Indices reverse early losses to make fresh highs

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Indian equities overcame Fed jitters and reversed early losses to make fresh highs on Thursday.

The Sensex surged 535 points to 73,158, and the Nifty rose 162 points to 22,217. Cash market volumes on the NSE were a bit lower than the previous session but still closed at ₹1.02-lakh crore. The mid-cap index rose more than the Nifty even as advance decline ratio improved to 1.22:1.

Broad-based rally was seen with IT, metals, and auto taking the lead along with the mid-cap sector. IT giants HCL Tech, Tech Mahindra, and TCS gained over 2 per cent each. Bajaj Auto was the top Nifty 50 performer, gaining 3.2 per cent.

Foreign brokerage Jefferies’ bullish outlook on India sees the stock market hitting market cap of $10 trillion by 2030. “Continued reforms should maintain India’s ‘Fastest growing large economy’ status. Strong trend in domestic flows have reduced market volatility and decadal low foreign ownership offers valuation cushion,” it said. The January Federal Reserve meeting minutes reveal that members are more concerned about the risk of cutting interest rates prematurely than maintaining them at elevated levels for an extended period.

The Indian economy continues to gain strength. The headline HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index—that measures change in the combined output of India’s manufacturing and service sectors—rose from a final reading of 61.2 in January to 61.5 in February. The HSBC Flash India Manufacturing PMI rose to 56.7 from 56.5 in January. The HSBC Flash India Services PMI Business Activity Index rose to 62 from 61.8 in January.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said: “The domestic market staged a recovery from the day’s low, buoyed by positive PMI data from the Eurozone and an impressive earnings report from US tech stocks. The broader market showed resilience as India’s economic activity continued to expand in February, with both service and manufacturing PMI improving. Consequently, it resulted in outperformance in discretionary stocks and capital goods.”

FPIs sold shares worth ₹1,410 crore, while domestic institutions bought shares worth ₹1,823 crore on Thursday, provisional data showed.

Global stocks rallied with Japan’s benchmark hitting a record high and Europe’s on track to do the same, after Nvidia’s blowout sales forecast reinforced investor conviction in the boom in generative AI use.

A long bull candle was formed on the daily chart with a long lower shadow. Technically, this pattern indicates a sharp comeback of bulls after two sessions of weakness.

“The short-term trend of Nifty has turned up sharply after a small decline. Having breached the recent highs of 22249, the Nifty is expected to move towards the next upside target of 22,500-22,600 levels in one week. Immediate support is at 22050,” said Nagaraj Shetti, Senior Technical Research Analyst, HDFC Securities.