BSE Sensex and Nifty extended gains to set fresh record highs today after Ukraine said it had reached agreement with Russian president Vladimir Putin on a “permanent ceasefire” in its eastern Donbass region.
Reports quoting Kremlin said President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko had agreed on steps towards peace in eastern Ukraine but a ceasefire had not been agreed between Moscow and Kiev because Russia is not a party to the conflict.
European stock markets were sharply higher today with pan-European index Stoxx 600 rising nearly 1 per cent. US stocks futures also pointed to gains on the Wall Street when trading resumes there later in the day.
Sensex hit a new high of 27,225 while Nifty set a new peak of 8,141. However, Indian markets pared some gains after hitting new highs.
Indian shares have been hitting new highs for the past few sessions on optimism that the new government would usher in reforms to help the economy recover faster. Recent GDP data showed that first quarter growth rose to a nine-quarter high of 5.7 per cent.
Gaurang Shah, assistant vice president at Geojit BNP Paribas Financial Services, said good macro data like GDP numbers, foreign inflows and fall in oil prices are driving Indian markets. Oil prices are likely to fall further after the Ukraine-Russia ceasefire agreement.
Foreign investors, key drivers of the market rally this year, have bought shares of more than $13 billion, or nearly Rs. 78,000 crore, in 2014 so far. On Tuesday, foreign investors bought shares worth Rs.672 crore.
Analysts are positive on the Indian markets in the short term after Nifty breaking out above 8,000 levels. “September has a seasonality of being positive. Now that Nifty is above 8,000 levels, we are looking at 8,230 for Nifty which could stretch all the way to 8,400 this month,” said Rohit Srivastava, fund manager at Sharekhan.
The gains were broad-based today with BSE midcap and smallcap indices rising nearly 0.8 per cent and 0.4 per cent.
IT stocks led the gains today with TCS, Infosys and Wipro rising between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent. HCL Tech and Tech Mahindra also gained close to 1 per cent.
Sensex ended 120 points higher at 27,139, its seventh record close in a row. Nifty ended at 8,114.60, up 31 points.
