Sensex jumps over 500 points to hit fresh all-time high; Nifty tops 19,100 to scale fresh lifetime peak; HDFC AMC up 10%; MCX down 10%

Indian equity benchmarks traded higher in early deals on Friday to touch their all-time high levels due to improved sentiment following robust economic data from the US, which eased fears of a slowdown.

The domestic indices were up led by gains in technology, consumer durables, banks and financials. The 30-share BSE Sensex pack rose 501 points or 0.78 per cent to hit an all-time high of 64,415, while the broader NSE Nifty moved 137 points or 0.72 per cent up to trade at its lifetime peak of 19,108. Mid- and small-cap shares were positive as Nifty Midcap 100 rose 0.39 per cent and small-cap climbed 0.30 per cent.

Overnight, Wall Street equities closed higher as sentiment improved on strong economic data. An upward revision in first-quarter GDP, surprise fall in jobless claims and positive results from US Federal Reserve’s stress test helped eased recession fears. However, the data supported the view that the US central bak may keep interest rates higher for longer. Asian markets were mostly down today as lackluster industrial output data from China cast a shadow.

Back home, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought Rs 12,350 crore of Indian equities on a net basis during the previous session (Wednesday), while domestic investors sold Rs 1,021 crore of shares, as per provisional NSE data. The domestic bourses were closed on Thursday on account of Bakri Id.

“The global support to the bullishness is coming from the mother market US where the market is resilient supported by better-than-expected Q1 GDP growth and declining weekly jobless claims. This resilience of the US economy, which was not anticipated and discounted by the market, is the strongest pillar of support for the global markets now,” said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

14 out of the 15 sector gauges — compiled by the National Stock Exchange — were trading in the green. Sub-indexes Nifty IT, Nifty Consumer Durables, NIfty Bank and Nifty Financial Services were outperforming the NSE platform by rising as much as 1.35 per cent, 0.74 per cent, 0.46 per cent and 0.64 per cent, respectively.

On the stock-specific front, Asain Paints was the top gainer in the Nifty pack as the stock gained 2.29 per cent to trade at Rs 3,425.05. PowerGrid, Infosys, Bajaj Auto and Tech Mahindra rose up to 2.20 per cent. On the flipside, Nifty Metal fell 0.20 per cent.

In contrast, Eicher Motors, Adani Ports, Tata Steel, Hindalco and Apollo Hospitals were among the top laggards.

The overall market breadth was positive as 2,008 shares were advancing while 731 were declining on BSE.

On the 30-share BSE index, Infosys, HDFC twins (HDFC and HDFC Bank), Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance and M&M were among the top gainers.

Also, HDFC AMC, Nippon Life India Asset Management and UTI Asset Management Company surged up to 10 per cent. In contrast, Multi Commodity Exchange of India (MCX), CreditAccess Gramin, EaseMyTrip, Adani Transmission slipped up to 10 per cent.

The domestic benchmarks settled at their fresh record closing highs on Wednesday. Sensex had surged 499 points or 0.79 per cent to settle at 63,915, while Nifty had moved 155 points or 0.82 per cent higher to close at 18,972.

Nifty outlook

“Despite the pull back following a brief foray above 19,000, the close above the upper Bollinger band signals range expansion. However, visibility past 19,070-19,200 is limited at this point. Towards this end, we would be watchful of formation of exhaustion candles once in this region, though there are no signs towards the same as yet, to stay away from the upside attempts today. However, any pull back below 18,940 will have to be treated as a bear sign,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.