Rally in Indian stocks continue, touch fresh peaks; Sensex around 67,000

There is nothing that seems stopping the current rally in Indian stock indices even as several analysts lately have been pointing to high stock valuations. The indices touched yet another fresh highs on Wednesday morning and the benchmark Sensex was just at a touch short of 67,000 mark.

Sensex was 0.3 per cent higher at 66,992 points and Nifty 0.2 per cent higher at 19,793 points at the time of writing this report. In the past one-month, they cumulatively gained about 6 percentage points. Several analysts have pointed out that any further rally from the current levels is unlikely as valuations are higher.

The consistent inflow of foreign portfolio funds, firm economic outlook, firm global markets, and a relative moderation in inflation contributed to the latest bull run in Indian stocks. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) have remained net buyers in Indian stock markets for the fifth straight month, according to data from the National Securities Depository (NSDL).

FPIs bought Indian stocks worth Rs 7,936 crore, Rs 11,631 crore, Rs 43,838 crore, and Rs 47,148 crore in March, April, May, and June, respectively, data showed. In July too, the trend is firm as they so far bought Rs 34,444 crore worth of equities. "The market continues to be resilient supported by favourable global set-up and sustained FII inflows. It is important to understand that the ongoing global market rally is primarily driven by the strength of the US economy, which is, so far, showing no signs of recession that the markets had feared and discounted in 2022. The recent corporate results from the US have been better-than-expected enabling continuation of the rally," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

Considering what he termed as high valuations, Vijayakumar added investors may consider some profit booking "if that helps in the realisation of some planned financial goals."