Sensex tops 78,000 for first time, banks lead charge

The benchmark indices hit fresh highs on Tuesday, aided by a rally in private banks.

The Sensex closed above the 78,000-mark for the first time, ending at 78,053, up 712 points or 0.9 per cent. The Nifty settled at 23,721, up 0.8 per cent, hitting a record for the 34th time this year. The gauge had hit a fresh high 29 times in CY23, 4 times in CY22 and 60 times in CY21, according to data from HDFC Securities.

Cash market volumes on the NSE rose about 3 per cent to ₹1.25-lakh crore. Broad market indices ended marginally in the red even as the advance decline ratio fell to 0.80:1.

“A lot of buying interest is now seen in the index heavyweights, especially stocks that had relatively underperformed in the last few months. There could be some stock specific correction in the broader markets but the trend for the index remains up,” said Ruchit Jain, Lead - Research, 5paisa.com.

Top gainers

Shriram Finance was the top Nifty gainer, up over 3 per cent, on Tuesday. HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank rose over 2 per cent each. Buying was seen in banking, financials, and IT. Profit booking was seen in realty, power, metals and midcaps. The progress of the monsoon may give insights into the consumption outlook, said experts.

Overseas investors bought shares worth ₹1,175 crore, while domestic institutions sold shares worth ₹149 crore on Tuesday.

The current account deficit reduced to 0.7 per cent of GDP in FY24 from 2 per cent in FY23 and recorded a surplus of 0.6 per cent of the GDP in Q4 due to higher service exports.

“Even in the upcoming Budget, the focus will remain on fiscal consolidation along with growth-oriented measures aimed at addressing rural stress. Hence, we expect the market to maintain its positive momentum as we draw nearer to the event,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head - Retail Research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Asian stocks mostly rose on Tuesday while European stock markets mostly weakened, with sentiment hit by the overnight selloff of influential Big Tech stocks on Wall Street in a sign of nervousness about the artificial intelligence boom. With the quarter ending, investors are buying up value stocks and rotating out of the technology sector into other parts of the market, according to experts.

“A long bull candle was formed on the daily chart, which is indicating a possibility of decisive upside breakout of broader range movement at 23600-23700 levels. Hence, one may expect upside momentum to pick up in the short term. Immediate support is placed at 23550,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst at HDFC Securities.