The NSE Nifty50, one of the two benchmarks of the Indian equity market, is now just 200 points away from hitting the 25,000 milestone. Closing in green for the fourth consecutive session, the NSE barometer gained 187.85 points or 0.76% on Thursday to settle at 24,800.10 while the BSE Sensex jumped 626.91 points or 0.78% to 81,343.46. This is the first time the Sensex has scaled the 81,000 level.
The past few days' rally was fueled by IT heavyweight TCS kicking off the Q1FY25 earning season on a positive note. The Nifty IT index on Thursday rose 2.22%, ending as the top gainer among the sectoral indices. While TCS surged nearly 3%, Infosys gained 2.2%. Other IT stocks such as Wipro and HCL Tech also advanced. All eyes on Friday will be on the June quarter earnings of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India’s largest listed company which has the highest weightage in the Nifty50 index.
"Markets have been inching higher as expected, driven by rotational buying in heavyweight stocks. We are now eyeing the new milestone of 25,000 in the Nifty,” said Ajit Mishra, SVP- Research, Religare Broking. Nifty50, which hit the 24,000 level for the first time on June 27, has gained 5,000 points or is up 25% in the past one year. Since the lows of election result day (June 4), the index has surged more than 13%.
Weekly options data also highlights that Nifty50 has all the possibilities to hit 25,000 in the coming days as the highest open interest (OI) on the call side was observed at 25,000 and 25,300 strike prices, while on the put side, it was at 24,500 strike price.
Technical analysts also feel the 25K milestone is in sight. “The trend and momentum remain positive, with the index staying above critical short-term moving averages and a positive crossover in the daily RSI. In the short term, the trend is likely to remain positive as long as the index stays above 24,500. On the higher end, the current trend might take the index towards 25,000 in the near term,” said Rupak De, Senior Technical Analyst, LKP Securities.
Market experts further stated that as the focus has shifted from small-caps and mid-caps towards the more stable large caps in the run-up to budget FY25, there are high chances of benchmarks hitting fresh highs in the coming sessions.
Tanvi Kanchan, Head - UAE Business & Strategy, Anand Rathi Shares and Stock Brokers, said that they remain optimistic about Indian equities due to strong macroeconomic growth, robust corporate earnings, and a stable government prioritizing capex and manufacturing. Potential rate cuts, both globally and domestically, add to this positive outlook.
“Corporate earnings are likely to grow annually in the range of 12-15%, driven by real GDP growth of 7-8% and stable inflation around 5%. While valuations appear high, large caps remain reasonably priced compared to midcaps, and certain sectors like large-cap banks, NBFCs, and parts of the consumption sector are attractively valued. However, sectors such as capital goods, PSU, and power are more richly valued and should be approached with caution,” added Kanchan.
Meanwhile, domestic brokerage Prabhudas Lilladher (PL) has upped its 12-month forward target for the benchmark Nifty to 26,398 from 25,816 a month ago. “As a base case scenario, PL values Nifty at a 3 per cent discount to the 15-year average price-to-earnings multiple of 18.6x. With March 2026 earnings per share (EPS) of Rs 1,417, we arrive at a 12-month target of 26,398,” said analysts at PL.