The headline indices Sensex and Nifty50 hit record closing highs on Monday as bulls took control of Wall Street for the fifth straight session.
India’s benchmark stock index hit a record close on Monday, posting gains for the fifth straight session, led by oil and gas, auto stocks and select financial giants including ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Bajaj Finance. Nifty Bank – whose members include India’s top lenders such as SBI, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Bajaj Finance – also hit an all-time high close.
Globally, investors awaited a key speech by the head of the Federal Reserve this week for more clarity on the path of the benchmark interest rate in the COVID era.
The two headline indexes closed up 0.3 percent, hitting record highs. The Sensex gained 211.2 points to close at 62,504.8, having touched a record high of 62,701.4 during the session.
The Nifty50 closed at 18,562.8, up 50 points from its previous close, having hit an all-time high of 18,614.3 during the session. The 50-stock index hit an all-time high of 18,604.5 on October 19, 2021.
25 stocks in the Nifty50 universe closed higher. Bharat Petroleum, Reliance, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Consumer, SBI Life, Asian Paints, Nestle, Bajaj Finserv, Britannia and Bajaj Auto were among the top gainers, rising between 0.9% and 5%.
Reliance, ICICI Bank and Asian Paints were the biggest boosters to the two main indicators.
On the other hand, Hindalco, Apollo Hospitals, JSW Steel, Tata Steel, HDFC Bank, Grasim, Bharti Airtel, Infosys, HCL Tech and HDFC were the worst performers, falling between 0.9% and 2.1%.
Shares of state-run oil marketers Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum rose 4-6% as international crude prices hit 10-month lows amid Chinese protests over COVID restrictions. India meets the vast majority of its oil needs through imports.
“The future direction of global markets will depend on speeches from (Fed Chairman Jerome) Powell on Wednesday, which will be critical for maintaining momentum as the market appears to have priced in a slower pace of rate hikes,” said Vinod Nair, director at Geojit Financial Services. Research.
Overall market breadth at the close favored the bulls, with 2,058 stocks advancing and 1,555 stocks falling on the BSE.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers of Indian equities for the third straight day, according to provisional exchange data.
The rupee settled little changed at 81.67 per dollar.
Global Market
European markets opened in the red, mirroring trends in much of Asia. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was last down 1%, retreating from a three-month high hit in the previous session.
S&P 500 futures fell 0.7%, pointing to a bad start for Wall Street.