Nifty closes at all-time high, up for fifth straight session

Mumbai, Feb 19: Nifty ended higher for the fifth straight session on Monday after hitting an all-time high on the intra-day charts, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

At close, Nifty was up 0.37 per cent or 81.6 points at 22,122.25, its all-time high. Cash market volumes on the NSE fell to Rs 0.95 lakh crore, lowest since January 20, 2024, he said.

The smallcap index rose more than the Nifty even as the advance decline ratio remained high at 1.55:1. Trading activity was concentrated in PSU and bank stocks.

Asian shares were mixed on Monday as fading chances for early rate cuts globally soured the mood and Chinese markets returned from holiday with only muted gains. European stocks paused back as investors awaited fresh catalysts after last week’s push close to a record high.

US markets are shut on Monday for the Presidents’ Day holiday.

India's power consumption increased 7.5 on-year to 1,354.97 billion units in the April-January period of this financial year, indicating an uptick in economic activities across the country. Power consumption in January rose 5.4 per cent to 133.18 BU, he said.

The markets could now correct/consolidate for some time before Nifty prepares for the next upmove. It could face resistance from 22,187 while 21,954 could offer support in the near term, he said.

Narender Singh, founder of Growth Investing, said that Nifty 50 again touched an all-time high on Monday, demonstrating the robustness of the Indian stock market.

Noteworthy top performers on Monday included Nifty consumer durables and Nifty pharma, reflecting strong momentum in the consumer-focused sectors.

Conversely, weakness was seen in previous sectors which had been leaders in the last leg of bull run -- PSU bank, Nifty IT, and Nifty realty -- and were among the bottom performers.