Equity markets hit new highs on Monday as both Sensex and Nifty traded at unprecedented levels in the morning trade. The 30-share BSE Sensex breached the 52,000-mark, while the broader 50-share NSE Nifty went past 15,300-mark for the first time in history.
At 11.40 am, Sensex was up 558.42 points (1.10%) at 52,102.72, while Nifty 50 was trading 144.85 points (0.96%) above the previous closing mark at 15,308.15. All sectoral sub-indices, with the exception of Nifty Media were in the green, while Nifty Bank (2%) and Nifty Financial Services (2.08%) were gaining the most.
The benchmark indices ended the day at an over 1% rise. The Sensex closed at 52,154.13, or 609.83 points higher than the previous day’s closing. The Nifty 50 closed at 15,314.70, or 151.40 points higher.
The biggest gainers on the Sensex and the Nifty 50 were Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Finance, State Bank of India, and IndusInd Bank. However, HDFC Life, SBI Life Insurance, Dr Reddy’s Labs, Tata Consultancy Services, and Hero Motocorp suffered losses on the Nifty 50 while Dr Reddy’s Labs, Tata Consultancy Services, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Asian Paints, and Titan Company incurred losses on Sensex.
Experts said that the cheer in the markets came on the back of upbeat corporate earnings that raised hopes of a faster economic recovery, while buoyant global markets also aided risk sentiment.
“We have seen the strongest earnings season in several years...It’s a strong indicator of an economic recovery,” Siddharth Khemka, head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Securities, told Reuters. Indian companies reported a near 49% year-on-year growth in December-quarter profits, the biggest increase in four quarters, according to the news agency.
Markets got a boost on the macroeconomic front too, as retail inflation for the month of January eased to 4.06% from 4.59% the previous month, while the Index of Industrial Production grew by 1.9% in December.
“CPI [Consumer Price Index] inflation for January at 4.06% and the rebound in IIP are positive news for the market,” VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, told The Economic Times.
Asian shares also advanced to record highs on Monday and global oil prices rose to a more than one year peak as successful coronavirus vaccine rollouts globally raised hopes of a rapid economic recovery amid new fiscal aid from Washington, according to NDTV.
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