Stocks mark longest weekly winning streak since 2019

By Ronojoy Mazumdar and Nupur Acharya,
Indian stocks capped a seventh straight week of gains as investors look beyond the benchmark indexes that keep setting record highs.

The S&P BSE Sensex advanced 0.2% to 46,960.69 in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index was little changed. Both gauges rose about 2% this week, with the Sensex marking its longest weekly winning streak since April 2019.

A rally that has rewarded cyclical stocks that are closely tied to economic growth is now about as broad as it can get. Almost all of India’s 200 biggest companies are trading above their 200-day moving average for the first time since 2009.

While concerns about historically high valuations may be tempering the pace of gains, there are still pockets of the market that can outperform, mirroring the value rotation that is delivering returns globally, according to a note from analysts at Jefferies India Ltd. led by Mahesh Nandurkar.

“Economic revival, vaccine news-flow and stable or weak U.S. dollar will likely drive the value theme to perform well,” Nandurkar wrote in a note, highlighting state-owned enterprises on the S&P BSE PSU index as “deep value.”

The Numbers

• Ten out of 19 sector sub-indexes compiled by BSE Ltd. declined, with a gauge of telecom stocks falling the most
• Eighteen Sensex shares rose, while 12 fell
• Infosys Ltd. contributed most to the index advance and its 2.6% jump was the steepest, while HDFC Bank Ltd. was the biggest drag on the index and dropped 2.1%