Vax hopes propel indices to fresh high

Mumbai: Indian equity indices conquered new peaks on Tuesday, with the Nifty closing above the 13,000-level for the first time, as banking, FMCG and auto stocks saw heavy buying amid optimism over Covid-19 vaccine progress and unabated foreign capital inflows. A strengthening rupee further boosted investor confidence, traders said. After scaling a lifetime intra-day high of 44,601.63, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 445.87 points or 1.01 per cent higher at a record 44,523.02. Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 128.70 points or one per cent to close at 13,055.15 points.

"Market is inching higher with more confidence that Covid-19 vaccine will be available in India soon. It can provide an advantage to India compared to the rest of the world. While, foreign inflows have already broken to a new high on a monthly basis, due to risk on strategy on healthier emerging markets like India. Recently broad market, including mid and small caps, have started to perform better which may continue in the short-term as large caps look expensive post the solid rally from Covid low," said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 4.02 per cent, followed by M&M, HDFC Bank, ITC, SBI, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Kotak Bank and Sun Pharma. On the other hand, HDFC, Titan, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Infosys were among the main laggards, shedding up to 1.47 per cent. Global markets maintained their upward trajectory as investors wagered on swift rollout of Covid-19 vaccines following encouraging trials data from at least three companies. Barring telecom, all BSE sectoral indices ended in the green, led by bankex (2.37 per cent), auto (1.84 per cent), realty (1.78 per cent) and metal (1.37 per cent).

As it was expected, the market bellwether BSE Sensex opened on a positive note near 44,341 levels, made Intraday low of 44,247 and again started up journey making new 52-week high of 44601, to finally settle above 44,500 at 44,523 levels.

Sensex is up near 74 per cent from March 2020 lows. It rallied mainly on buying in banking and financial sectors. Also auto, pharma andmetal stocks edged higher. Broader market mid & small cap stocks trade higher by 0.70 per cent & one per cent respectively. Asian cues were mixed. Nilesh Karani, V-P (research), Magnum Equity, said: "Tomorrow Sensex to open on a positive note and further uptrend to resume till 45,200 levels, with first resistance near 44,700-44,750 levels and next 44,870-44,920 levels & next 45K mark, if Sensex fails to sustain above 44,400 mark in Intraday, then probably witness some correction with immediate support near 44,170-44,220 levels & next 44K psychological levels, below which may extend some further correction near 43,810-43,850 levels."