Indian stock markets surged to new record highs on Friday, buoyed by a combination of easing US inflation, robust results from Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and a generally positive market sentiment. The Sensex climbed over 600 points, or 0.8%, to close at 80,519 points, while the Nifty rose by 186 points, or 0.8%, to end at 24,502 points.
Biggest gainers on the Nifty were TCS, Wipro, LTIMindtree, Infosys and HCL Technologies, while losers included Maruti Suzuki, Divis Labs, BPCL, Coal India and Asian Paints.
The rise was supported by both foreign and domestic institutional buyers, reflecting strong investor confidence. The moderation in US consumer inflation in June sparked hopes of an imminent interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, possibly as early as September.
“Multiple tailwinds led the market to come out of the range-bound trajectory. The strong result from the IT bellwether and a drop in US inflation to a one-year low added optimism to the market. The chances of a rate cut in September are inching higher, which is evident in the fall of the dollar index,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
“We expect this momentum to continue, supported by the expectation of healthy quarterly results, hopes of a rate cut, and a pre-budget rally,” said Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. He said that upcoming results from major companies like Jio Financials, HDFC Life, Asian Paints, and Infosys would be crucial.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who has retained her portfolio in the new government, is set to present the full Budget for 2024-25 on July 23.