Stock market news: Benchmark indices soared to new record highs at the market opening on Wednesday, propelled by significant gains in HDFC Bank (HDBK.NS). The bank’s stock reached a new peak on expectations of an increased weightage in a major global index.
As of 9:15 am, the NSE Nifty 50 was up 0.7 per cent at 24,291.75 points, while the S&P BSE Sensex climbed 0.72 per cent to 80,013.77 points, marking the first time the Sensex has crossed the 80,000 threshold.
HDFC Bank led the rally with a 3.5 per cent increase at the opening bell, significantly contributing to the Nifty 50’s gains.
“Following a strong bull run, HDFC Bank is poised to provide another boost,” said Abhilash Pagaria, head of Nuvama Alternative and Quantitative Research.
Data released after market hours on Tuesday revealed that foreign institutional investors’ shareholding in HDFC Bank fell below the 55 per cent threshold in the June quarter, increasing the likelihood of a higher weightage in Morgan Stanley’s MSCI indexes.
“A weightage increase could bring in inflows of $3.2 billion to $4 billion over six days,” Pagaria explained.
Analysts believe that these inflows into HDFC Bank could further lift the benchmarks, given its heavy weighting in both the Nifty and Sensex.
All 13 major sectors posted gains, with the rise in HDFC Bank boosting banks (.NSEBANK), financials (.NIFTYFIN), and private banks (.NIFPVTBNK) by 1.3 per cent to 1.5 per cent.
Despite erasing early gains to finish flat in the previous session, both the Nifty and S&P BSE Sensex recorded about 7 per cent gains each in June, marking their best month of 2024.
Asian markets opened higher, reflecting overnight gains on Wall Street. This increase followed U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s acknowledgment of progress in controlling inflation in the U.S.
Powell stressed the need for more data before cutting rates to ensure that recent lower inflation readings accurately reflect the U.S. economic condition. The probability of a 25 basis point rate cut in September slightly increased to 61.5 per cent from 59.8 per cent prior to Powell’s comments, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool.
On the domestic front, Indian investors bought shares worth Rs 648 crore ($77.6 million) on a net basis on Friday, while foreign investors net sold stocks worth Rs 2,000 crore, according to exchange data.
(With Reuters inputs.)
