Sensex makes HISTORY, hits all-time high of 40,816! Time to become rich? Top 5 stocks for you

Sensex made HISTORY again today! And as far as invetsors are concerned this is nothing else than a big money making opportunity that must be taken advantage of. The market stats first - the broader Indian indices on Wednesday extended day trade gains with BSE Sensex hitting its all-time high of 40,816. Meanwhile, the Nifty-50 index managed to touch the psychologically important mark of 12,000, near its all-time high of 12,103. The BSE Sensex gained 181 points in the intraday trade session to close at 40,651 levels while the Nifty-50 index gained 59 points and closed at 11,999 levels. Bank Nifty index shot up 117 points and closed at 31,353 levels. 

It must be pointed out that the market is at an all-time high, but both macros and micros are not supporting the current bull run where the current momentum in the index is majorly driven by global liquidity as global interest rates are falling. The valuations and recent economic data are painting a gloomy picture about the economy but the market is a forward-looking bull.

Santosh Meena, Senior Analyst, TradingBells told Zee Business, ''If we talk about corporate earnings then there is a slowdown in top-line but margin expansion is visible where, if growth recovers, then we can see significant improvement in profitability. Midcap and Small cap sectors are showing signs of bottoming out and trying to come out of a bear market where they may outperform, once the growth visibility will be there. Midcap and SmallCap index may catch up momentum ahead of budget in February.''

Ajit Mishra Vice President, Research, Religare Broking said, ''Markets traded upbeat and gained nearly half a percent amid mixed cues. Initially, a strong surge in select index majors led by Reliance triggered gap-up start in the benchmark which further strengthened as the day progressed. However, profit-taking in the latter half partially trimmed the gains. The recent surge can be largely attributed to buoyancy in the global markets and better than expected earnings season however participation is still restricted mainly to index majors and select midcap counters.''

Meena added, ''Most of the negative news is behind us and the market is looking ahead for a recovery in both domestic and global economy whereas activeness of government about economic reforms is a key catalyst for a current rally in the market along with global liquidity. Lots of pain in the financial sector has passed and there is a hope of decent recovery as the NPA cycle has topped out and earning may see an uptick from here.''

Here are the top 5 stock recommendations by Meena:

1. ICICI General Insurance: This space is showing lots of attraction where life insurance companies have done very well but the leader in general insurance space, ICICI General Insurance may outperform from here where any recovery in the auto sector will boost sentiment in this counter.

2. State Bank of India: SBI is coming out of long underperformance to BankNifty after its Q2 results where there was a significant improvement in profitability and asset quality whereas the Supreme Court's verdict in the Essar Steel case is attracting marquee investors to look value in this stock.

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3. Divis Lab: After a long period of underperformance Pharma sector is showing some signs of recovery. Last quarter was not so bad where one of the API player Divis Lab may continue its outperformance.

4. PNC Infra: If the economy has to recover then the infrastructure sector needs to do well where PNC infra is our top pick as it has strong order book and management is confident about 50-60% growth in FY20. It is also one of the preferred bet of many FIIs.

5. Cholamandalam Investment: NBFC sector is most beaten-down sector in 2019 but there is still lots of growth opportunity in coming years where companies which have a strong business model and strong balance sheet may do very well in coming days and Cholamandalam Investment meets the required criteria for investment.