Stock market: Nifty 50 hits record high. Will it climb to a new peak this week?

Nifty 50 recovered from a volatile start as it hit a record high today (February 19). The surge was led by financials and energy stocks and ITC also gained following a recent drop. This marks the sixth time in 2024 that the benchmark has scaled new highs. The NSE Nifty 50 index rose up to 0.50% to a record level of 22,150.75 while BSE Sensex increased 0.34% to 72,679.55.
Siddhartha Khemka, head of retail research at Motilal Oswal Financial Services, said as per news agency Reuters, “Domestic equities have remained resilient in the face of fading hopes of an early US rate cut, thanks to strong macroeconomic fundamentals and persistent domestic inflows.”
Eleven of the 13 major sectors logged gains as highest-weighted financials climbed 0.6%. Public sector banks advanced 0.5%, extending gains and energy stocks rose 0.4%. Individually, Tata Power Company rose 2% while ITC rebounded 1.5% after dropping 14.2% over the last four weeks. Following US producer data which showed prices increased more than expected in January, information technology stocks dropped 0.3%. The more domestically-focussed small and mid-caps added about 0.6% each as well.
Deepak Jasani, head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities, told Mint that there are stron global market cues to make this happen. He said, “Shares advanced in Europe and Asia on Friday after stocks on Wall Street set a fresh record following mixed reports on the state of the US economy. Hopes of imminent rate cuts by the European Central Bank and a decline in bond yields lifted investors’ appetite for risky assets.”