Nifty Hits Record High Led By Financial Services, IT Stocks: Midday Market Update

The Nifty 50 hit a record high by midday trade on Thursday due to a rally in financial services stocks after the Reserve Bank of India gave a Rs 2 lakh crore dividend to the government.

"The market had those jitters a few weeks back on low voter outcomes, but it has recovered from that, and now you see more brokers come out with positive view points," Andrew Holland, chief executive officer of Avendus Capital, told NDTV Profit. The market hasn't had the pre-election rally, but it can catch up to the global market, he said.

Bank stocks are leading after underperforming in the recent sessions, noted Nilesh Jain, head AVP, technical and derivatives research, at Centrum Broking Ltd. "I think it's time for Bank Nifty to lead from here," he said, adding that 48,800–49,000 will act as resistance.

Nifty 50 is set to hit 22,800, and any dip can be used as a buying opportunity, according to Jain.

At 12:32 p.m., the NSE Nifty 50 was trading 192.00 points, or 0.85%, higher at 22,789.80 after hitting its lifetime high of 22,806.20, and the S&P BSE Sensex gained 598.78 points, or 0.81%, to trade at 74,819.84.

Shares of ICICI Bank Ltd., Larsen & Toubro Ltd., Axis Bank Ltd., HDFC Bank Ltd., and Infosys Ltd. contributed the most to gains in the Nifty.

While those of Power Grid Corp. Of India, Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Hindalco Industries Ltd., Coal India Ltd., and ITC Ltd. weighed the index.

Most sectoral indices were higher on NSE, with Nifty PSU Bank, Nifty IT, and Nifty Bank gaining more than 1%.

Broader markets were mixed. S&P BSE Midcap rose 0.46% and S&P BSE Smallcap was 0.26% higher.

Five out of 20 sectors on BSE declined and 15 advanced. S&P BSE Bankex rose the most.

Market breadth was equally split between buyers and sellers. Around 1,870 stocks advanced, 1,763 declined and 146 remained unchanged on the BSE.