Sensex crosses 60,000-mark and counting

The Sensex on Friday mounted the 60,000 peak and showed no signs of faltering.

Analysts believe that a low-interest rate regime and the sustained flow of money of high net worth traders and retail investors will keep the flag flying.

Naveen Kulkarni, Chief Investment Officer, Axis Securities, said, “We could see many more positive surprises from the market in the next one-two years, as we are entering into a positive upcycle of earnings trajectory. A fully functional economy over the upcoming festival season and the sustenance of earnings momentum in the second quarter of FY22 are the near-term triggers for the market.”

On Friday, the BSE Sensex breached the historic 60,000 mark to hit an all-time high of 60,333, before closing at 60,048.47, up 163.11 points or 0.27 per cent.

The Nifty 50, which narrowly missed the 18,000-mark, hitting a new all-time high of 17,947.65, closed at 17,853.20, up 30.25 points or 0.17 per cent.

Best performing market

Ashishkumar Chauhan, MD & CEO, BSE, said, “Indian markets are considered the best-performing world over in the last 18 months of the Covid period due to astute policies and... private sector and everyone else involved. Ever more investors are joining the stock markets directly or indirectly through mutual funds thanks to the automation, new age brokerages and low-interest rates. The stock price rise has been broad-based.”

According to Mumbai-based research house Edelweiss, mid-caps outperformance is lower compared to 2003 and 2009 cycles. This may be perhaps attributable to the relatively weaker demand environment this time. Effectively, this means there is more headroom for the mid-cap stocks compared to the market peak seen in 2008. The research house explained that India’s stock markets could be in an ‘early cycle recovery’ when compared to similar market rise seen in 2003 and 2009. The view is that India’s current early cycle will transition to a mid-cycle event and then peak.

”Amid the buoyant sentiment and increased activity, valuations have reached elevated levels and demand consistent delivery on earnings expectations.

“Given the rich valuations, one cannot ignore intermittent volatility... however, we expect the positive momentum to continue on the back of improving economic activity and recovery in corporate earnings,” said Motilal Oswal, MD & CEO, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.