No stopping the bulls: Sensex@75k & rising

But hotter than expected US inflation may put brakes on rally

The Indian equity benchmarks ended Wednesday’s session at new highs, buoyed by gains in index heavyweights Reliance Industries and ITC, and optimism over earnings.

The BSE Sensex closed above the 75,000 mark for the first time, ending the session at 75,038 — a gain of 354 points or 0.5 per cent. The NSE Nifty 50 ended at 22,754, up 111 points or 0.5 per cent.

Analysts attributed the bullish sentiment in the domestic equity markets to robust recent macro data and expectations of economic and political stability.

However, sentiment is likely to turn cautious following hotter than expected inflation data in the US, released after Indian market hours, signalling a potential delay in rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The so-called core consumer price index, which excludes food and energy costs, increased 0.4 per cent in March from February, according to the US

Labor Department. From a year ago, it advanced 3.8 per cent.

Following the report, S&P 500 contracts fell 1.5 per cent and US Treasury 10-year yields advanced 13 basis points to 4.49 per cent.

“It (the US inflation data) should not have a big impact on our market, but investors will have to live with a higher longer-term interest rate for the short term. A rate cut in June by the Fed is probably off the table, but more data is expected. Even as bond yields rise, the markets are not taking it too badly,” said Andrew

Holland, CEO of Avendus Capital Alternate Strategies. The Nifty Midcap 100 also ended the session on a new high of 50,380, a gain of 0.9 per cent, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 posted its longest winning streak ever, equalling its previous 14-session continuous gain in June 2023.