JOIN USAnother lifetime high as Sensex zooms past 31,000
Indian markets saluted three years of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in style, with benchmark indices ending at lifetime highs on Friday.
While Sensex rose 278.18 points (0.9%) to close above the 31,000-mark at 31,028.21, Nifty crossed the 9,600-mark in intra-day trades before finally ending at a new high, up 85.35 points (0.9%), at 9,595.10.
This is the second consecutive day of big gains for the market. On Thursday, Sensex as well as Nifty had gained nearly 1.5% each.
“The tide certainly seems to have turned for Indian markets as key benchmark indices hit record-high levels in the mid-afternoon trade on Friday. After opening marginally in the green, both Sensex and Nifty steadily climbed up through the day to finally close with gains of about 0.5%,” said Karthikraj Lakshmanan, BNP Paribas Mutual Fund senior fund manager. Experts believe the indices could rise higher, but aren’t ruling out ‘corrections’.
“Sensex attaining 31,000 is one more milestone in this upward move, with the latest rise of 1,000 points taking just one month. It grew 20% from its recent bottom in just five months. We seem to be headed higher, with or without some intermittent corrections thrown in,” said Deepak Jasani, head of retail research, HDFC Securities.
Some are striking a note of caution, advising investors to pull out some of their money.
“In the last four to five months, we have not used the word ‘cautious’ even on a single occasion. But now, looking at a few key Fibonacci ratios coinciding in the vicinity of 9,620 to 9,650, we would advise traders to start taking some money off the table,” Sameet Chavan, chief analyst, Angel Broking, said.
Advances outnumbered declines significantly on the NSE, with nearly four stocks advancing for every single decline. While advances stood at 1,158 of a total 1,554 securities, declines were at 351, while 45 securities remained unchanged.
As far as BSE is concerned, the ratio was about 2:1, with 1,829 of a total 2,848 securities advancing, 836 declining and 183 remaining unchanged.