New Delhi:
On the first day of the new financial year, Sensex, the benchmark index of the Bombay Stock Exchange, breached the 39,000 mark for the first time. Surging over 300 points, the Sensex created new record and ends by 164.27 points at 38,837.18. The NSE Nifty also surpassed 11,700 level for first time since September last year and closed at 45.25 points at 11,669.15.
In opening trade, the BSE benchmark Sensex rallied over 265.54 points to 38,938.45 on Monday, driven by sustained buying mainly in metal, auto and financial stocks amid positive global cues.
The Sensex rally was driven by Tata Motors, Vedanta, Bharti Airtel, Maruti, Reliance Industries, Tata Steel, Larsen and Toubro and HCL Tech. The scrips of these firms rose as much as 7.37 per cent.
Other prominent gainers were Infosys, TCS, SBI, ITC, Yes Bank, Kotak Bank, Hero Moto, and Coal India.
Bucking the overall trend, shares of IndusInd Bank, Mahindra and Mahindra, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, HDFC, ONGC, HUL, BajajFinance and HDFC Bank declined.
In Asia, South Korea's KOSPI rose 1 per cent, Japan's Nikkei gained more than 2 per cent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index climbed 1.62 per cent. China and the US gave signs of some progress in their last week's discussions on the trade tariff tussle, with another round of talks scheduled to be held this week in Washington.
The BSE Sensex had risen over 127 points to close at 38,672.91 on Friday -- the last trading day of fiscal 2018-19 during which the benchmark posted a rise of 17.30 per cent. The broader NSE Nifty closed at 11,623.90, capping off the financial year with a gain of 14.93 per cent.
Investors' wealth zoomed Rs 8.83 lakh crore during 2018-19, with the market capitalisation (m-cap) of BSE-listed companies reaching Rs 1,51,08,711.01 crore.
In the election season, the Sensex is expects lots of volatility. Experts believe the overall movement for the benchmark Sensex may also end up in 2019 at around 5 per cent, the same as 2018. "The first few months of 2019 are likely to be volatile as it will be very event-heavy. Markets like certainty and continuity and post the events, markets should stabilise," Essel Mutual Fund CEO Viral Berawala had said. Anand Shah, Deputy CEO and Head of Investment at BNP Paribas Asset Management India, said, "While the first half of 2019 will have multiple events which will keep markets more focused on macro variables, we believe the second half will see micros take centre stage."
Effect of elections in the short-term with risk of populist measures and uncertainties in the global market may also weigh on the market performance, Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services said.
