Sensex, Nifty at 52-week high: What's driving the market rally?
What's the story
Indian stock markets witnessed a major surge today, with the Sensex rising over 700 points to cross the 85,100 mark. The Nifty 50 also followed suit, gaining over 200 points and crossing the crucial 26,000 level. Both benchmark indices also hit fresh 52-week highs. The rally was led by IT and financial stocks such as Infosys (up over 3%), HCL Technologies (up nearly 2%), Axis Bank (up nearly 2%), Hindustan Unilever (up nearly 1.5%), and Tata Steel (up nearly 1.5%).
Market drivers
Market rally on back of earnings revival expectations
The market's positive sentiment is driven by expectations of an earnings revival, supported by festive season demand, recent tax cuts, and policy support. This is expected to boost corporate profits in the second half of FY26. Infosys's announcement of its largest-ever ₹18,000 crore share buyback program also contributed to the market surge.
Expert insights
US-India trade deal talks boost market sentiment
Dr. VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Investments, said reports of an imminent trade deal between India and the US are driving market sentiment. He said if the reported 15-16% tariffs on Indian exports to the US materialize, it would be a major boost for both economies and stock markets. "The expected deal involves some concessions from both sides," he added.
Market factors
FIIs turning buyers recently can fuel the rally
Vijayakumar also noted that unprecedented record sales in recent days could improve corporate earnings. He said FIIs turning buyers recently and short covering are factors that can fuel the rally. "Clearly, it is advantage bulls! Short-covering has the potential to spike up large caps where there are big short positions," he added.