Sensex, Nifty scale new peaks; all eyes on earnings, Budget

MUMBAI: Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty scaled new peaks in the first week of trade of 2018 and logged record closing highs on Friday, mirroring the gains in world equities. Investors are now awaiting December quarter earnings, and upcoming Union Budget for further cues.

World stocks scaled fresh record highs on Friday after US jobs data pointed to firm economic growth in the world’s largest economy.

BSE’S 30-share Sensex closed 0.54% or 184.21 points higher at record close of 34,153.85 points, while National Stock Exchange’s 50-share Nifty climbed 0.51% or 54.05 points to record close of 10,558.85 points.

In intra-day trade, Sensex rose to a record high of 34,188.85 points, while National Stock Exchange’s 50-share Nifty rose to a record of 10,566.10 points.

“Markets are aided by buoyancy in the global markets. People are now awaiting earnings, and expectations form the budget are playing out,” said Vaibhav Sanghavi, CO-CEO, Avendus Capital Public Markets Alternative Strategies LLP.

“This time, around, we might seemacrogdpnumbersshowing buoyancy from Q1 FY19 onwards, but market will await corporate earnings recovery to flow in,” added Sanghavi.

According to provisional data from NSE, foreign institutional investors and domestic institutional investors were net buyers of Indian shares to the tune of ₹581.43 crore and ₹243.13 crore respectively.

Foreign brokerages are forecasting around 10% gains for India’s benchmark indices in 2018 betting on a rebound in corporate earnings growth and economic recovery.

On Wednesday, Deutsche Bank set its December Nifty target at 11,500 points, 9.5% higher than the current level.

It also said that the implied Sensex target is 37,000 points. A day earlier, CLSA had raised its Nifty target for 2018 to 11,400.

On Friday, market breadth was positive with gainers beating losers in the ratio of 1.4:1.0 on the BSE. All sectoral indices, except BSE Oil & Gas index were trading higher. BSE telecom index and BSE consumer durables index led the gains, as they rose 2.75% and 1.25%, respectively.

Twenty-three of 30 Sensex stocks traded higher, with financials contributing the most to the gains. Mortgage lender Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd contributed the most with a 1.2% rise. Private lender Yes Bank Ltd followed with a 5.03% gain.