Nifty scales mount 20,000, Sensex reclaims 67,000; Adani shares rally; railway stocks jump up to 20%

Nifty50 index scripted history on Monday and scaled 20,000-mark for the first time as bulls continued their dominance on Dalal Street. Consistent buying from the domestic investors and positive local cues pushed the headline indices higher for the seventh straight session. However, the index closed below the 20,000-levels.

For the day, NSE's Nifty50 hit 20,008.15-mark but settled slightly below at 19,996.35, surging 176.40 points, or 0.89 per cent. BSE's Sensex rose more than 528.17 points, or 0.79 per cent, to close at 67,127.08. Broader markets were in line-line as the BSE midcap and smallcap indices rose about a per cent each. Fear gauge India VIX spiked more than 5 per cent to 11.35-level.

India's resilient growth compared to global macroeconomic headwinds has given investors the confidence to maintain bullish bets and propelled benchmark Nifty hit 20,000-mark. The 7th consecutive session of gains has come despite persisting selling by foreign institutional investors and other vagaries like inflation, rising dollar, spiking US treasury yields and interest rate hike concerns, said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail) at Kotak Securities.

"While undertone appears bullish, the market seems to be in an overbought position and hence caution may prevail going ahead. Technically, for the short-term period benchmark Nifty is holding a strong formation. On daily charts, the index has formed a bullish candle and on intraday charts it is consistently forming a higher high and higher low series formation, which is largely positive," he said.

On the sectoral front, only the Nifty media index ended in red. Among the gainers, the Nifty PSU Bank index surged more than 3 per cent, while the Nifty auto and metal indices rose 2 per cent each. The Nifty financial services, FMCG, healthcare, realty and private bank indices gained about a per cent each.

Adani Group stocks hogged limelight after promoter buying. Adani Power jumped 8 per cent, while Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone surged 7 per cent for the day. Adani Solutions ended 5 per cent higher, whereas Adani Energy Enterprises gained 4 per cent up. Adani Wilmar, Adani Green Energy and Adani Total Gas added 2-3 per cent each.

Nifty has finally managed to touch the much anticipated 20,000 mark in the second attempt post July 2023. Robust flows from the local investors amidst mixed/negative flows from foreigners has helped Nifty achieve this landmark, said Dhiraj Relli, MD & CEO at HDFC Securities.

"Successful achievements recently in space and foreign diplomacy by India have boosted sentiments for Indian stocks generally in an era when the global situation is still shaky. Smallcap and Midcap stocks have run up quite sharply and, in some cases, unjustifiably so. Review of asset allocation and booking some profits/raising some cash is advised," he said.

Barring the Adani Group stocks, Axis Bank, Power Grid and Apollo Hospital Enterprises and Maruti Suzuki gained more than 2 per cent each. UPL, Hindalco and HDFC Life Insurance Company also post healthy gains for the day. Hero MotoCorp, State Bank of India, HCL Tech and Tata Steel were the other key gainers on the index.

However, only four stocks out of 50 in the Nifty pack settled in red. Coal India dropped more than a per cent on the back of profit booking following the smart rally last week. Bajaj Finance, ONGC and Larsen & Toubro were the other laggards in the blue-chip pack for the day.

The domestic markets began the day on a positive note, bolstered by the historic consensus achieved at the G20 summit, which instilled confidence among investors.  Higher-than-expected loan growth data and strong profitability along with lower NPA in PSU banks attracted investor interest, said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

"Additionally, expectations of easing inflation, driven by a decline in vegetable prices, fueled optimistic sentiment, leading to a market rally. The return of China from deflation, growth in new bank loans, and reduced concerns about US rate hikes have paved the way for the domestic markets to reach new all-time highs," he added.

A total of 3,942 shares were traded on BSE on Monday, of which 2,107 settled with gains. 1,665 stocks ended the session with cuts while 170 shares remained unchanged. A total of ten shares hit their upper circuit, whereas only two shares tested the lower circuit levels for the day.

Indian equities have been on a remarkable run, outperforming their global counterparts with unprecedented resilience and tenacity. The stellar performance of small and mid-cap stocks, which have outshone their larger counterparts by a decent margin, makes it more significant. We would recommend investor caution, said Amit Goel, Co-Founder & Chief Global Strategist at Pace 360.

In the broader markets, ITI, SJVN and Ircon International hit an upper circuit of 20 per cent each, while Rail Vikas Nigam and Nahar Capital surged 16 per cent each. Infibeam Avenues and Praj Industries settled 14 per cent higher each, whereas Precision Wires India, PDS, Gujarat Minerals Development Corporation and ADF Foods rose 13 per cent each.

Among the losers, Coffee Day Enterprises cracked 15 per cent, while Natco Pharma slumped 8 per cent. Heritage Foods and Himadri Speciality Chemicals tumbled 7 per cent, while Suyra Roshni and Bombay Dyeing shed 6 per cent each. Elecon Engineering and Dollar Industries declined over 5 per cent each.

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