New Delhi: Indian benchmark indices ended on a strong note at the start of the week with Nifty above 22,650. The Sensex was up 494.28 points or 0.67 percent and touched a lifetime high of 74,742.50, and the Nifty was too was up 152.60 points or 0.68 percent at 22,666.30. About 1695 shares advanced, 1733 shares declined, and 108 shares unchanged at the stock exchanges.
Biggest gainers on the Nifty included Eicher Motors, Maruti Suzuki, M&M, SBI Life Insurance and NTPC, while losers were Adani Ports, Nestle India, Apollo Hospitals, Wipro and Sun Pharma.
On the sectoral front, except Information Technology and PSU Bank, all other indices ended in the green with auto, metal, oil & gas and realty up 1 percent each.
BSE Midcap index was up 0.26 percent, while Small cap index ended on a flat note.
Commenting on the today’s market moves, Dr V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services said "The hallmark of a bull market is its ability to set new record highs. This has been happening in the mother market US and also in the Indian market. An important feature of the recent rally in India is that it is led by fundamentally strong sectors like capital goods, automobiles, banking and metals. The robustness of the Indian economy, the sustained capital flows into mutual funds and the enthusiasm of domestic investors can support the rally. However, valuations of the Small cap segment are elevated and unjustified."
In the coming weeks global markets will be tracked by investors for cues in early trade. Investors’ focus will also move to March quarter results, which will begin with Tata Consultancy Services on April 12. The coming week marks the beginning of the earnings season and the focus will be on the IT majors to start with.
Investors will track the minutes of the last meeting of the US Federal Reserve, which will be released on April 10. China will release its consumer price inflation data for March on April 10, which will also be tracked by investors globally.
While markets have kickstarted FY25 on a good note, foreign investors took some money back home from Dalal Street. In the week ended April 4, FPIs net sold stocks worth Rs 1,822 crore in the secondary market, according to StockEdge.
"There have been big swings in US bond yields this year in response to expectations regarding rate cuts by the Fed. The year started with market discounting six rate cuts in 2024 and consequently the yields drifted down. Then the market started factoring in only three rate cuts since the US labour market continued to be tight,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.
Now, many experts think that there may be only two rate cuts and these will be back loaded in 2024. Consequently, the US 10-year yield has spiked to 4.4%, which will impact FPI flows into India in the near term, Vijayakumar said.
Historical milestones of Sensex
July 25, 1990 – On 25 July 1990, the SENSEX touched the four-digit figure for the first time and closed at 1,001 in the wake of a good monsoon and excellent corporate results.
January 15, 1992 – On 15 January 1992, the SENSEX crossed the 2,000 mark and closed at 2,020 followed by the liberal economic policy initiatives undertaken, under the leadership of the then prime minister PV Narasimha Rao, by the then finance minister and former Prime Minister of India Dr Manmohan Singh.
February 29, 1992 – On 29 February 1992, the SENSEX surged past the 3,000 mark in the wake of the market-friendly budget announced by Manmohan Singh.
March 30, 1992 – On 30 March 1992, the SENSEX crossed the 4,000 mark and closed at 4,091 on the expectations of a liberal export-import policy. It was then that the Harsha Mehta scam hit the markets and SENSEX witnessed unabated selling.
October 11, 1999 – On 11 October 1999, the SENSEX crossed the 5,000 mark, as the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition won the majority in the 13th Lok Sabha election.
February 11, 2000 – On 11 February 2000, the information technology boom helped the SENSEX to cross the 6,000 mark and hit an all-time high of 6,006 points. This record would stand for nearly four years, until 2 January 2004, when the SENSEX closed at 6,026.59 points.
June 21, 2005 – On 20 June 2005, the news of the settlement between the Ambani brothers boosted investor sentiments and the scrips of RIL, Reliance Energy , Reliance Capital and IPCL made huge gains. This helped the Sensex crossed 7,000 points for the first time.
September 8, 2005 – On 8 September 2005, the Bombay Stock Exchange's benchmark 30-share index – the Sensex – crossed the 8,000 level following brisk buying by foreign and domestic funds in early trading.
December 9, 2005 – The SENSEX on 28 November 2005 crossed 9,000 and touched a peak of 9,000.32 points during mid-session at the Bombay Stock Exchange on the back of frantic buying spree by foreign institutional investors and well supported by local operators as well as retail investors. However, it was on 9 December 2005 that the SENSEX first closed at over 9,000 points.
February 7, 2006 – The SENSEX on 6 February 2006 touched 10,003 points during mid-session. The SENSEX finally closed above the 10,000 mark on 7 February 2006.
December 11, 2007 – The SENSEX on 29 October 2007 crossed the 20,000 mark for the first time during intra-day trading, but closed at 19,977.67 points. However, it was on 11 December 2007 that it finally closed at a figure above 20,000 points on the back of aggressive buying by funds.
November 5, 2010 – The SENSEX on 8 January 2008 crossed the 21,000 mark for the first time, reaching an intra-day peak of 21,078 points, before closing at 20,873. However, it was not until 5 November 2010 that the SENSEX closed at 21,004.96, for its first close above 21,000 points. This record would stand for nearly three years, until 30 October 2013, when the SENSEX closed at 21,033.97 points.
February 19, 2013 – SENSEX becomes S&P SENSEX as BSE ties up with Standard and Poor's to use the S&P brand for Sensex and other indices.
March 13, 2014 - The SENSEX closes higher than the Hang Seng Index, to become the major Asian stock market index with the highest value, for the first time ever.
March 24, 2014 – The SENSEX on 10 March 2014 crossed the 22,000 mark for the first time during intra-day trading. However, it was on 24 March 2014 that the index finally closed above the milestone at 22,095.30.
May 9, 2014 - The SENSEX crossed record 23,000 level for the first time, but close just short of the milestone level, on 9 May 2014. The index would close well above the 23,000 mark during the following session.