Sensex above 47K on US stimulus package; Wall Street hits record high'

The Indian equity benchmark indices closed at yet another record high on the first day of the year's final week. Continuing foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows and positive global cues on US President Donald Trump’s signing a $2.3-trillion spending Bill, including a $900 billion coronavirus relief package, helped the benchmark Sensex to end higher and breach the 47,000-mark.
 
Most markets worldwide, including European and US indices, were in the green, with Wall Street’s main indices hitting record highs in early trading. Germany’s DAX, too, traded at a record high.  In India, the Sensex rose as high as 47,406, but gave up some of its gains and ended the session at 47,353 — up 380 points or 0.81 per cent. The Nifty50 rose 124 points and ended the session at 13,873, up 0.90 per cent.
 
Trump, on Sunday, signed a Bill to release $900 billion as Covid relief package. He earlier had attacked the Bill, dubbing it a “disgrace”. The US president's nod to the Bill will fund the US government through the end of September 2021 and avoid a shutdown set to start after midnight on Monday.

"The Bill helps the US to avoid a shutdown. And once the US does well there is a trickle-down effect on the other economies," said Jyotivardhan Jaipuria, founder, Valentis Advisors.
 
“Global markets cheered the news of the pandemic stimulus announced in the US, and the post-Brexit trade deal struck between the UK and the EU. The advancement towards the rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine in India, too, lifted domestic sentiment, leading to positive momentum across sectors. We can expect the momentum to continue as investors are focusing more on the positive side of these events and are not worried about the peak valuations and lockdowns triggered by the new virus strain,” said Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit.
 
The equity markets worldwide have been rising on theback of monetary easing by central banks in the western world to help their economies cope with the fallout from the ongoing pandemic. The Indian markets, too, have benefitted from a global shift towards emerging markets.

“The liquidity rush due to low or zero interest rates abroad is boosting the stock markets across the globe. The absence of negative triggers is resulting in the continuity of the current upward momentum,” said Deepak Jasani, head of research, HDFC Securities.
 
Analysts said the market movement will depend on how the pandemic plays out. “The next year will be the year of normalisation. We are expecting a huge jump in economic and corporate earnings growth. But we also see a possibility of a correction in the early part of next year as valuations have become elevated," said Jaipuria.
 
As many as 264 stocks hit their 52-week highs, and 423 stocks were locked in the upper circuit on the BSE. The market breadth was positive with total advancing stocks at 423, and those declining at 208, on the BSE. All the Sensex components barring two ended the session with gains. Titan was the best-performing Sensex stock and ended the day with a gain of 3.1 per cent. All the BSE sectoral indices ended the sessions with gains. Realty and Metal stocks gained the most, and their gauges rose 2.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent, respectively.
 
Foreign investors bought equities worth Rs 1,589 crore, according to provisional figures in exchanges. The domestic institutional investors were net sellers of worth Rs 1,386 crore. Foreign investors have bought equities worth Rs 47,510 crore this year.