Nifty touches fresh record high on strong global cues

In a volatile session, Nifty ended in the green on Thursday, touching a fresh record high helped by positive global cues, said Deepak Jasani, Head Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

At close on Thursday, Nifty was up 162.40 points, or 0.74 per cent, at 22,217.45, while Sensex climbed 535.15 points or 0.74 per cent to reach 73,158.24.

Cash market volumes on the NSE were a bit lower than the previous session, but still closed at Rs 1.02 lakh crore. The Midcap index rose more than the Nifty even as advance decline ratio improved to 1.22:1. Banks, Reliance, ABB, and new age stocks were part of the active stocks traded, Jasani said.

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

India's imports of crude and petroleum products rose 5.6 per cent year-on-year to 25.4 million tonnes in January, compared to 24 MT in the year-ago period.

The Indian economy continues to strengthen in February, according to the HSBC Flash India PMI, with acceleration evident in both manufacturing and service sectors.

The headline HSBC Flash India Composite PMI Output Index -- which 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, Jasani said.

Nifty made a fresh record high on Thursday negating the bearish development of the previous session. It could now proceed towards 22,280 and later to 22,810. On falls, it could take support at 22,011. Participants remain unsure about the direction of the market due to sharp intra-day movements in the markets on either side, Jasani said.

Siddhartha Khemka, Head of Retail Researchat Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said that domestic equities touched a fresh high of 22,252 zones on the back of strong global cues. Broad-based rally was seen with IT, Metals and Auto taking the lead along with the Midcap sector.