Sensex, Nifty End Near Record High; Banking Stocks Outperform

Indian equities extended Monday's gains to close near their respective all-time highs as buying momentum was witnessed across the board.

The S&P BSE Sensex ended 2.5% higher at 49,797. The index briefly traded above the mark of 50,000, coming within 30 points of its all-time high of 50,184, before some profit booking was witnessed at higher levels.

The NSE Nifty 50 index also came within 20 points of its record high of 14,754, ending 2.6% higher at 14,647.

Among the sectoral indics, the Nifty Bank index hit yet another record high in today's session, ending 3.6% higher at 34,267. The Nifty Auto index was the outperformer in today's session, ending with gains of 4%.

Indices like the Nifty Media, Nifty Realty and the PSU Bank index also saw gains of over 3%. Gains on the PSU Bank index were led by State Bank of India while Zee Entertainment and Sun TV shouldered the gains on the Media index.

The FMCG index was the only underperformer in today's session, ending little changed.

Broader markets ended higher but gains were modest for the Small caps as compared to the benchmark indices. The Nifty Midcap index ended 2.4% higher while the Smallcap index ended with gains of 1.2%.

The India Volatility Index ended little changed at 23.35.

1,242 stocks on the NSE ended with gains while 681 stocks ended lower.

• Nifty up 2.8% at 14,690
• Sensex up 2.9% at 50,000
• Nifty Bank up 4.1% at 34,452
• Nifty Midcap index up 2.1%
• Nifty Smallcap index up 1.5%
• India Volatility Index up 0.4% to 23.43
• Nifty Auto index is among top sectoral gainers; up 3.7%
• PSU Bank index gains 2.8% while FMCG and I.T. indices gain 1% each
• Nifty Media, Nifty Pharma and Nifty Realty up over 1.5% each
• Tata Motors is the top Nifty gainer; up 9.2%
• 48 out of the 50 Nifty constituents gain
• Hindustan Unilever & HDFC Life are the only Nifty laggards; down 0.3% each
• 1,419 stocks on the NSE trade with gains while 350 are declining

• Overall sales at 4,25,199 units
• Domestic sales down 11% at 1,70,757 units
• Exports were the highest ever, up 26% at 2,54,442 units
• Two-wheeler exports were the highest ever; up 30% at 2,27,532 units

Indian equities opened higher for the second straight day, extending their gains made on the Union Budget day.

The S&P BSE Sensex opened 1.2% higher at 49,193 while the NSE Nifty 50 index opened with gains of 1.4% at 14,481. Both Sensex & Nifty had their best budget-day rally since 1997 on Monday.

Among the sectoral indices, the Nifty Bank index opened at another record high, adding 500 points to Monday's gains. The index rose 1.5% to open at 33,589.

The Nifty Auto index opened 2% higher while the Nifty I.T. index along with the PSU Bank index gained 1.4% at the start of trade. Other indices like Nifty FMCG, Nifty Metal and Nifty Pharma gained 1% each on opening.

Broader markets have opened higher as well. The Nifty Midcap index and the Nifty Smallcap index, both opened with gains of 1% each.

1,333 stocks on the NSE opened with gains while 280 have opened lower.

Good Morning!

Indian equities posted their best Budget-day gain since 1997. The 5% rally was also the biggest for the Sensex and Nifty 50 since April last year.

Morgan Stanley has raised its target for Sensex to 55,000 after the budget, while Citi hiked its year-end target for the Nifty to 14,500.

Futures are indicating that the gains are likely to extend on Tuesday as well. The Singapore-traded SGX Nifty, an early indicator of the Nifty 50 Index’s performance in India, rose 0.8% to 14,471 as of 8:30 a.m.

HDFC is the only Nifty 50 company to report quarterly results on Tuesday, along with non-Nifty stocks like Ajanta Pharma, Alkyl Amines, Balrampur Chini, Dhanuka Agritech, Dixon Technologies, Escorts, Neuland Laboratories, PI Industries, Tata Consumer Products and Vinati Organics.

Asian equities are advancing this morning after peers on Wall Street saw their biggest single-day gain in 10 weeks. South Korean benchmarks outperformed, while futures on the Dow Jones are trading with gains of 150 points.

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.8% to $53.96 per barrel, while silver fell 1.2% to $28.69/Oz.

Short on time? Well, then listen to this podcast for a quick summary of All You Need To Know before the opening bell.