NEW DELHI: Led by heavy buying in the IT pack, domestic equity market witnessed a strong rally on Friday with the BSE Sensex settling above 66,000 and the NSE Nifty closing above 19,500 for first time on Friday.
The 30share index scaled a fresh high 66,160 on Friday and closed the session with a gain of 502 points at 66,061. The broader Nifty50 hit a new high at 19,595, and finished 151 points higher at 19,565. According to market analysts, the bullish momentum is expected to continue as central banks worldwide are expected to hit the pause button on interest rate hikes.
“We believe the broad market rally is on the back of Interest rate stability...This has triggered asset allocation globally with flows reversing from developed markets to developing markets. So far, we have seen FII investing close to Rs 1.28 lakh crore CYTD,” said Ritesh Bhagwati, Vice President, Rockstud Capital.
Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities said the next target for Nifty is to hit the 20,000 milestones. “With the continued positive catalysts such as softer inflation readings in the US and expectations of a pause in rate hikes by the Fed, bulls are likely to remain in control. Looking ahead, there is room for further upside, and we anticipate the Nifty to reach fresh all-time highs around the 20000 mark in the near term,” said Tapse.
Among Sensex 30 shares, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) soared 5% while Tech Mahindra and Infosys surged 4.5% each. HCL Technologies and Wipro were up about 3% each. IT stocks are back in demand as experts believe the sector’s prospects have started to look bright post-Q1FY24 results with order book size continuing to grow. TCS and Infosys shares had surged about 2.5% each on Thursday as well. In just two days, the two big IT firms’ combined market capitalization grew by over `1.30 lakh crore.