Nifty hits new all-time high: Here's a look at stocks that drove the rally

Nifty hits fresh record high: Since September 15, automobile and energy linked stocks have outperformed the markets

The 50-stock Nifty50 index crossed the psychological level of 20,250-mark on December 1, and scaled an all-time high of 20,291.5. It took the index close to 51 sessions to surpass its previous high of 20,222 hit on September 15, 2023.
 

The index ended at record closing peak of 20,268, up 135 points or 0.67 per cent.

ITC (up 3 per cent), NTPC, L&T, Britannia Industries, Axis Bank, Asian Paints, Bajaj Finance, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, SBI, Coal India, Apollo Hospitals, and ICICI Bank were the top gainers on the benchmarks today.

Stock market highlights: Here's all that happened in the markets today

Thirty four of the 50 index constituents were trading with a positive bias as a  7.6-per cent growth in Q2 GDP (gross domestic product), better-than-analysts' estimates of 7 per cent, underlined India's firm economic resilience. READ MORE
 

Besides, India's November Manufacturing PMI rose to 56, from an eight-month low of 55 in October, as strengthening client demand and more favourable input supply boosted production volumes. READ MORE

"The Indian equity market is in a strong bullish mood and is hitting a fresh all-time high. We may continue our momentum and outperform our other global peers, backed by the strong fundamentals and under-ownership of FIIs. FIIs may become net buyers amid rising US bond yields and the strong macroeconomics of India. State election results may create some kind of volatility, but we are preparing ourselves for a pre-election rally. In terms of level, 21,000 looks like an easy task in the near term for the Nifty," said Parth Nyati, founder, Tradingo.

Looking back, here are the stocks that led the rally since the previous summit:

Since September 15, automobile and energy linked stocks have outperformed the markets as oil prices fell from a high of $94 per barrel to around $80 per barrel at present. 
 

Four of the top six Nifty gainers, since the previous high, are from the auto camp led by Hero MotoCorp (up 25 per cent), Bajaj Auto (18.7 per cent), Eicher Motors (13.7 per cent), and Tata Motors (11.4 per cent).

The auto sector witnessed a healthy rebound in terms of demand, supply chains, and operational costs after overcoming its numerous macro as well as sector-specific challenges.

"While volumes of passenger vehicles (PVs), and tractors reached new highs in FY23, those of commercial vehicles (CV)/two-wheelers (2W) have been relatively slower to approach their earlier peaks, suggesting that the extent of recovery differed between categories. Though growth in other sectors should stabilise, we are already witnessing a reversal in demand patterns, especially in the 2W segment, wherein we anticipate high growth potential, along with the MHCVs," wrote analysts at Motilal Oswal in their recent sector report. 

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd, and Coal India, meanwhile, were the other gainers with growth of 23.7 per cent and 22.5 per cent in their respective stock prices. 

"Coal India and BPCL played a catch-up rally during this phase with the latter breaking out from its long consolidation phase after disappointing the Street with respect to its divestment plans. Coal India, on the other hand, benefitted from surging power demand and a rally in PSU stocks, in general. Both the stocks have valuation comfort and thus may continue performing well on the bourses," said Kranthi Bathini, Director-Equity, WealthMills Securities. 
 

Other gainers included NTPC, Bajaj Finserv, Apollo Hospitals, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Titan Company, Tata Consumer Products, Nestle India, Britannia Industries, and HDFC Life.
 

On the flipside, financials and IT stocks remained the laggards during this rally.

Wipro, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, Bajaj Finance, and Infosys are among the top 10 laggards as they fell between 3.7 per cent to 6.5 per cent.
 

UPL was the top dragger, dropping 10 per cent during the period, followed by Adani Enterprises (7 per cent). Reliance Industries, too, found a place in the losers camp, having shed 3 per cent since September 15.