Sensex breaches 75,000-mark before retreating

Benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty scaled fresh peaks on Tuesday, a day after the market capitalization of all companies listed on BSE crossed ₹400 trillion, before retreating and ending lower than the previous session.

The 30-share benchmark Sensex index breached the 75,000-mark, and the wider 50-share Nifty index crossed 22,750 in early morning trading before profit-booking led to a pullback in the indices.

The morning rally on the indices was primarily led by ICICI Bank Ltd and Infosys Ltd. The surge in shares of Infosys came after brokerage firm Bank of America upgraded its recommendation on the stock to “buy” from “neutral”.

The Sensex and the Nifty retreated from their lifetime highs during the day to end in the red at 74,683.70 and 22,642.75, respectively.

Meanwhile, it took stocks listed on the BSE just nine months to jump from ₹300 trillion to ₹400 trillion in market capitalization on robust inflows into stocks from domestic investors.

The volatility index, or India VIX, also called the fear gauge, eased by 2.2% to end at 11.36.

The NSE Nifty Next 50 Index is emerging as the hottest stock gauge in India as investors scout for specific areas of outperformance as most indices surge, Bloomberg reported, adding, “Made up of potential candidates for the broader benchmark Nifty, this gauge has seen its forward profit estimates climb 20% this year.”

Investors will be keenly watching the earnings announcements for the final quarter of the fiscal that began this week for further cues.