SENSEX hits 80,000, NIFTY50 reaches fresh lifetime high in early trade

On Wednesday, Indian equity benchmark indices began the trading day on a positive note, with both the NIFTY50 and SENSEX making record highs. Similarly, the broader markets, the Nifty Midcap 100 and Smallcap 100 index, opened higher. Additionally, Nifty Financial Services emerged as the top gainer, while Nifty IT was the top loser in the early trading session.

Key reasons for today's rally

Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell speaking at a conference in Portugal emphasized the need for more data before cutting rates to ensure that recent weaker inflation readings accurately reflect underlying price pressures. Following the dovish comments US markets rallied as the path of interest rate cuts becomes more clear.

HDFC Bank hit 52- week high by rising nearly 4% after its FII holding came below 55%, making it eligible for weightage increase in the MSCI index. The change in the index could potentially add $3 billion inflows in the stock. Following this, shares of HDFC Bank rallied nearly 4% higher to 52-week high of ₹1,794 apiece on the NSE.

At 9:25 AM: The SENSEX was trading higher by 0.6% making a new record high at 80,039.22 level, while the NIFTY50 was up by 0.55% making new all-time high at the 24,292.15. Furthermore, Bank Nifty soared by 1.29% and was trading above the 52,850 level. India VIX has slightly declined by 1.54% and is trading below the 14-mark, indicating a marginal decrease in market volatility.

Broader indices - Looking at the broader indices, the Nifty Midcap 100 index was trading higher by 0.26% above the 56,000 level, while the Nifty Smallcap 100 gained by 0.43% and is trading above the 18,600 level.

Sectoral Performance - Within the sectoral landscape, Nifty Financial Services (+1.47%), Nifty Bank (+1.4%) and Nifty FMCG (+0.61%) are among the top gainers, while Nifty IT (-0.43%), is the only major sector which is trading negatively.

Top Gainers and Losers - In the NIFTY50 space, HDFC Bank (+2.9%), Britannia Industries (+1.4%) and Kotak Bank (+1.04%), are among the top gainers. On the other hand, TCS (-0.95%), Sun Pharma (-0.48%) and Shriram Finance (-0.37%) were the major losers.

U.S. Markets - U.S. stocks moved higher while U.S. Treasury yields dipped on Tuesday as markets assessed data indicating a persistently tight labour market and considered the potential for interest rate cuts following comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield stood at 4.42, and the 2-year Treasury yield remained flat at 4.74 in early Wednesday trading.