Weekly wrap 8 to 12 April: SENSEX, NIFTY scale lifetime highs in roller-coaster week

• SENSEX scaled the historic 75,000 level for the first time ever on April 9. NIFTY breached the record 22,700 level.
• SENSEX breached the 75,000 level from the 74,000 mark in just 24 sessions.
• BSE-listed companies breached the ₹400 lakh crore total market-cap milestone this week.
• Realty shares gained up to 14% this week on strong pre-sales numbers in Q4FY24.

It's that time of the week again! We are back with a quick recap of the markets that witnessed a roller-coaster ride amid the buzzing results season.

Market benchmarks, SENSEX and NIFTY, scaled fresh lifetime highs in the holiday-trimmed week but fell in the last trading session. The key indices closed in red on the last day of the week as inflation concerns triggered profit-taking.

A major drag was higher than expected United States inflation numbers. Consumer inflation rose by 3.5% in March against the expectation of 3.4%. Stronger inflation triggered a spike in the US Treasury yields and raised doubts over the expected three rate cuts this year, indicated by the Federal Reserve.

Stock markets started the record-breaking run on Monday, with SENSEX and NIFTY scaling new peaks. Gains in auto, oil and gas, energy, consumer products, realty and metal drove the indices to record highs.

The major market movers were Q4 business updates by companies. Strong business performance posted by corporates raised hopes of better Q4 results, which pushed stocks higher. NIFTY climbed 0.68% to 22,666.3 while SENSEX jumped 0.67% to 74,742.5.

Stock markets witnessed a second record-breaking day on Tuesday, with benchmark SENSEX scaling the historic 75,000 level for the first time. NIFTY breached the 22,700 level in day trade.

Key stock indices marched forward to record intraday highs despite the overhang of scheduled release of US inflation data. It took just 24 sessions for SENSEX to breach the 75,000 level after scaling the 74,000 mark. SENSEX hit the 74K level on March 6 this year.

Stock indices, however, closed the day lower due to profit-taking in index major Reliance Industries, Titan, ITC, Asian Paints and Tech Mahindra.

Stock markets also saw fireworks on Wednesday with FMCG, metal and realty shares joining the party. SENSEX jumped 0.47% to close at all-time high of 75,038.15. NIFTY closed at a lifetime peak of 22,753.8 after posting gains of 111 points or 0.49% in the day. Indian markets traded at record levels despite sluggish Asian and European markets.

Key indices saw a major correction on Friday as higher-than-expected US inflation triggered selling in global markets. Most Asian markets were also lower amid high inflation data casting doubts over the US Fed's anticipated three rate cuts this year.

SENSEX tanked 1% to settle at 74,244.90. NIFTY plunged by 1.03% to close at 22,519.40. SENSEX and NIFTY both closed flat on a weekly basis.

BSE-listed companies hit ₹400 lakh crore market valuation milestone

The total valuation of BSE-listed companies breached the ₹400 lakh crore milestone this week. While benchmark SENSEX posted gains of around 4% so far this year, a sustained rally in large, mid and small cap shares helped companies hit the milestone.

SENSEX gains 5,000 pts in just 80 days to hit record 75,000 mark

Benchmark SENSEX took just 80 days to gain 5000 points and hit a historic 75,000 level this week. SENSEX hit the 70,000 level for the first time on December 14, 2023. Nearly four months later, which saw 80 trading sessions, the 30-share index touched the 75,000 mark. This was the third fastest addition of 5,000 points. Previously, SENSEX saw the quickest 5,000 points gain during August 13 to September 24, 2021, when SENSEX jumped from 55,437 to 60,048 in 28 days.

Realty shares boom on Q4 updates

Realty shares rallied up to 14% this week after strong pre-sales numbers for the March quarter. Among lead gainers, Indiabulls Real Estate jumped more than 13%. Godrej Properties rose by nearly 7% to hit year-high levels this week. Godrej reported record sales bookings of ₹22,500 crore in 2023-24. Sobha, Phoenix Mills and Brigade jumped up to 4% this week. NIFTY Realty however closed 1.5% down due to losses on Friday.

Market next week

Stock markets will look for announcements of financial results for further direction. Worries over delayed US rate cuts, rising tensions in the Middle East and spiking oil prices amid subdued Q4 earnings forecast are likely to cast a shadow on domestic stock markets.