Nifty hits fresh record high, up for sixth straight session

Mumbai, Feb 20: Nifty extended its gains for the sixth consecutive session on Tuesday, once again touching a fresh record high in the last hour of trade, said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research at HDFC Securities.

At close, Nifty was up 74.70 points or 0.34 per cent at 22,197.00, while Sensex was up 349.24 points or 0.48 per cent at 73,057.40. Cash market volumes on the NSE fell to Rs 0.93 lakh crore. The broad market indices ended marginally in the negative even as the advance decline ratio fell to 0.97:1.

Institutional buying in the last hour of trade helped Nifty end in the positive. Nifty could now remain in the 22,280-22,053 band in the near term with a minor bullish bias, Jasani said.

Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services, said that amid market volatility, the domestic market is once again poised to approach record highs. The latest upward trajectory is bolstered by gains in the banking sector, with private banks witnessing a rebound from a recent sharp correction.

However, the decline in mid and smallcaps suggests that investors are continuing to exercise caution due to higher valuations. The forthcoming release of the US Fed minutes this week holds significance, particularly in light of recent sticky inflation data, which raises uncertainty regarding the timing of the Federal Reserve’s initiation of its easing cycle, Nair said.