India’s Nifty 50 surpassed 18,000 for the first time, undeterred by taper concerns, as Covid-19 vaccination picks up, curbs on business activities ease and government continues with reforms to aid the economy.
The benchmark rose to a record 18,041.95 in morning trade on Monday and closed at 17,945.95. The 50-stock benchmark took 28 sessions to rally from 17,000 to 18,000. The rate of advance was less rapid than the time taken to cross the last 1,000-point milestone.
The nation’s measures to ease the telecom sector stress, production-linked incentives for auto and auto-parts makers and drone industries, among others, too, lifted sentiment amid weak global cues such as the risk of a contagion arising from the cash crunch at China’s Evergrande group.
The Nifty 50 has gained more than 27% so far in 2021. That’s the best first nine months since 2017, when the gauge rallied 28.65%.
Leaders & Laggards
ONGC Ltd., Tata Motors Ltd. and Coal India Ltd. emerged as the top performers on the Nifty 50 since Aug. 31, when the benchmark had touched 17,000. Tata Consumer Products Ltd., Ultratech Cement Ltd. and Tata Steel Ltd. were the worst-performing stocks.
Sector-wise, the media and realty indexes led the pack in the Nifty 50’s latest 1,000-point rally. All the sectoral indices advanced since Aug. 31.