Sensex scales Mt 39K on first day on new fiscal

Key benchmark index S&P BSE Sensex on Monday crossed the 39000-mark for the first time. Buying interests was seen in sectors such as metal, information technology, auto, pharma and telecom.

Intra-day, Sensex touched a record high of 39115.57 and a low of 38808.74, before closing at 38871.87, gaining 198.96 points or 0.51% over its previous close.

Meanwhile, NSE Nifty 50 touched an intra-day high of 11738.10 and a low of 11644.75 before ending at 11669.15, up 45.25 points, or 0.39% on the back of late selling pressure in banking shares.

Of the 30-stock Sensex, 16 scrips ended in green. Tata Motors, Vedanta, Tata Steel, Maruti, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Industries were major gainers, rising between 2.09% and 7.37%.

Major losers were IndusInd Bank, Mahindra & Mahindra, Axis Bank, PowerGrid Corporation, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and Hindustan Unilever, losing between 1.04% and 2.22%.

Six of the 11 sector gauges compiled by NSE ended lower led by decline in Nifty Realty index (0.74%), followed by Nifty Media, Nifty Private Bank, Nifty FMCG, Nifty Financial Services and Nifty Bank indices.

On the other hand, Nifty Metal Index was the top gainer, up 1.91%, followed by IT and public sector bank indices, with both gaining 1.36%.

Mid and small-cap shares also saw buying interest as the S&P BSE Midcap index rose 0.52% and the S&P BSE Smallcap index advanced 0.78%.

According to Gaurav Ratnaparkhi, senior technical analyst, Sharekhan by BNP Paribas, Nifty went on to challenge the all-time high of 11760. The bulls, however, could not gather enough momentum to surpass the high and venture into the uncharted territory. On the contrary, the bears rushed in towards the end of the session and dragged the index down.

"Consequently, the Nifty has formed a candle on the daily chart that resembles a Shooting Star, which is a bearish candlestick pattern. Similar structure can be seen in the broader market indices as well. This shows selling pressure at higher levels. Thus, it won't be a cakewalk for the bulls to take out the all-time high. On the other hand, there is a higher probability for the bears to stretch their arms unless the high gets taken out," Ratnaparkhi said.

Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, said, "Pre-election rally extended to the new financial year with increase in prospects of political stability, rate cut expectation from Reserve Bank of India and improvement in GST (Goods and Services Tax) collection in March. A better-than-expected Chinese economic data and surge in US 10-year yield eased global growth concern which further added impetus to the sentiment. In spite of this, the market gave up some gains towards closing due to strong resistance at 11700-levels."

Mustafa Nadeem, CEO, Epic Research, said, "This was bound to happen as the force behind the trend looks intact for the further gains that may push Nifty to touch beyond 12K-mark and Sensex beyond 39500. Lower inflation, lower interest rate scenario, a dovish stance from Fed reserve and liquidity-driven markets - all these factors are favouring the current scenario."

According to Nadeem, there may be some minor profit booking in the short term, with hurdles placed at 39K and 11750 levels.

"Dalal Street is also looking forward to RBI meet in this week and expects a rate cut. This has further pushed bullish sentiment and now almost any dip is being utilised for buying at lower levels. We remain to buy on dips with a target of 39500-plus levels in Sensex," he added.

BULLS COME OUT TO PLAY

• 39115.57 – Intra-day high Sensex hit on Monday
   
• 16 – Of the 30 scrips in Sensex ended the day in green