Taking Stock | Bull run continues, Sensex, Nifty hit record highs

The record run continued on Dalal Street on November 28, with equity benchmarks the Sensex and the Nifty rising to fresh record highs supported by buying across sectors barring metals.

The 30-pack Sensex touched a record high of 62,701.4 during the day before closing at 62,504.80, up 211.16 points, or 0.34 percent. The broad-based Nifty hit a new high of 18,614.25 before finishing at 18,562.80, up 50 points or 0.27 percent.

It took Nifty 13 months to reach a new high. Its previous best was  18,604.45 posted on October 19, 2021.

Indian shares started on a negative note amid weak Asian markets but recovered immediately and stayed in the green to close at new highs again.

"The Nifty at life-time high is a function of multiple factors such as resilient corporate earnings in Q2FY23, robust GST numbers (at a six- months high in October) and retail inflation slowing to a three-month low in October 2022 at 6.77 percent, led by softening food and commodity prices," said Pankaj Pandey, Head – Research, ICICIdirect.

Globally, the US also found comfort in the recently released lower-than-expected inflation reading, with growing expectations of a decline in the pace of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.

With a 20 percent decline in crude prices over the last fortnight, further relief is likely on the inflation front. "We continue to remain constructive on the Indian equities. Over FY22-24E, Nifty earnings are seen growing at a CAGR of around 15 percent. Our 12- month forward Nifty target is at 20,000 (i.e. 21x PE on FY24E) with the corresponding Sensex target of 66,600," Pandey said.

As structural bets, he said, the brokerage was bullish on banking space, capex-linked capital goods, domestic consumption plays including autos.

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Stocks and sectors

BPCL, Reliance Industries, Hero MotoCorp, Tata Consumer Products and SBI Life Insurance were among the top Nifty gainers. The losers included Hindalco Industries, JSW Steel, Apollo Hospitals, Tata Steel and Bharti Airtel.

Barring metal, down 1 percent, all sectoral indices ended in the green. The Nifty energy index jumped 1.3 percent and the auto rose 0.6 percent.

BSE midcap and smallcap indices added 0.7 percent each. On the BSE, the oil & gas index rose 1.5 percent and the auto index added 0.6 percent,  but the metal index was down 1.4 percent.

Among individual stocks, a volume spike of more than 100 percent was seen in Delta Corp, Max Financial Services and Apollo Tyres.

A long build-up was seen in Apollo Tyres, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Bharat Petroleum Corporation, while a short build-up was seen in Jindal Steel, Hindalco Industries and Honeywell Automation India.

DCB Bank, IDFC First Bank, Bharat Heavy Electricals, NCC, SJVN, Rail Vikas Nigam, CG Power and Industrial Solutions, Rashtriya Chemicals & Fertilizers, Dredging Corporation Of India, Housing & Urban Development Corporation, Texmaco Rail & Engineering were among the stocks to hit their 52-week high on the BSE.

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Outlook for November 29

Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, Head of Technical Research, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas

The Nifty opened gap down, only to attract buying support at lower levels. The index opened right into the support zone of the key hourly moving averages from where it recovered swiftly.

It went on to cross the all-time high of 18,604 and registered a new high of 18,614.

Structurally, the index is forming an extension on the upside. Thus the zone of 18,400-18,360 will continue to act as a crucial support.

As long as the index stays above this zone, it can move upward in the short term . Subsequent targets on the upside will be 18,700 and 19,000.

Lakshmi Iyer, CEO- Investment Advisory, Kotak Investment Advisors

Sentiment and flows currently are acting as a strong catalyst for the market, which touched an all-time high. We are seeing domestic as also foreign investors being net buyers of equity, aiding the momentum.

Here one needs to be balanced, as most of the positives are in the prices for now. Incremental allocations to equities could be done in a staggered manner as opposed to lump-sum investments.

Mohit Nigam, Fund Manager & Head - PMS, Hem Securities

The benchmark Indices ended on a positive note after the Nifty scaled an all-time high of 18,614.25 in spot markets.

Good buying was witnessed in tyres, auto and defence counters, while the Bank Nifty saw some profit taking. Oil marketing companies showed gains on account of a fall in crude prices.

Domestic markets are moving from strength to strength amid global macro concerns and we believe Indian shares will continue to outperform global indices backed by strong corporate earnings and healthy demand. IT, auto and the banking sector look well poised to us.

On the technical front, immediate support and resistance for Nifty are at 18,450 and 18,650. Immediate support and resistance in Bank Nifty are at 42,500 and 43,350.

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