Nifty50 touches record high as revival hopes spur 5-day winning run

The benchmark Nifty50 index on Thursday logged a new lifetime high after gaining for the fifth day, surpassing the previous record made on February 15. Markets have gained 5 per cent this month on expectations that economic activity will accelerate as pandemic-led restrictions are eased and vaccinations rise.

The Nifty added 36 points, or 0.24 per cent, to close at 15,338. The index had logged its lifetime high on a closing basis of 15,315 on February 15, just before the onset of the lethal second wave of Covid-19. The Sensex closed at 51,115 on Thursday, a gain of 97 points or 0.19 per cent. The index is currently 1,039 points or 1.9 per cent below its record of 52,154, also touched on February 15.

A decline in Covid cases has given hopes that states might ease restrictions soon and business activities will resume in earnest. India recorded 211,298 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday. The daily positivity rate has been less than 10 per cent for three consecutive days.

Market analysts said states would start rolling back restrictions as caseloads fall and economic activity will start improving in June. And despite the onslaught of the second wave, India continues to be one of the most preferred markets for brokerages in the emerging market space.

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“Markets are now eyeing announcements on unlocking by the states, which is fuelling the recovery. Besides, stability in the global markets after the Fed assurance is also helping the index to sustain at higher levels. We’re currently seeing most sectors, barring metal, participating in the move and expect this trend to continue. Participants should continue with ‘buy on dips’ with a focus on sector and stock selection,” said Ajit Mishra, vice-president – research, Religare Broking.

Analysts said the earnings mome­ntum has been quite resilient, and India’s gross domestic product (GDP) is likely to hit near double-digit gro­wth. Moreover, analysts argued that the hit to economic activity would be significantly less than last year.

However, a lot depends on the pace of vaccinations, which had slowed due to supply pressures.

The market breadth was positive on BSE, with 1,753 stocks advancing against 1,379 stocks that declined. Three hundred and sixty-five stocks hit their 52 weeks highs, and 483 were locked in the upper circuit.

Close to two-thirds of Sensex stocks ended with gains, and banking stocks were the top performers. SBI was the best performing Sensex stock and ended the session with a gain of 2.8 per cent. Kotak Mahindra Bank rose 2.1 per cent, and Axis Bank rose 2.07 per cent. Banking and Consumer Durables rose the most among the se­ctoral indices, and their indices gai­ned 1.2 and 1.05 per cent respectively.

Analysts said global factors would influence the trajectory of the Indian market in the future. And advised investors to exercise caution as many stocks are trading in the overbought zone.

“Sometimes such extreme bullishness can serve as a contra indicator and signal that the market is peaking. But until some other indicators also signal such a scenario, we will assume that the current bullish sentiments will continue to take the markets higher,” said Deepak Gupta, VP – derivative sales, Emkay Global Financial Services.