Markets on a roll, Sensex at 72K, hits all-time high again!

The Indian equity benchmarks rose for fourth straight session on Wednesday with Sensex surpassing 72,000-mark for first time and Nifty 50 index surged above 21,600 led by gains in HDFC Bank, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, Bharti Airtel and Ultratech Cement. The Sensex rose as much as 783 points to hit an all-time high of 72,119.85 and Nifty 50 index climbed as much as 234 points to record high of 21,675.75. It took seven sessions for Sensex to reach 72,000 from 71,000.

The Sensex ended 702 points higher at an all-time closing high of 72,038 and Nifty 50 index climbed 213 points to close at 21,654.75.

Surge in market came on the back of a broad-based global rally after latest US inflation data sparked speculations of a rate cut as early as March 2024.

Overnight, US stocks surged to record highs with S&P 500 index rising 0.42 per cent, Nasdaq surged 0.54 per cent and Dow Jones rose 0.43 per cent. The markets in US rose for eighth week in a row and entered ninth week on a strong note.

"Nifty has reclaimed its record high and closed decisively above the 21,500 mark. We expect the prevailing move to extend further and eyeing 22,150 levels. We feel the alignment of the banking index and supportive global cues would continue to play a critical role in maintaining the momentum else the move could be gradual. Traders should stay focused on stock selection and prefer index majors and quality midcaps for fresh buying," said Ajit Mishra of Religare Broking.  

India’s current account deficit declined sharply to 1 per cent of the GDP or $8.3 billion in the second quarter of this financial year, mainly due to lower merchandise trade deficit and growth in services exports, according to a RBI data released on Tuesday.

The current account deficit (CAD) was 3.8 per cent of GDP or $30.9 billion in July-September quarter in 2022-23.

CAD was $9.2 billion or 1.1 per cent of GDP in the first quarter (April-June) of the current financial year 2023-24.

Buying was visible across sectors as all sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange, barring the index of oil 7& gas shares ended higher led by the Nifty PSU Bank index's 2.06 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, Auto, Metal, Private Bank and Financial Services indices also rose between 1-1.5 per cent.

Mid- and small-cap shares witnessing buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.38 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.45 per cent.

Ultratech Cement was top Nifty gainer, the stock rose 4.5 per cent to hit record high of Rs 10,470. Hindalco, Bajaj Auto, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Grasim, Bharti Airtel and Tata Consumer Products also rose between 1.95-4.25 per cent.

On the other hand, ONGC, NTPC, Adani Enterprises, Britannia Industries, UPL, Cipla and Adani Ports were among the notable losers.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,988 shares ended higher while 1,816 closed lower on the BSE.