Sensex, Nifty post record close on Tuesday; where are stock markets headed?

Regaining the previous session’s losses, BSE Sensex and Nifty 50 posted a record closing on Tuesday. BSE Sensex ended at 44,655, while the broader Nifty 50 index settled at 13,109 for the first time ever. Index heavyweights such as Infosys, ICICI Bank, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) and Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) among others contributed the most to the Sensex’ 500-point rally today. Except for the Nifty FMCG index, all the sectoral indices ended in the positive territory, led by Nifty PSU Bank and Nifty IT indices. Equity benchmarks outgunned the broader markets in today’s upbeat session. S&P BSE MidCap index rose 0.94 per cent or 158 points to end at 17,073, while the S&P BSE SmallCap index ended at 17,013, up 138 points or 0.82 per cent.

Paras Bothra, President of Equity Research, Ashika Stock Broking

“Domestic markets remained upbeat aided by positive global cues and optimism about economic recovery. Economists upgraded India’s GDP forecasts and a PMI data showed China’s economic recovery kept up its momentum last month. All the sectoral indices ended higher led by the PSU Bank index with nearly 3 per cent gain. At close, the Sensex was up 505.72 points or 1.15% at 44,655.44, and the Nifty was up 140 points or 1.08% at 13,109.”

S Ranganathan, Head of Research at LKP Securities

“Indices were firmly in the grip of Bulls as there was a left out feeling clearly visible since morning. The advance-decline ratios and the breadth were positive and even the NIFTY Small Cap 100 Index was showing buoyancy as that Index itself is up only 33% since its inception.”

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial services

“The markets started December trading on a strong footing raising the benchmark to a fresh high due to good GDP data. The Manufacturing PMI released today showed a slight contraction in manufacturing activities compared to the previous month, though growth remained strong. Markets across the globe made a positive start to the month expecting an extension of November’s record-breaking gains along with strong hopes of coronavirus vaccine. We believe that this optimism can sustain in the near term with a shift towards mid and small caps, led by lag effect.”

Milan Vaishnav, CMT, MSTA, Consulting Technical Analyst, Gemstone Equity Research & Advisory Services

As we step into the next trading session, there are possibilities of the markets extending some more gains and the NIFTY may test the new lifetime high. However, the previous high point of 13145 will be a crucial level to watch and the opening of the markets and the Index’s behaviour against this level will be important to watch. Given the weakness in Indian Rupee against the USD, some more incremental gains are likely in the IT stocks which also performed strong today. Apart from this, select stock-specific activities are likely to continue in MidCap financial services stock, Consumption and Pharma names. However, in any case, vigilant protection of profits at higher level is advised.