D-Street At Record High: Sensex Ends 126 Points Higher, Nifty Holds 25,000; Zomato Hits All-Time High

Sensex Today: Benchmark equity indices, the BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50, settled at record highs on closing levels on Thursday. The Sensex, after scaling an all-time high of 82,129.49, settled with gains of 126 points or 0.15 per cent to 81,867, while the Nifty50 ended 10 points above the 25,000 levels at 25,010. The index had hit a record high of 25,078.30 during early trade on Thursday.

The day ended in favour of the bulls, with 28 out of the 50 listed companies on the Nifty50 ending higher, led by Power Grid Corporation of India, Coal India, ONGC, HDFC Bank, and Dr Reddy’s Lab with gains of up to 4 per cent.

On the BSE, Power Grid Corporation was the biggest gainer among the Sensex constituents, followed by HDFC Bank, NTPC, Nestle India, and Adani Ports. The broader indices settled lower, with the Midcap and Smallcap indices being the worst hit, led by profit bookings.

Nifty’s Journey To 25,000 From 24,000, Is The 3rd Fastest Ever

Nifty’s last 1,000-point jump from 23,000 to 24,000 was achieved in 23 days, which was the second fastest rally. The index’ fastest sprint was in August 2021 when it rose from 16,000 to 17,000 in 19 trading sessions.

The index has been trying to scale past the 25,000 level since the last few days and almost hit the landmark on Monday when it touched a peak of 24,999.75, missing the mark by just 25 basis points.

The index is up around 17% this year, making it one of the best performing emerging markets globally. However, at this stage, a subdued Q1 earnings and stretched valuations are curbing the challenge, while positive global trends and sector rotation are supporting the traction.

Market View by Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

“The Fed chief signalling a possible rate cut in September is positive for global equity markets. More important, his comments that the US economy is normalising is a shot in the arm for bulls. The dip in the 10-year US bond yield to 4.05 is sharp and this may halt and perhaps may even reverse the FII selling in the cash market in recent days. If both FIIs and DIIs turn buyers the market can spurt today but sustaining the rally would be difficult since valuations are getting stretched.

Global Cues

US markets ended higher after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested the possibility of an interest rate cut at the next meeting, should inflation data continue to show signs of easing.

The Federal Reserve decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 5.25 per cent – 5.50 per cent for the eighth straight meeting, in-line with street estimates. Additionally, Meta’s financial results exceeded expectations, providing further boost to US markets. The Nasdaq surged 2.64 per cent, the S&P 500 climbed 1.58 per cent, and the Dow Jones increased 0.24 per cent.

In the Asia-Pacific region, market reactions were mixed following Powell’s hints about a potential September rate cut. Australia’s ASX 200 reached a new high, rising 0.46 per cent, while Japan’s Nikkei fell 2.26 per cent. Conversely, Korea’s Kospi saw an increase of 0.44 per cent.