Sensex At All-Time Closing High, Nifty Reclaims 11,000 After 5 Months
Upbeat investor sentiments, positive global cues lift markets Optimism around corporate earnings also heightens investor sentiment Reliance Industries, Wipro, Larsen & Tourbo lead Sensex gains
Domestic stock market indices surged on Thursday, with the S&P BSE Sensex index registering an all-time closing high. The S&P BSE Sensex today rallied 282.48 points, or 0.78 per cent, to close at 36,548.41, higher than its last record closing high of January 29. The NSE Nifty50 index settled at 11,023.20 after surging 74.90 points or 0.68 per cent to finish at 11,023.20, taking out the 11,000 mark after a gap of five months. Upbeat investor sentiments and positive global cues pushed the domestic benchmark stock indices higher, said analysts.
Advances in energy stocks, led by Reliance Industries Ltd, drove the markets. Reliance Industries posted an all-time closing high and was the top gainer on both the indices. Optimism around corporate earnings and stronger Asian shares also heightened sentiment, reported news agency Reuters.
Other gainers in the Sensex pack Wipro, Larsen & Tourbo, Hindustan Unilever, SBIN and HDFC, rising between 1.46 per cent and 4.42 per cent. On the NSE Nifty, BPCL, Dr Reddy's, Wipro and Bajaj Finance (rising between 2.40 per cent to 4.05 per cent) led the pack of gainers.
Shares of oil marketing companies and airlines jumped after crude oil prices posted their biggest one-day drop in two years, reported Reuters. Bharat Petroleum Corp Ltd, Hindustan Petroleum Corp Ltd and Indian Oil Corp Ltd gained over 4 per cent each. InterGlobe Aviation Ltd and Jet Airways (India) Ltd rose as much as 5 per cent and 6 percent, respectively.
Experts believe that trade war developments and crude oil prices, among other key factors, will guide the markets.
"Markets in the near-term will be guided by developments pertaining to global trade war, behaviour of crude oil prices and its consequent impact on the USD-INR equation and the progress of monsoon. Also, June quarter results season will throw some light on the extent of earnings growth traction of Indian companies, which too, will be on investors' radar," said Jayant Manglik, President, Religare Broking Ltd.
An appreciating rupee, sustained buying by domestic institutional investors (DIIs) and fresh foreign capital inflows also contributed to the uptrend, brokers said.
"The interest rates have started going up and are expected to remain so for some time. This is an indicator of growth in the economy and a lot of the debt investments are beginning to move back into equity. Second, good first quarter results by...large-cap companies along with a good US economy has resulted in an overall positive investor sentiment," said Tushar Goyal, business development and communication, Meri Punji IMF.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) earlier this week reported a record net profit of Rs. 7,340 crore in the April-June quarter, surprising the Street. That marked the onset of the corporate earnings season for the fiscal first quarter.
Meanwhile, investors are awaiting May industrial growth (IIP) data and June retail inflation (CPI) data due later in the day.
Foreign funds bought shares worth a net of Rs 636.27 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) made purchases worth Rs 15.33 crore on Wednesday, provisional data showed. (With inputs from agencies)