 19,323. In the first two hours of trade so far, the index rose 91 points, or 0.47%, to acclaim a new height of 19,413 mark.
At 11:30 A.M., the BSE benchmark Sensex was trading at 65,344, higher by 139 points, or 0.21%, and the NSE Nifty was at 19343, up by 20 points or 0.11 %. The broader markets were also flashing in green, with midcap and smallcap indices rising by 0.15% and 0.35%, respectively. The market breadth, indicating the overall strength of the market, was positive with 1,743 shares advancing out of total traded shares of 3,556, while 1,636 shares declined and 177 were unchanged.
On the sectoral front, realty and consumer durables were among the top performers, while oil and gas and FMCG indices were among the top laggards.
Among index heavyweights, Bajaj twins – Bajaja Finance and Bajaj Finserv topped the gainers' chart by climbing in the range of 5-7%. State Bank of India, Titan, M&M, TCS, Tata Motors, and NTPC were also among the notable gainers.
On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Industries, Asian Paints, Hindustan Unilever, and Axis Bank were among the top losers, falling up to 1%.
On Monday, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) purchased shares worth ₹1,996 crore, while they injected ₹52,366 crore last month, the highest since August 2022. Jahnavi Prabhakar, Economist at Bank of Baroda, said the Indian economy remained a favoured place for investment as has been reflected by strong FPI flows in the past few months. “This is likely against the backdrop of stable government policies, robust macro fundamentals, stable inflation and sustainable growth rates. On the other hand, global economies have been witnessing challenges of slower growth, elevated inflation, fears of recession and rate hike cycle by central banks.”
V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said, “The unabated surge in FPI inflows will keep the market resilient. The sharp U turn in FPI investment from ₹34,146 crore of selling in the first two months of this year to ₹90,986 crore of buying in the last two months has turned the market decisively in favour of bulls.”
“It makes sense to remain invested in this strong market which has taken most market participants by surprise. Optimism is fine but there is no room for exuberance since valuations do not allow an unabated rally,” he added.
Ashwin Ramani, Derivatives & Technical Analyst, SAMCO Securities, said that the market participants continued to initiate fresh long positions as indicated by the Future Open Interest (OI) data. “Nifty continued to move up despite the India VIX, a fear indicator, rising 6.85% to close at 11.54.”
“The option activity at 19,300 Strike will provide cues about Nifty’s Intraday direction tomorrow as both call and the put writers are battling it out to dethrone the other. The downside support for Nifty is placed at 19,000 while 19,500 will act as a resistance,” Ramani added.
