The Indian benchmark indices opened on a positive note tracking gains in global markets and scaled fresh all-time highs on September 15. Both benchmarks carved new all-time highs of 67,827.84 and 20,192.95, respectively as of afternoon trade.

The three benchmark indices in the US posted near 1 percent gains each overnight, shrugging off the recent hotter-than-expected economic data, including the August inflation print on expectations of its limited impact on the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy decision next week. Asian markets also mirrored the trend and opened higher in today’s session, also lifting sentiment for domestic equities.

“Positive trend in local indices are owing to optimism across the global equities, as fear of recession appears bleak after the recent policy measures by central banks across key economies. However, intra-day volatility will continue given the uncertainty around global markets,” said Shrikant Chouhan, Head of Research (Retail), Kotak Securities.

“As long as the Nifty is trading above 20,000, the bullish sentiment is likely to continue, with a potential rally till 20,200-20,250-20,300, ” Chouhan added.

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Moreover, strong buying across automobiles, banks and information technology names helped keep headline indices in the green territory. At 11.48 am, the Sensex was up 261.44 points or 0.39 percent at 67,780.44, and the Nifty was up 73.40 points or 0.37 percent at 20,176.50.

The overall market trend also favoured gainers as about 1,799 shares rose, 1,179 fell, and 109 were unchanged. This indicates that nearly two stocks rose for each one that fell.

Stocks and sectors

Automobile names were in the spotlight in today’s session, buoyed by their robust growth prospects. Bajaj Auto emerged as the top gainer on the Nifty 50, surging nearly 5 percent after BoFA Securities upgraded the stock to a ‘buy’ citing multiple levers to growth.

Other major automakers, Hero MotoCorp, Mahindra & Mahindra, and Tata Motors also rose around 1-2 percent on expectations of strong growth ahead. Strong gains across these counters also lifted Nifty Auto over 1 percent higher making it the best performing sectoral index in today’s session.

Also Read | Nifty at all-time high but not on valuations: Motilal Oswal

Grasim Industries was another major gainer as it rose nearly 2 percent, buoyed by the announcement of its foray into the paints business from the fourth quarter of FY24.

On the flipside, an update on Grasim’s foray into the paints business resurfaced concerns of increased competition in the segment for Asian Paints, which along with the spike in Brent crude prices to a 10-month high weighed on the stock. Consequently, the stock was the worst hit on the 50-stock index, down 1.5 percent.

The limelight was also on Restaurants Brand Asia as it hit a 52-week high, soaring 12.5 percent after a block deal worth Rs 1,494 crore, involving 25.4 percent equity in the counter took place on the exchanges. While Moneycontrol could not immediately ascertain the parties involved in the transaction, CNBC-TV18 reported that promoter entity Everstone was the likely seller.

The broader market also remained resilient, with the Nifty Smallcap 100 rising 0.6 percent while the Nifty Midcap 100 was up 0.5 percent.

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