Sensex hits 70k for first time: Nifty touches life-time high; investor wealth soars to Rs 351 trillion

Strong inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) drove the Sensex to breach 70,000 mark for the first time on Monday. The 30-share benchmark rose 232 points to hit a fresh life-time high of 70,057.83 in intraday trades but ended the day with a gain of 102.93 points or 0.15% to 69,928.53.

Of the last 11 trading sessions, barring one, FPIs were net buyers, as they poured a whopping $4.8 billion (Rs 40,555 crore) into the Indian equities.

The benchmark Nifty also touched its lifetime high of 21,026.10 in intraday trade before settling at 20,998.10, up 27.70 points or 0.13%, which was also an all-time high on closing basis.

“The market crossed 70,000 levels today, while the broader market outperformed the main indices. However, profit booking was evident at higher levels as traders anticipated clues from tomorrow’s (Tuesday’s) significant data releases on inflation from the US and India, as well as the IIP,” said Vinod Nair, head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

While US inflation is predicted to remain stable, the market anticipates a rise in domestic inflation. The better-than-expected US jobs data and a moderate increase in US bond yields from the recent lows, however, also encouraged investors to book profits at higher levels, Nair said.

“Investors will be closely watching the upcoming FOMC meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) for clues about potential future rate cuts while expecting to keep rates the same this time,” he added.

The broad-based BSE Midcap and BSE Smallcap indices closed at their life-time highs as well. While BSE Midcap Index surged 319.59 points or 0.91% to 35,610.50, BSE Smallcap Index gained 290.23 points or 0.71% to close at 41,394.60.

Sectors such as commodities, metal, services, realty and industrials were major gainers on Monday. Healthcare (down 0.38%) and oil & gas (down 0.15%) were the only losers.

“Global equities posted small moves at the start of a busy week of economic data and central bank meetings that will test hopes among investors that interest rates will soon head lower,” said Deepak Jasani, head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.

Among the Sensex pack, UltraTech Cement was the top gainer with a 3.04% rise, followed by Nestle India (1.30%), Power Grid (1.05%), Tata Motors (0.85%) and IndusInd Bank (0.82%).

At the same time, Axis Bank (down 1.26%), M&M (down 0.99%) and Hindustan Unilver (down 0.67%) were top losers.

Monday’s trade witnessed 2,372 advances and 1,499 declines, the advance declines ratio stood at 1.58.

The market rally has seen the investors’ wealth soar by `1.86 trillion to hit a record high of Rs 351 trillion.