Sensex crosses 49,000 for the first time, likely to touch 50,000 soon; Healthy buying of IT stocks pushes market

On Monday, after opening the markets, Sensex was trading at 49,211.61, higher by 429.10 points or 0.88 per cent from its previous close of 48,782.51 within half-an-hour. It opened at 49,252.31 and touched a high of 49,260.21 and a low of 49,015.22 points

The BSE Sensex crossed the 49,000-mark for the first time ever on Monday and the Nifty50 on the National Stock Exchange was trading above 14,400. Healthy buying was witnessed in the IT, telecom and FMCG stocks.

Around 9.34 a.m., Sensex was trading at 49,211.61, higher by 429.10 points or 0.88 per cent from its previous close of 48,782.51. It opened at 49,252.31 and touched a high of 49,260.21 and a low of 49,015.22 points. The Nifty50 was trading at 14,460.55, higher by 113.30 points or 0.79 per cent from its previous close.

Forex reserves rise by 4 billion

Meanwhile, India's foreign exchange reserves rose by $4.483 billion during the week ended January 1, according to the Reserve Bank of India's weekly statistical supplement. The reserves increased to $585.324 billion from $580.841 billion reported for the week ended December 25.

Sensex — A stock broker reacts to the falling shares in MumbaiCredit: Reuters

India's forex reserves comprise of foreign currency assets (FCAs), gold reserves, special drawing rights (SDRs), and the country's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). On a weekly basis, FCAs, the largest component of the forex reserves, edged higher by $4.168 billion to $541.642 billion.

Besides, the value of the country's gold reserves increased by $315 million to $37.026 billion. However, the SDR value remained flat at $1.510 billion. Similarly, the country's reserve position with the IMF remained static at $5.145 billion.

Auto stocks on rise

Last week witnessed favourable global cues along with positive domestic macro economic data that pushed the Indian equity indices higher during the mid-afternoon trade session on Friday. Nifty opened at record highs and continued its positive momentum towards 14,300 levels.

Buying interest was visible across sectoral indices. Amongst sectors, Media, Auto, IT, Realty and Pharma space is outperforming. At 1.30 p.m. on Friday, the NSE Nifty50 traded at 14,287.35 points, higher by 150 points, or 1.06 per cent, from its previous close.

Similarly, the S&P BSE Sensex made gains. It traded higher by 467.67 points, or 0.97 per cent, at 48,560.99 points from its previous close. "The advance decline ratio continues to signal the bullish mood of the market," said Jay Purohit, Technical & Derivatives Analyst, MOFSL. "Market seems to conclude the week on a bullish note."

According to Likhita Chepa, Senior Research Analyst at CapitalVia Global Research: "Markets opened on a positive note at 14258.40 following the global market cues and made a high of 14296.25."

"Indian sugar mills are aggressively signing export contracts after New Delhi approved a subsidy for overseas sales and global prices hit their highest level in 3-1/2 years. The result of which can be seen in the price of sugar stocks."