Sensex, Nifty hit record highs; BSE-listed firms' m-cap breaches Rs 400 lakh crore mark—here is why

Stock market today: Indian equities in Monday’s trade (April 8) notched a fresh high for the second straight session amid global cues. Nifty hit a peak of 22,679, gaining 0.73 per cent, while Sensex topped levels of 74,797.7, up 0.74 per cent. Sectorally, real estate stocks led the gain, followed by auto counters. In today’s session, the m-cap of all BSE-listed companies touched levels of USD 4.84 trillion.

Here is a list of factors that pushed the indices to record-high levels-

Positive Q4 business update

After the conclusion of the March quarter, most companies are in the process of giving out their Q4 business updates, which is painting a promising outlook for India Inc. earnings. This is one trigger fuelling the indices today.

Strong GDP forecast for India

As per Equinomics weekly insights data, several agencies have upgraded the GDP projections for India to as high as 8 per cent for FY25. “The World Bank lifts India’s FY2025 GDP growth by 20 bps to 6.6% and expects India to grow by 7.5% in FY2024,” it added.

Broader markets continue to gain

The second-rung stocks continued their uptrend in Monday's session. The midcap index logged gains for the eleventh straight day, while the smallcap index jumped for the twelfth straight session. Further, the market is positively reacting to the strong Q4 business update, propelling stocks like Nykaa and others.

FII buying

Foreign institutional buying is once again prominent, as rate-cut bets by the US Federal Reserve are still far away. Earlier, Fed Chair Jerome Powell repeated last week that he doesn't expect it will be appropriate to lower the policy rate until they have greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably down towards 2 per cent.

In the previous trading session, FIIs bought Indian equities worth Rs 1,659 crore on a provisional basis, the NSE data showed.

Technical factors

"Last week, we had gone in with an initial target of 22,700, and while there was a spike to 22,619, it turned out to be brief. Hence, we will start the week afresh, acknowledging 22,530 as a crucial challenge to clear before embarking on the 22,700–23,200 run. The downside marker is placed at 22,350, below which supports are seen at 22,190–22,000 and 21,800. With these being the extremities on either side, upside bias for the day may ease off if it is not able to float above 22490,” said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, at Geojit Financial Services.