Party on Dalal Street: Nifty tops 18,600; Nifty Bank hits all-time high: Key factors behind market rally today

Stock market today, May 29, 2023: The bulls on Dalal Street were in full form on May 29, Monday, causing the benchmark indices to inch towards all-time levels. The S&P BSE Sensex surged as much as 524 points, or 0.83 per cent to hit a high of 63,026 points against the previous close of 62,501.69. The broader NSE Nifty breached the 18,600 mark to 18,641.20 in the opening deals. At the time of writing this news, the 50-share index was ruling at 18,611.40, up 112 points, or 0.60 per cent against Friday's close of 18,499.35  levels.

Nifty Bank, on the other hand, scaled a fresh peak in the opening deals. The index breached the previous high of 44,151.80 levels, touched on December 14, 2022. The index, so far, has hit a high of 44,458.95 levels. The previous all-time high was 44,151.80. 

Below are some of the key factors that are driving markets higher today - 

US debt ceiling deal: The stocks rose after US President Joe Biden on Sunday, May 28, finalised a budget agreement with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling until January 1, 2025, and said the deal was ready to move to Congress for a vote. "This is a deal that's good news for ... the American people," Biden told reporters at the White House after a call with McCarthy to put the final touches to a tentative deal they struck on Saturday night, Reuters reported. 

Supportive global cues: Asian shares and US stock futures rose in the morning trade on Monday, thanks to a weekend deal by U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to suspend the government's debt ceiling, ending a protracted stalemate and providing some relief for investors. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan gained 0.3 per cent, while Tokyo's Nikkei surged 1.3 per cent to a fresh 33-year high.

Broad-based buying: The market witnessed across-the-board buying on Monday. Barring Oil & Gas and Energy, all the sectoral indices traded with gains on Monday. The S&P BSE Financial Services and the S&P BSE Metal index were trading 1 per cent higher each. 

Sustained FII buying: Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) continued their buying spree in May with Rs 25,000 crore inflows despite
dollar index inching up by 3 per cent, ICICI Securities said in a report issued on May 29.

Positive outlook: “The positive monsoon prediction by IMD has boosted market sentiment, leading to gains in various sectors. The Nifty FMCG and Nifty Banks indices have shown strength, driven by bullish interest, short covering, and value buying. Additionally, the Nifty Media index received a significant boost after NCLAT's directive. Overall, the market outlook remains optimistic, with the Nifty aiming for new highs while maintaining support at 18203," said Prashanth Tapse, Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Ltd.