India Stocks: Reliance leads Indian shares to record highs

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders

26/06/2024 08:26

(Updates by 12:51 p.m. IST)
    By Hritam Mukherjee and Bharath Rajeswaran
       BENGALURU, June 26 (Reuters) - India's benchmark equity
indexes hit record highs on Wednesday, led by gains in
heavyweight Reliance Industries  RELI.NS  and private lenders
such as ICICI Bank  ICBK.NS .
    The NSE Nifty 50  .NSEI  and S&P BSE Sensex  .BSESN  rose
0.6% each to hit record highs as of 12:51 p.m. IST.
    The oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance, which has a
weightage of about 10% in the Nifty 50 and had underperformed
during a recent market rally, rose about 3%, inching towards
record high levels.
    Reliance also powered the energy  .NIFTYENR  and oil & gas
 .NIFOILGAS  indexes 1% higher. Its shares have risen only 0.3%
since the end of March, underperforming the 7% rise in Nifty.
    The Nifty 50 has hit record highs in seven out of the last
10 sessions. 
    "Sector-rotation is underway, smart money is finding pockets
with valuations comfort and earnings visibility, and that's
powering markets higher," Viraj Gandhi, chief executive at SAMCO
Mutual Fund said.
    "Pockets of large-caps like private banks and other top
conglomerates that have not participated in the rally despite
strong earnings outlook, could see money chasing them as their
valuations have scope for upside."
    Private lenders  .NIFPVTBNK  rose 0.6%, extending their
outperformance over the benchmark in June. 
    ICICI Bank  ICBK.NS , the third-heaviest Nifty 50 stock,
gained 1.3%.
    In contrast, metals  .NIFTYMET  were down 1.3%, with 13 of
the 15 constituents falling, on soft global prices amid a strong
U.S. dollar.  MET/L 
    Miner Vedanta  VDAN.NS  was down 3% after its parent
announced plans to sell 2.6% stake to a group of institutional
investors.
        State-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders  MAZG.NS  rose 4.5%
to a record high after getting the so-called "Navratna' status
from the government, giving the company freedom to make bigger
investments.
    Small-  .NIFSMCP100  and mid-caps were muted, adding 0.2%
and 0.1%, respectively.    

 (Reporting by Hritam Mukherjee and Bharath Rajeswaran in
Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Mrigank Dhaniwala
)
 ((Hritam.Mukherjee@thomsonreuters.com; X: @MukherjeeHritam;))