Mumbai- The BSE Sensex made history on Friday by reaching the 60,000-mark for the first time ever as investors continued to accumulate banking, finance and auto stocks despite lacklustre global cues and concerns over frothy valuations.
The 30-share benchmark rose 163.11 points or 0.27 per cent to its lifetime closing high of 60,048.47. Intra-day, it touched an all-time peak of 60,333.
Similarly, the NSE Nifty advanced 30.25 points or 0.17 per cent to close at a record 17,853.20. It soared to a lifetime high of 17,947.65 during the day.
It took a little over 31 years for the Sensex to traverse from 1,000 points to the historic 60,000 level.
The benchmark index was at 1,000 points back on July 25, 1990 and took nearly 25 years before it touched the 30,000 level on March 4, 2015.
The Sensex has climbed from the 30,000 level to 60,000 in a little over six years, reflecting the overall bullishness in the market.
The last 10,000 points have come at a record pace, with the Sensex reaching the 50,000-level only in January this year.
“Sensex reaching 60,000 today is an indicator of India’s growth potential, as well as the way India is emerging as a world leader during COVID period in addition to worldwide monetary expansion and relaxed fiscal policies adopted by world powers,” said Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO, BSE.
Asian Paints was the top gainer in the Sensex pack on Friday, spurting 3.72 per cent, followed by M&M, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Bharti Airtel, Maruti and Infosys.
On the other hand, Tata Steel, SBI, Axis Bank, ITC, HUL, NTPC and Bajaj Finance were among the laggards, shedding up to 3.60 per cent.
“Market valuations are high but on the flip side the underlying economic growth is favourable. We would suggest not to be under-invested in equity.
“One can rebalance portfolios and revert to long term strategic allocation to large caps by exiting laggards and trimming the tail in mid and small caps, many of which may be overvalued right now,” said Nimish Shah, Chief Investment Officer – Listed Investments, Waterfield Advisors.
Sectorally, BSE telecom, realty, teck, IT and auto indices rallied up to 2.77 per cent, while metal, healthcare, basic materials and FMCG fell as much as 2.31 per cent.
Broader BSE midcap and smallcap indices underperformed the benchmarks, shedding up to 1.16 per cent.
During the week, the Sensex rallied 1,032.58 points or 1.74 per cent, while the Nifty surged 268.05 points or 1.52 per cent.
“Even at 60k our advice for investors is to buy in select stocks (strong companies in terms of managing and growing companies) with a medium to long term view.
“Most of the time in the market it is proved that the level of the index is just a number and the actual market index is very different from the numbers. However, the buying is advisable in tranches/parts, do not lock your entire funds at current levels,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Equity Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.
Global markets were on a weak footing on Friday on concerns over China Evergrande group after the real estate giant missed bond interest payments.
In Asia, bourses in Shanghai, Seoul and Hong Kong ended with losses, while Tokyo was positive.
Equities in Europe were also trading on a negative note in mid-session deals.
Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.23 per cent to USD 77.43 per barrel.
The Indian rupee slipped 4 paise to close at 73.68 against the US dollar on Friday, following weaker Asian peers against the American currency.
Foreign institutional investors were net buyers in the capital market on Thursday as they purchased shares worth Rs 357.93 crore, as per exchange data.
Journey of Sensex: From 1,000 to 60,000 in over 31 years
From hitting the 1,000-mark on July 25, 1990 to reaching the 60,000-level for the first time on Friday, it has been a memorable journey for equity benchmark Sensex.
It has taken a little over 31 years for the 30-share index to traverse from 1,000 level to 60,048.47 at close of trade on Friday.
Over the years, the frontline index has reached many milestones.
It touched the 10,000-mark for the first time on February 6, 2006.
On October 29, 2007, it scaled the 20,000 level, and then on March 4, 2015 surged above the 30,000-mark.
The BSE benchmark scaled 40,000 on May 23, 2019. The 50,000-mark was reached on January 21, 2021.
Interestingly, both the 50,000 and 60,000 levels have been breached in 2021, showing the resilience of the market after the pandemic-triggered crash in March 2020.
“Sensex reaching 60,000 today first time ever on September 24,2021 is an indicator of India’s growth potential, as well as the way India is emerging as a world leader during COVID period in addition to worldwide monetary expansion and relaxed fiscal policies adopted by world powers.
“Indian markets are considered the best performing markets world over in last 18 months of COVID period,” said Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD and CEO, BSE.
He added that many more investors are also joining the stock markets directly or indirectly through mutual funds, thanks to automation in the markets, new age brokerages and low interest rates in india.
“The increase in stock prices has been broad based in recent period. I take this opportunity to congratulate all Indians citizens and investors for this achievement,” Chauhan said.
From witnessing the Harshad Mehta scam in 1992, to blasts in Mumbai and BSE building in 1993, Kargil war (1999), terror attacks in the US and Indian Parliament (2001), Satyam scam, global financial crisis, demonetisation, PNB scam and COVID-19, markets have faced many uncertainties over the years, as per a slide on the “Journey of Sensex” tweeted by Chauhan on Friday.
Several healthy triggers have also played a major role in market uptrend, including commodity boom in global markets, global liquidity, COVID-19 vaccines approval and rollout of vaccination programme.
The BSE benchmark index has gained 25.75 per cent so far this year.
The remarkable rally in the markets holds significance as equities had gone into a tailspin in March 2020, with the BSE benchmark sinking a massive 8,828.8 points or 23 per cent during that month as concerns over the pandemic’s impact on the economy ravaged investor sentiments.
The Sensex had gained 15.7 per cent in 2020, after facing a roller-coaster ride during the pandemic-hit year.
“The sentiment on D-street is bullish. A dip of a couple of per cent would be a good opportunity for traders and investors to enter.
“We are witnessing broad-based buying from largecaps to midcaps, and smallcaps. The euphoria in the market is likely to continue. It may extend till January-February 2022. Though the volatility is likely to witness an uptick,” said Brijesh Bhatia, Senior Research Analyst at Equitymaster.
Rupen Rajguru, Head of Equity, Investments and Strategy at Julius Baer said, “We remain constructive on the equity markets over the next 2 to 3 years to come, backed by strong economic rebound and better-than-expected corporate earnings.”
“Having said that, considering the high valuations in some pockets… it is our view that investors should take this opportunity to re-balance their asset allocation and if the skew towards equity has gone up by sheer market appreciation then investors can book profits in equity and get back to the original debt-equity allocation,” he added.
The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies has also been soaring and is currently at Rs 2,61,18,539.92 crore.
Vinay Ahuja, Senior Managing Partner – IIFL Wealth said, “The markets have consistently been hitting all-time highs and invoking both feelings of euphoria and skepticism among investors.”
In the current market movement, instead of just focusing on numbers that simply make good headlines, take a relook at your asset allocation and reassess your investment objectives, Ahuja added.
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