For A Few Seconds, Sensex Hits 30,000 For The 2nd Time In History: 10 Developments

For a few seconds on Wednesday, the Bombay Stock Exchange index Sensex hit the 30,000 mark in early trade, but could not sustain above the crucial level. It could also not cross its all-time high of 30,024, which it hit on March 4, 2015. The Sensex is now trading just below the 30,000 mark; the slip came as profit-taking surfaced at higher levels with traders cautious ahead of Reserve Bank policy review tomorrow. The earnings season, which will start soon, also kept the mood cautious. Infosys kicks off the March quarter earnings next week. The Nifty too hit an all-time high of 9,264 today in early trade today.

Here are 10 key highlights:

1) The Sensex has gained over 11 per cent in the March quarter, buoyed by strong foreign flows into Indian markets.

2) Foreign inflows surged after the BJP, which rules at the Centre, swept crucial assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, bolstering hopes for additional economic reforms just as the government gears up to unveil a national goods and services tax later this year.

3) Overseas investors bought a net $8.84 billion worth of Indian shares and bonds during March, the biggest monthly total since at least 2002.

4) Investors have also been encouraged by signs that the economy may not have been hit as hard by the government's surprise action to remove high-value bank notes from circulation last year.

5) Meanwhile, activity in India's manufacturing sector expanded at the fastest pace in five months in March as output and new orders accelerated, a private survey showed on Monday.

6) "It's a combination of FII (foreign institutional investor) liquidity, which is back, and the general atmosphere is as positive as can be for the market," said Jayant Manglik, president of retail distribution at Religare Securities.

7) Analysts say that the March quarter earnings season starting from next week will determine the near term trajectory of Indian markets.

8) The rupee had closed out the March quarter with its best performance in over 40 years against the dollar, rising 4.7 per cent during the 3-month period. However, the currency edged lower to 65.15 against the dollar today; it had closed on Monday at 65.02. Markets were closed on Tuesday.

9) Midcap and smallcap stocks continued to outperform with the indices on the BSE up between 0.30 per cent and 0.50 per cent today.

10) Among the Nifty50 stocks, Bharti Airtel, Tata Steel and Adani Ports were among the top gainers, up between 2 per cent and 3 per cent. IT stocks were among the laggards, hurt by tightening of the H-1B visa regime. Infosys and TCS were down around 0.50 per cent.

(With agency inputs)