Sensex Made Record Highs

Sensex is on a roll, and after hitting its record high on Wednesday, it has managed to send a strong message to the short sellers — market is in no mood to give up its gains. Sensex made record highs on Wednesday at 33,956 level. 

The major indices recorded impressive gains in the past couple of weeks with Sensex gaining as much as 3.15 per cent and Nifty gaining 3.41 per cent. The Mid-cap index gained 3.24 per cent, while the Small-cap index was up by 3.40 per cent, thus outperforming the major index Sensex by a thin margin. All of the sectoral indices closed in the green, with Auto index being the best performing index during the given period. Auto index was up by an impressive 7.96 per cent, while the Metal index closed higher by 5.30 per cent. FMCG index gained 3.75 per cent while Power index was up by 1.86 per cent. The IT index also joined the broader market rally and gained 1.48 per cent during the given period. 

The FIIs turned out to be net sellers in the past couple of weeks. FIIs sold to the tune of Rs 5888.77 crore and DIIs were net buyers to the tune of Rs 5073.41 crore. 

Globally, the markets witnessed mixed trend with Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining as much as 1.91 per cent and Nasdaq losing nearly 4.35 per cent. S&P 500 was up by 1.60 per cent while FTSE 100 gained 2.79 per cent. DAX gained 1.20 per cent , CAC 40 closed in the red by 0.12 per cent even as Hang Seng and Nikkie closed in the green, with gains of 0.49 per cent and 0.73 per cent, respectively. Shanghai was down by 0.40 per cent for the given period. 

The global equity markets rallied on the back of the US tax bill expected to be passed into a new law, which will help corporate America to improve its earnings. Gold traded flat with negative bias in the past couple of weeks while Brent crude managed to inch up marginally and it is close to crossing $65 per barrel anytime soon. 

The Indian markets reacted positively to the BJP win in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The BJP victory, which also gives an insight into the possible outcome of the polls in 2019, comes as an reaffirmation for the continuation of Modi's policies, keeping the markets upbeat. 

While the PSU banks, expecting a speedy recapitalisation, are likely to be in the limelight in the coming weeks, the finance ministry's higher allocation of funds to the fertiliser sector has led to a surge in the fertiliser stocks on the bourses. Going forward, the markets are set to discount the budget developments in the coming weeks.