Sensex and Nifty record biggest weekly gains since July 2022; Here’s what market experts had to say

The markets ended with the biggest weekly gains since July 22 as the Nifty hit 21,000, gaining around two percent for the week. This came as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) announced its decision to keep repo rate unchanged at 6.5 percent, for a fifth time in a row. The Bank Nifty saw gains of over 0.7 percent on December 8 reaching a lifetime high of 47,170.25 levels. With this, the Bank Nifty index gained over 5 percent this week.

The Sensex closed up 304 points, or 0.44 percent, higher at 69,825.60, and the Nifty was at 68.20 points, or 0.33 percent, at 20,969.40.

Also read: Taking Stock: Sensex, Nifty take a break after 7-day run; mid, smallcaps outperform

Adani stocks took the forefront, as biggest gainers of the week were Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones and Adani Enterprises, which surged 23.1 percent and 19 percent, respectively. Power Grid Corporation of India and Bharat Petroleum followed the Adani companies giving 9.13 percent and 7.18 percent weekly returns, respectively.

The biggest weekly loser was Divi’s laboratories, which fell 2.72 percent. It was followed by Hindustan Unilever, which lost 1.86 percent during the week.
The recent elections were top of the mind for market experts during the first half of the week. During a conversation with Moneycontrol, Rashesh Shah, Group Chairman Edelweiss said that the state election results will ensure that FIIs will no longer withdraw money from India. While India’s policy stability has improved after the election results, he said global investors may refrain from investing for some time. “As soon as the interest rates across the globe fall or stand at the cusp of falling, there’ll be a lot of FII inflow into India. Falling US interest rates will be the key catalyst rather than election results,” he said.

As the NSE Nifty 50’s climbed up above Rs 20,700 after the BJP’s sweeping victory in three states, Sushil Kedia, Founder and CEO, Kedianomics on December 4 said that it is possible that 19,600 may become the new base the same way as in 2014 when markets chose to make 6,000 as a new base for the Nifty 50, with the clear majority that Narendra Modi got after 30 years of political turbulence in India. This he says reflects a deep confidence in the ability to keep delivering the way they have delivered for 10 years.

Momentum is currently in favour of India, Nilesh Shah, MD&CEO, Kotak AMC said. He believes that when it comes to Indian markets concerns are more on valuation rather than growth. “Between 2027 to 2032, India will become the third largest economy overtaking both Germany and Japan. The conundrum is that on a one-year basis, India looks expensive to emerging market peers. On a five-year basis, India is probably the cheapest emerging market,” he said.

While concerns for dumping by China are there, Marcellus Investment Managers’ Saurabh Mukherjee hinted towards a positive bigger picture view for specialty chemicals on the back of India becoming a more competitive economy in the last decade. “I think our time as a large exporter of specialty chemicals and a large exporter of industrial components, that story seems to be upon us and is yet to play out fully.”

The momentum continued on Friday with the RBI announcing a repo rate pause, pushing the markets to the 21,000 mark. Andrew Holland, Executive Director & Group CFO at Avendus Capital, said that the surge in large-cap stocks and banking sectors has propelled the markets to reach the significant milestone of 21,000 for the Nifty index. However, he added that attention is now poised to pivot towards global influences, particularly the upcoming job reports data. “This data holds substantial importance in maintaining a positive narrative favoring declining interest rates,” he added.

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