Nifty at fresh record high on growth hopes; nearly 80 stocks hit 52-week high on NSE

MUMBAI: The Nifty extended gains for fourth straight session and hit a fresh record high of 8629.85 in trade on Tuesday, as buying action intensified in metals, banks and FMCG sectors on hopes of pick-up in growth and earnings in coming quarters.

Tracking the momentum, as much as 79 stocks rose to their fresh 52-week high on the National stock Exchange which include stocks like Yes Bank, BASF india, Ambuja Cements, LIC Housing Finance, MRF, Axis Bank, HDFC, IDFC SPARC etc.

The S&P BSE Sensex surged as much as 272 points in trade, led by gains in HDFC, ITC, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.

According to analysts, the market is building in a lot of optimism ahead of Union Budget. The government is expected to announce slew of reform measures to push growth. There are also expectations of lower interest rates in 2015.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) are returning back after International Monetary Fund growth forecast on India. It sees India as world's fastest growing major economy at 6.5 per cent in FY17. It has cut 2015 global growth forecast to 3.5 per cent from 3.8 per cent.

Meanwhile, China's economic growth has slumped to a 24-year low at 7.4 per cent in 2014. The economy has missed the official target amid concerns over continued slowdown.

At 12:50 p.m.; the 50-share index was at 8,619.05, up 68.35 points or 0.80 per cent. It hit an all-time high of 8,629.85 and intraday low of 8,574.50 in trade today.

The S&P BSE Sensex was at 28,495.72, up 233.71 points or 0.83 per cent. It touched a high of 28,511.01 and a low of 28,324.85 in trade today.

Nomura has pegged Sensex’s December 2015 target at 33,500 on conviction that India’s macro environment will improve further and interest rates will move lower.

“The lagged effect of the much-needed complete overhaul of the political economy is a significant tailwind. The extent to which this is not yet priced in should provide upside to multiples, adding to market returns over and above earnings growth. Our end-Dec 2015 Sensex target of 33,500,” the brokerage said.

The S&P BSE Midcap Index was up 0.69 per cent and the S&P BSE Smallcap Index gained 0.80 per cent.

Among the sectoral indices, the S&P BSE Metal Index surged 2.39 per cent, the S&P BSE Bankex was 0.96 per cent higher and the S&P BSE FMCG Index gained 0.43 per cent.

The S&P BSE Capital goods Index edged 0.11 per cent lower.

HDFC (up 4.18 per cent), Sesa Sterlite (up 3.70 per cent), Axis Bank (up 3.13 per cent), Tata Steel (up 3.09 per cent) and Hindalco (up 2.35 per cent) were among the index gainers.

GAIL (2.41 per cent), HUL (1.13 per cent), Hero MotoCorp (0.92 per cent), BHEL (0.85 per cent) and Maruti (0.77 per cent) were among the Nifty losers.

The market breadth was positive on the NSE with 910 gainers against 586 losers.

The S&P BSE Sensex surged as much as 272 points in trade, led by gains in HDFC, ITC, Axis Bank and ICICI Bank.