Sensex, Nifty close at record aided by telecom, IT stocks

India’s stock benchmarks closed at record highs aided by gains in telecom, auto, power and I.T. stocks. Cabinet approval for Production Linked Incentives (PLI) for Auto sector and relief measures for Telecom sector aided the rise.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 0.82% to 58,723.20, a record close for the 30-stock index which hit a record 58,777.06 in intraday trade. The NSE Nifty 50 advanced by a similar magnitude to 17,519.45, a record close. The 50-stock index hit a record 17,532.70 in intraday trade. This is the first ever time Nifty crossed 17,500. Infosys Ltd. contributed the most to the index gain, increasing 1.5%. NTPC Ltd. had the largest increase, rising 7.2%. Today, 35 of 50 shares rose, while 15 fell.

The broader indices almost mirrored larger peers with the S&P BSE MidCap adding over 0.6% and S&P BSE SmallCap rising over 0.8%. All the 19 sectoral indices compiled by the BSE Ltd. advanced, with S&P BSE Telecom index gaining 3.5% and S&P BSE Utilities index adding 2.3%.

The market breadth was skewed in favour of bulls. About 2,060 stocks advanced, 1,243 declined and 118 remained unchanged.

“We expect Nifty 50 to conquer 18,000 and above in the medium term. Last matured support for the index is seen at 17,080 above which we remain positive. Options concentration is seen at 17,000 put and 17,500 call – this is indicative of some resistance at 17,500-17,600 levels”, Sahaj Agrawal wrote in a note. The Head of Research- Derivatives at Kotak Securities added “value is seen in Auto and Mid-cap Banking stocks; expect outperformance in the midcap space to continue”. BloombergQuint