Robust start to New Year: Stocks kick off 2021 with record closing highs on Friday

The Sensex surged to record highs while the NSE Nifty closed above the 14,000-mark for the first time on Friday as the markets continued their record run in the new year amid robust buying in IT, auto and FMCG stocks.

Extending its record-setting streak for the fifth day, the Sensex rose by 117.65 points, or 0.25%, to close at a fresh lifetime high of 47,868.98. This is the eighth consecutive day of gains for the barometer and it has climbed by around 5% since December 22. The broader Nifty closed at an all-time high of 14,018.50, showing gains of 36.75 points, or 0.26%, over its previous close. Intra-day, the Nifty touched a record high of 14,049.85 while Sensex scaled a new peak of 47,980.36.

Among major Sensex gainers, ITC rose the most by 2.32%, followed by TCS, M&M, SBI and Bharti Airtel. TCS rose 2.02% after the IT major said its board will meet on January 8 to approve financial results and a proposal for declaring the third interim divident to shareholders.

Among other IT stocks, Tech Mahindra rose 0.23%, Infosys by 0.36% and HCL Tech by 0.43%. Dr Reddy’s, L&T, Sun Pharma, Axis Bank, IndusInd Bank, Nestle and Ultratech Cement also advanced.

Auto stocks rose on better sales numbers for December month. Market leader Maruti, which posted a 20% increase in vehicle sales in December, rose by 0.53%, while Bajaj Auto closed up by 1.03%.

M&M rose 1.62% even as it posted a 10.3% decline in total sales at 35,187 units in December 2020.

Banking giants ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank, however, dropped 1.36% and 0.83%, respectively, due to profit booking.

Foreign portfolio investors remained buyers on Friday as they bought stocks worth $67.4 million. Domestic institutional investors bought stocks worth $9 million.

In its report, Axis AMC said it expects 2021 to look markedly different on the economic growth front. “We expect a still-accommodative monetary policy stance to support the recovery and structural reforms to lift medium-term growth prospects,” it said.

The futures and options segment saw a turnover worth Rs 9.83 lakh crore while the cash market segment witnessed a turnover of Rs 41,732.24 crore. This is against the six-month average of Rs 21.7 lakh crore in the F&O segment and Rs 59,316 crore in the cash market segment. The volumes on the NSE were lowest since April 1, 2020, indicating lower participation.

Siddhartha Khemka, head – retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said: “Going ahead, the market momentum seen in the last couple of months is likely to continue on the back of strong global cues, sustained inflows, and improving macros trends. The December quarterly results and the Union Budget will be some of the key events for the market.”