Investors gain Rs 9 lakh crore in two sessions; will the bull run continue?

Investors gained nearly Rs 9 lakh crore in the last two sessions after global markets turned buoyant ahead of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike. Market cap of BSE-listed firms rose to Rs 260.37 lakh crore today against the mcap of Rs 251.65 lakh crore on March 15, translating into a gain of Rs 8.72 lakh crore in the last two sessions.

The rally in investor wealth came after Sensex climbed 2086 points and Nifty jumped 623 points since March 15. This  is the second consecutive session Sensex has closed higher by 1,000 points.

However, Sensex has fallen 0.67% or 389 points and Nifty has lost 0.39% or 67 points since the beginning of this year. In a year, Sensex zoomed 16.19% or 8062 points and Nifty clocked a rally of 17.43% or 2565 points.

Here's a look at what experts said about the direction of the market in the upcoming sessions.

Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd said, "Nifty bulls celebrated Holi with green while short sellers got squeezed. The auspicious occasion of Holi was celebrated at Dalal Street as the benchmark Nifty enjoyed yet another session of strong gains and most importantly, was seen racing to hit the magical 17500 mark. The technical landscape has turned aggressively bullish. This optimistic backdrop should take Nifty easily to its magical goalpost at 17500 mark and then aggressive targets at 18000 mark."

ALSO READ: Sensex rises 1,000 pts for second session, Nifty ends above 17,250; consumer durables, banks lead gains

Amol Athawale, Deputy Vice President - Technical Research, Kotak Securities said, "Markets were in a sublime touch as rally across global indices gave a major fillip to local gauges. Major negative factors behind the recent crash are slowly on the wane, which is helping the markets to rejuvenate.

On the technical front, the support for Nifty has now shifted to 17,000 from 16,800 and as long as the index is holding 17k level, the uptrend wave will continue till 17450 and could lift the index up to 17600. However, 17,000 could be the sacrosanct support level for the Nifty and close below the same could see Nifty hitting 16900-16800 levels."

Mohit Nigam, Head - PMS, Hem Securities said, "Benchmark indices showed directional bias and made a gap up opening on the back of positive global market ques. Investor sentiments got a boost as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates in accordance with expectations. While the Fed's forecasts for six more rises this year remain aggressive, economists believe the markets are rallying because they were oversold, and short covering has driven indices higher.

Even European stocks rose today reflecting overnight advances on Wall Street following a widely anticipated interest rate hike in the United States, while lingering hope over Russia-Ukraine peace talks boosted confidence even more.

On the technical front key resistance levels for Nifty50 is 17,500 and on the downside 17000 will act as strong support. For Bank Nifty key resistance level is 36,800 and on the downside 35,800 will act as strong support."