Nifty Bank hits record high, Nifty Midcap 100 scales new peak again: Key factors behind benchmark indices recovery

The equity benchmark indices recovered early losses and gained momentum on Thursday, November 13, supported by positive cues from Asian markets and strong buying in metal and realty stocks.

The Nifty Bank also touched a record high of 58,609. 20 levels on Thursday led by rallies in ICICI Bank (1.94%), IndusInd Bank (1.94%) and Axis Bank (0.46%). It crossed an earlier level of 58,577.

The index has risen nearly 2% over the past week and gained 3.5% in the past month. On a one-year basis, it has advanced 17%.

Nifty Midcap 100

Meanwhile, the Nifty Midcap 100 hit a fresh all-time high for the second consecutive day, reaching the 61,131.85 mark. This was driven by gains in Ashok Leyland (4.86%), Biocon (3.7%), and Glenmark Pharma (3.5%).

Over the past week, the Nifty Midcap 100 has jumped 3%, while over the last six months it has surged 10%. On a one-year basis, the index is up 13.5%.

In contrast, the NIFTY50 index has gained 10% in a year.

Shares of Ashok Leyland jumped 6% to hit a 52-week high on Thursday as the country's leading commercial vehicle maker reported a net profit of ₹771 crore in the second quarter of the current financial year, marking a marginal increase of 0.13% from ₹770 crore in the same period last year.

The Chennai-based company's revenue from operations rose 9% in the July-September period to ₹9,588 crore from ₹8,769 crore in the year-ago period.

Factors behind market rise

Market investor sentiment was boosted as India’s retail inflation eased sharply to 0.25% in October, its lowest level since the introduction of the current Consumer Price Index (CPI) series, government data showed on Wednesday.

The year-on-year inflation rate, measured by the All-India Consumer Price Index (CPI), dropped by 119 basis points from September’s level, when it stood at 1.44%, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Further, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday night signed a government funding bill, formally ending a record 43-day federal shutdown that disrupted air travel, strained food aid programmes and left hundreds of thousands of federal workers without pay.

This also boosted the sentiment among market investors.

The US president said that the government “should never shut down again,” calling the prolonged lapse in funding “no way to run a country.”