RECORD RUNNING SPREE IN INDIAN STOCK MARKET

Sensex scales 36K, Nifty tops 11K

Domestic equities continued euphoric run for the fifth straight day riding a wave of optimism, with the BSE Sensex surging past the 36,000-level and the NSE Nifty breaching 11,000 for the first time ever following IMF's GDP forecasts for India coupled with positive global cues. Both benchmark indices were driven by strong gains mainly in metal, banking, IT and infra shares amid earnings optimism. The major trigger behind the boost in investors optimism was the International Monetary Fund's forecast that India's GDP growth will hit 7.4 per cent in 2018-19 and the country will regain the status of the world's fastest growing major economy.

India’s stock market opened higher on Tuesday with the key equity indices Sensex and Nifty hitting their respective all-time highs led by the rally in the shares of heavyweight companies such as Reliance Industries, Infosys, and HDFC. The domestic markets started the day at record highs with Sensex and Nifty shying off from the round figure levels of 36,000 and 11,000 respectively. Within seconds of opening up of the market, Nifty extended the gains very quickly surpassing the 11,000-mark for the first time ever. Following this, in the wee minutes of morning trades, Sensex surged heavily to breach the psychological level of 36,000, and that too just after three sessions when the benchmark index crossed 35,000-mark. The domestic markets are on a continuous rising spree since about last 13 months with the benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty making and breaking newer highs day after day.

Continuing its record-setting run for the fifth straight session, the BSE benchmark Sensex hit a new high of 36,170.83 (intra-day) on the back of widespread gains in metal, PSU, oil and gas and financial counters. Finally, the 30-share index settled at 36,139.98, up 341.97 points, or 0.96 per cent, breaching its previous record of 35,798.01 reached yesterday. The gauge had risen 1,026.96 points in the previous four sessions. The Sensex took just five trading sessions (January 17- 23) to reach the historic 36,000-level from 35,000.

NSE Nifty advanced to 11,000-mark from 10,000 in six months (July 26, 2017 to January 23, 2018). The Nifty touched a new high (intra-day) of 11,092.90 today. It closed the session with a hefty rise of 117.50 points, or 1.07 per cent, at a fresh life high of 11,083.70, bettering its previous record close of 10,966.20 reached in yesterday's trade.

Meanwhile, foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) bought shares worth a net Rs 1,567.51 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) sold equities worth Rs 461.87 crore yesterday as per provisional data.

Sensex components which supported the key indices to hit fresh highs were SBI (3.84 per cent), Tata Steel (3.72 per cent), ONGC (3.60 per cent), ICICI Bank (3.06 per cent), Coal India (3.04 per cent), IndusInd Bank (2.37 per cent), Infosys (2.16 per cent), Dr Reddy's (1.24 per cent), M&M (1.14 per cent), RIL (1.08 per cent), ITC (1.08 per cent), Yes Bank (1.01 per cent) and Maruti Suzuki (0.97 per cent).

Sectorwise, BSE metal index gained the most by rising 4.29 per cent, followed by PSU 2.15 per cent, oil & gas 1.93 per cent, bankex 1.63 per cent, IT 1.20 per cent, healthcare 0.94 per cent, teck 0.92 per cent and infrastructure 0.88 per cent. Mid-cap and small-cap indices continued to be on investors' radar and rose up to 1.13 per cent.

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Propelled by a combination of liquidity and optimism, Nifty rose to an all-time-high crossing 11,000. This bull run, lasting for more than a year now, has seen markets ignore higher crude prices and global geopolitical issues while latching on to domestic positives...Such buoyancy in markets was last seen in 2000.

- Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking

The Sensex added thousand points in just four trading days to cross 36,000 as FIIs turned net buyers. Nifty too breached the 11,000 mark. No major earnings disappointments reported so far and we seem set for an earnings recovery after five consecutive flat years.

- B Gopkumar, Executive Director & CEO, Reliance Securities.

The current market euphoria can continue at least till the union budget led by the strong consumption pattern and better than expected performance from IT and banking companies specially private sector banks.

 - Nitasha Shankar, Sr Vice President and Head of Research, YES Securities.

The markets are celebrating the long-awaited earnings revival. Despite the low base, the quarterly results so far have been encouraging; be it banks, FMCG, consumer discretionary or IT, almost all have delivered ahead of expectations.

 - Arun Thukral, MD and CEO of Axis Securities.