Indian stock market benchmark Sensex on Friday zoomed 350 points to reach historic 60,000 mark
Sensex breached the 60,000 milestone for the first time on Friday as the stock market rally had continued. The S&P BSE Sensex opened 273.4 points or 0.5 percent higher at 60,288.1 to hit the record 60,000-mark.The Sensex crossed 50,000 for the first time on January 21 this year and has taken just eight months since then to surpass 60,000. Nifty50 also inched towards 18,000 during the early trade on Friday. The broader NSE Nifty50 benchmark began the day at 17,897.5, up 74.5 points or 0.4 percent from its previous close. “Reaching this milestone would be quite an achievement in these Covid times and a shot in the arm for bulls who are in total control of this market,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
The benchmark indices jumped further after opening at record highs. At 0922 hours, Sensex climbed 366 points to 60,251. NSE also rose 109 points to 17,931. The Reliance Industries, Infosys, HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, ONGC, Grasim and Coforge are among the major stocks that hit 52-week high on Friday. Other stocks that hit the milestone in morning trade were IndusInd Bank, L&T, L&T Tech Services, CG Power, Apollo Hospital and NDTV. Tata Motors, ONGC, Infosys, Wipro and L&T were among major gainers on the Nifty.
“Equity market today had a historical day with Sensex touching 60,000 for the first time driven by large caps with many index heavyweights touching new highs. The rally in domestic market is driven by positive global cues, strong inflows by FIIs/DIIs, good corporate earnings, falling Covid-19 cases, upbeat corporate commentaries and low cost of capital. Amid the buoyant sentiment and increased activity, valuations has reached elevated levels and demand consistent delivery on earnings expectations. Given rich valuations, one cannot ignore intermittent volatility – however we expect the positive momentum to continue on the back of improving economic activity and recovery in corporate earnings,” said Motilal Oswal, MD & CEO, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited.
“The outperformance of India during September so far is stunning with MSCI World Index down 2.13 per cent and Nifty up by 4.03 per cent. The poor performance of the Shanghai Composite due to regulatory crackdown and the China Plus One policy have again made India an attractive investment destination for FIIs. But the market exuberance has pushed valuations to very high levels. India’s valuation premium to EM peers is above 80 per cent now. This is difficult to sustain. Investors may think of reducing portfolio risk by moving to the safety of high quality large-caps. Partial profit booking in the mid and small-cap segment and moving some money to fixed income also may be considered,” said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.
