Nifty hits new record high as IT stocks shine; Sensex firmly in green

On June 21, the Nifty reached a new all-time high, primarily driven by an increase in IT stocks. This surge followed Accenture's announcement of higher-than-anticipated annual revenue growth, fueled by the rising demand for its artificial intelligence tools. As a result, Accenture's stock price jumped over 7% during overnight trading in the US.

The Sensex continued its upward trend, building on gains from the previous session. Market sentiment remained optimistic due to various factors, including the forthcoming budget, consistent policy measures, and the potential return of foreign institutional investors (FIIs). 

Around 9:45 am IST, the Sensex had risen by 0.13% to 77,576.47, while the Nifty had increased by 0.19% to 23,612.80. At that time, approximately 1,932 shares had advanced, 967 shares had declined, and 116 shares remained unchanged.

The IT index was up by 2.3%, with LTIMindtree leading the gains, increasing by over 3%. "IT is a sector which has not seen the kind of returns that overall market has and now a catch-up rally has begun where shares start performing, " Ruchit Jain, lead research analyst at 5Paisa, told Moneycontrol. "We believe that most of the price-wise correction has been done, and this is could be a good buying opportunity for positional traders or investors," he added. 

Out of the 13 sectoral indices, only IT, Healthcare, and Pharma were trading positively. The FMCG index experienced the most significant decline. 

The broader market, encompassing midcaps and small-caps, outperformed the main indices, with gains of 0.5% and 0.6%, respectively. Investors are now eagerly anticipating the Union Budget, expected to be presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in July.

All major IT stocks, including LTIMindtree, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Infosys, and TCS, were the leading performers on the Nifty. On the other hand, Tata Steel, HUL, Kotak Mahindra Bank, HDFC Bank, and Tata Motors were the top underperformers. The fear gauge, India VIX, decreased by 0.5%, settling at 13.49 on June 21.

On the budget, Jain said that since the same government is continuing, the expectations are that the government would continue to take decisions in favor of overall economic growth. "Markets are poised to continue to trade with a positive bias," he added.

"We are of the view that the current market texture is non-directional perhaps traders are waiting for either side breakout. On the higher side, 23,680 and 77,800 (Nifty and Sensex) would be the immediate breakout," Shrikant Chouhan, head of equity research at Kotak Securities said.