Extending its winning streak for the fourth consecutive trading session on Thursday, the Nifty Bank index achieved a new milestone by surpassing the 53,000 mark for the first time, reaching a fresh record high of 53,180 points.
In the past four trading sessions, the index has surged by 2.60%, largely driven by strong performances from private sector banks such as HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, and IndusInd Bank.
The index concluded last week with a gain of 3.32%, marking its best weekly performance in CY24 so far. In the current week, it has already gained 2.08%, with one trading day remaining.
Shares of private banks have rebounded sharply in recent sessions. Analysts attribute this to a resurgence in foreign portfolio investor (FPI) inflows, combined with profit booking in sectors like auto and FMCG, which had previously experienced substantial gains.
Index heavyweight HDFC Bank has gained 8% over the past 11 sessions, while ICICI Bank has jumped 9.2% during the same period. Similarly, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have increased by 7.7% and 5.5%, respectively, over this timeframe.
Benchmark indices also set fresh record highs in today's session, with the Nifty 50 surpassing the 23,900 mark for the first time to hit fresh record high of 23,974 points, nearing the 24,000 level. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex crossed the 79,000 mark for the first time, hitting a new lifetime high of 79,013 points.
Among individual stocks, five constituents of the Nifty 50 index—UltraTech Cement, Grasim Industries, Reliance Industries, ICICI Bank, and Axis Bank—reached new 52-week highs in today's trade. Cement stocks are currently dominating, with UltraTech Cement trading up 4.3% and Grasim Industries rallying 2.6%.
Overall, 19 constituents of the Nifty 50 index are trading in the green, with gains ranging between 0.1% and 4.3%.
Commenting on the market performance, Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services, said," The market will remain bullish in the near term despite the valuation concerns, and the ongoing momentum has the potential to take the Sensex to 80000 levels. A healthy trend in the market is that now the up move is being led by fundamentally strong largecaps in sectors like banking and telecom. With RIL, which had not participated in the rally until yesterday, joining the bull bandwagon, the rally has the strength to continue."
"But the rise in U.S. bond yields might perhaps trigger some large FII selling in the coming days, putting brakes on the rally. So long as the massive domestic liquidity support for the market continues, there are no potential triggers that can cause a sharp correction in the market. PSU banks look attractive from the valuation perspective, and therefore, they have the potential to react positively to good Q1 results," he added.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations given in this article are those of individual analysts. These do not represent the views of Mint. We advise investors to check with certified experts before taking any investment decisions.
