No Monday blues: Sensex scales 70,000-peak for the first time; Nifty crosses 21,000-level

• ONGC, UPL, Coal India, IndusInd Bank and Ultratech Cement are the top gainers on Nifty.
• DRL, Cipla, Apollo Hospital, Wipro and Axis Bank are the top laggards in morning trade.FPIs have invested Rs 26,505 cr into the domestic equities in December.

Indian equity market benchmark, Sensex surged past the 70,000-level for the first time in early trade on Monday and the broader Nifty crossed the 21,000-mark as equity market continued with its bullish momentum. The key indices had touched their new lifetime highs on Friday after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the growth forecast for the current fiscal and kept policy rates unchanged.

Among the Nifty stocks, ONGC, UPL, Coal India, IndusInd Bank and Ultratech Cement are the top gainers at 10:00 am. Conversely, DRL, Cipla, Apollo Hospital, Wipro and Axis Bank are the laggards.

The 30-share Sensex touched its all-time high of 70,048.90 points soon after opening and later marginally shed its gains to 69,958.13 points, which is a rise of 132.53 points or 0.19% compared to Friday's closing level.

Reflecting similar trends, the 50-share Nifty climbed to its high of 21,019.80 points. Later, it was trading at 20,984.65 points, gaining 15.25 points or 0.07%.

At the time the Sensex hit 70,000, 20 scrips were trading in the green while 10 were in the negative territory. Among the Nifty constituents, 27 stocks gained while 22 declined.

Despite market fluctuations, the Nifty remains the standout bullish performer. Analysts suggests that the recent FOMO-driven activity in the Nifty is poised to sustain positive momentum on Dalal Street, fueled by factors such as BJP's success, a decline in WTI Oil prices, and optimism about the Federal Reserve's monetary policy.

"All eyes are on the upcoming US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for November. Nifty bulls are anticipated to explore new territories, and the recommended trades include buying Nifty in the 20850-20900 zone and Bank Nifty at the current market price," said Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities.

According to V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, global and domestic cues favour continuation of the ongoing rally in the market despite high valuations.

"FIIs turning buyers, strong DII inflows, exuberant retail investors and a thriving IPO market supported by strong economic fundamentals can sustain the rally in the short run ignoring the high valuations," he said.

Foreign institutional investors are referred as FIIs and DII stands for domestic institutional investors.

On Friday, Sensex closed at 69,825.60 points and Nifty at 20,969.40 points. Nifty had gone past the 21,000-level in intra-day trade on Friday.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Asian markets witnessed mixed trends as Japan's Nikkei 225 gained while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell more than 2%. US and European stocks had ended in the green on Friday.

Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) have turned bullish, investing Rs 26,505 crore into the domestic equities in the first six trading sessions of December.

Vijayakumar said that a significant trend in the market is the outperformance of the Bank Nifty over the Nifty.

"Last week while the Nifty appreciated by 3.5%, Bank Nifty shot up by 5.5%. This outperformance is likely to continue...," he added.

(With text inputs from PTI)