5 reasons why markets ended at record high today

Strong moves on govt and private banks, besides metals, FMCG and infrastructure stocks, boosted sentiment

Bulls were on a high on Wednesday, with benchmark indices hitting fresh record highs and the Nifty50 index surpassing 10,400 for the first time ever, led by a rally in index heavyweights and good macro data.  
 
The S&P BSE Sensex ended above 33,000 for the first time ever -- at 33,600 levels, up 387 points for the day. The Nifty50 also achieved a new milestone, ending at a fresh closing high of 10,440, up 105 points from the previous day's close.
 
In intra-day trading, the Sensex soared above the 33,600-mark and clocked an all-time high figure of 33,651, while the Nifty rallied to 10,451 during the day’s trade — also its all-time high mark.

 

Strong moves on banks -- both state-run and private, along with metals, FMCG, and infrastructure stocks, added to the sentiment.
 
Here are 5 factors that drove the markets to new highs:
 
Bharti Airtel at 10-year high
 
Index heavyweight Bharti Airtel hit an over 10-year high of Rs 544, up over 9% on the BSE in intra-day trading, after the company reported a better-than-expected consolidated operating profit and margin for the quarter ended September 2017 (Q2FY18). The stock ended 8% higher for the day.
 
The stock, which traded at its highest since October 18, 2007, is just 8% away from its all-time high of Rs 575, touched on October 10, 2007, in intra-day trade.

 
Bharti Airtel had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 343 crore in Q2FY18 against profit of Rs 1,461 crore in the same quarter previous year. The consolidated revenues for Q2FY18 however declined by 10.4% at Rs 21,777 crore on Y-o-Y basis.
 
However, the consolidated mobile data traffic at 853 million MBs in the quarter has registered a robust Y-o-Y growth of 293.8% on an underlying basis.
 
According to media reports, the foreign brokerage firm CLSA upgraded the recommendation on Bharti Airtel to buy from underperform. CLSA raised the target price to Rs 637 from Rs 430.

 
PSU banks and realty stocks gain

PSU Banks and realty stocks gained as investors continued to cheer the government’s recapitalisation package for public sector banks (PSBs) and Rs 7-lakh-crore infra boost via the Bharatmala project. Derivative (F&O) expiry for the October series also aided sentiment.
 
The Nifty PSU bank index gained over 3% in today’s trade after falling over 2% on Tuedsay on value buying. While Nifty Realty index hit an over six-year high after a strong rally in Godrej Properties, Indiabulls Real Estate and DLF on the National Stock Exchange (NSE).
 
While PSU Banks like Syndicate Bank, Allahabad Bank, SBI, Andhra Bank gained between 4.9%, realty stocks like Godrej Properties, Indiabulls Real Estate and DLF from the Nifty Realty index were up in the range of 4% to 8% on the NSE.

 
Ease of Doing Business
 
Investors reacted positively to the likely improvement in business activity sentiment as the country’s rank in ease of doing business jumped up to 100.
 
India has jumped into 100th place on the World Bank’s ranking of countries by Ease of Doing Business for the first time in its report for 2018, up about 30 places, driven by reforms in access to credit, power supplies and protection of minority investors. India’s rank was 130 a year ago.
 
The World Bank’s ‘Doing Business 2018: Reforming to Create Jobs’ report, released on Tuesday, also showed that India been adjudged the fifth best-performing nation globally in reforming the business environment. The country improved its rankings in six of the 10 sub-categories used by the World Bank to judge the climate of business.

 
Strong macro data
 
A set of good macro numbers boosted trade on the D-Street. On Tuesday, eight core sectors grew to a six-month high of 5.2% in September, helped by a robust performance in coal, natural gas and refinery segments, official data showed.
 
The expansion in September is highest since April, when the core sectors' growth stood at 2.6%. The production of coal, natural gas and refinery products rose by 10.6%, 6.3% and 8.1%, respectively on annual basis
 
Stable global cues
 
Along with domestic factors, strong moves on the global markets have also helped in the rally.

 
Asian shares scaled a 10-year high, with Japan and South Korea markets leading gains in the region. on the back of solid economic growth globally, while oil prices extended a bull run on hopes that major producers will maintain their output cuts.
 
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.9%, led by a 1.3% jump in South Korea. Japan’s Nikkei soared 19.%.
 
Investors are focused on the progress of a US tax-cut plan being developed by President Donald Trump and fellow Republicans and on Trump’s announcement of the next head of the Federal Reserve. The White House said he will reveal his Fed pick on Thursday.