4-day rally takes mkts to record highs

Mumbai: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty settled at new record high levels on Monday in a highly volatile trade following buying in energy and banking shares as Moody’s upgraded 2024 India GDP growth forecast on better than expected economic data. Extending its rally to the fourth session in a row, the 30-share BSE Sensex rose by 66.14 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at an all-time high of 73,872.29. During the day, it jumped 183.98 points or 0.24 per cent to record intra-day high of 73,990.13.

The broader Nifty rose by 27.20 points or 0.12 per cent to close at a lifetime high of 22,405.60 points. During the day, it hit a record intra-day level of 22,440.90. In the four-day record-breaking spree, Sensex rallied 1,567 points or 2.15 per cent, while Nifty shot up 454 points or around 2 per cent. The total market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies stood at Rs3.93 lakh crore ($4.80 trillion).

Analysts said though benchmark indices closed at record levels, the market traded in a range. Gains were driven by buying in banks, energy and pharma shares while IT, FMCG and auto shares retreated, analysts said.

“The market traded in a range-bound manner due to weak global cues, while investors turned stock-specific due to the prevailing caution on broader indices. Further, the tepid consumption data influenced investors to refrain from FMCG and discretionary stocks,” said Vinod Nair, head (research), Geojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.16 per cent while the smallcap index dipped 0.78 per cent. Among the indices, oil & gas zoomed 1.88 per cent, energy jumped 1.71 per cent, power by 1.67 per cent, utilities by 1.45 per cent, telecommunication by 0.50 per cent and bankex by 0.39 per cent. Commodities, consumer discretionary, FMCG, IT and teck were among the laggards.

The global sentiment is likely to be cautious ahead of FED chair testimony and ECB policy later this week, Nair added. Among Sensex shares, NTPC rose the most by 3.5 per cent. Power Grid gained 2.63 per cent, Reliance Industries by 1.03 per cent and Axis Bank by 0.90 per cent. Bajaj Finserv, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, Bharti Airtel and IndusInd Bank were also among the major gainers. On the other hand, JSW Steel fell the most by 2.49 per cent. Mahindra & Mahindra, Tata Steel, UltraTech Cement, Infosys and Titan were among the laggards. Global rating agency Moody’s raised India’s growth forecast for 2024 calendar year to 6.8 per cent, from 6.1 per cent earlier, on the back of ‘stronger-than-expected’ economic data of 2023 and fading global economic headwinds.