The key Indian equity indices surged on Wednesday morning with the BSE Sensex crossing the 54,000-mark for the first time ever, with Nifty already crossing the 16k-mark on Tuesday.
Both Sensex and the Nifty50 traded at record levels today with healthy buying was witnessed in metal, finance and banking stocks. Around 9.45 a.m., Sensex was trading at 54,233.97, higher by 410.61 or 0.76 per cent from its previous close of 53,823.36.
It opened at 54,071.22 and has touched an intraday high of 54,274.40 and a low of 54,034.31 points. The Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading at 16,242.00, higher by 111.25 points or 0.69 per cent from its previous close.
The top gainers on the Sensex were HDFC, ICICI Bank and Tata Steel, while the major losers were Bharti Airtel, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries and UltraTech Cement.
Healthy data lifts market
Faster economic rebound, as shown by healthy macro-data, along with estimates of a possible less severe third Covid wave, lifted India's equity indices to record high levels on Tuesday, with the Nifty50 breaching the 16,000-mark and Sensex reaching 54,000 on Wednesday.
Besides, healthy macro-economic data as well as better-than-expected quarterly results boosted investor sentiments. In the process, India's markets outperformed their Asian peers who were mixed in a small band.
The surge into record highs was accompanied by volumes that were nominally higher than recent averages. Among the sectors, capital goods, banks, auto and telecom were the main gainers.
"Nifty brushed past the 16,000 levels easily and closed higher. However, volumes and 'AD' ratio (equal on such a day) do not give confirmatory signals," said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.
"Hope that India will be a beneficiary of the recent troubles faced by China is keeping sentiments upbeat. While valuations seem high, there is no point in pre-empting a top, but rather wait for signs of medium-term change in trend," Jasani added.
According to Geojit Financial Services' Head of Research, Vinod Nair: "Progressive economic data, indicates strong rebound from impact of the second wave. All major domestic data like PMI index, GST collection, corporate earnings, export data, etc. favour a strong recovery.
Push by RBI expected
"This has added euphoria in domestic market reaching new highs along with context to a drop in global risk after the accommodative monetary and fiscal policy announcements. A similar monetary policy is expected from the ongoing RBI meeting."
Sneha Poddar, AVP, Research, Broking & Distribution, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: "What really provided support to the market was the 1QFY22 earnings report which begun on a very healthy note despite the Covid 2.0 impact.
"It helped the market to largely sail through the headwinds of a possible third Covid wave, commodity led inflation and volatility around the US Fed taper talk. Management commentaries across the board suggest an improved demand environment post June 2021, led by the easing of restrictions, lower active Covid-19 cases, and a pickup in vaccinations."
(With inputs from IANS)
