NEW DELHI: India’s equity market benchmarks closed at a record high level on Wednesday as bulls are not willing to lose their firm grip after the country reported better-than-expected GDP numbers for the October - December quarter last week.
The BSE Sensex ended Wednesday’s trading session above the 74,000 mark for the first time while the NSE Nifty50 is now points away from hitting the 22,500 level.
It took only about 37 sessions for Sensex to gallop from the 73,000 closing mark to the 74,000 level. The latest 5000-point milestone, emanated from 69,000 took place in about 65 sessions or 3.1 months while the last 10000-point milestone from 64,000 took place in 172 sessions or 8.3 months. The BSE Sensex jumped 409 points, or 0.55%, on Wednesday to end at 74,086, while the NSE Nifty50 surged 118 points, or 0.53%, to settle at 22,474.
The bullish momentum, however, was not seen in the broader market as smallcap and midcap indexes closed in red. After tanking up to 3% intraday, the BSE Midcap index ended Wednesday’s session 0.65% lower while the Smallcap index fell 1.91%. Experts have attributed this selling pressure to continue in the smallcap segment over premium valuation concerns.
“Our markets are displaying immense strength at this moment as a slight tremor in US markets last night could not shake us,” said Sameet Chavan, Head Research, Technical and Derivative - Angel One. Chavan added, “As of now, we are shrugging off US markets and some of the global developments, but it’s advisable not to get complacent at such elevated levels. Every now and then, we would see some reality checks in the markets, which may catch traders on the wrong foot.”
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said that global markets witnessed mixed signals ahead of the US FED chair’s testimony to Congress. While it’s widely expected that the FED chair may downplay the urgency for rate hikes, the possibility of hints regarding a potential rate cut trajectory cannot be dismissed. “Investors are banking on recent FOMC minutes, suggesting the policy rate may have peaked and higher rates could hinder growth,” added Nair.