Nifty 50 rises to record high, surpassing previous September 2024 peak

The Nifty 50 index hit a new record high of 26,290.25 on Thursday, November 27, surpassing the previous peak of 26,277 that it had hit, exactly 14 months earlier on September 27, 2024.

From the tariff tantrum lows of 21,745 that the index had declined to in April this year, it has seen a recovery of 19% from those levels.

Rising hopes of a potential trade deal between India and the US, better-than-expected results during the September quarter, and outperformance of the banking sector, which has among the highest weightage on the index has contributed to the Nifty surging to its latest peak.

The Nifty Bank index is already at record highs, having closed above the 59,500 mark on Wednesday, and Rohit Srivastava of Indiacharts.com told CNBC-TV18 earlier this week that it has the potential to test levels of even 64,000 on the upside.

From September 27, 2024, shares of Eicher Motors, Bharat Electronics and Bajaj Finance have been the top gainers on the Nifty 50 index, with gains between 31% to 43%. Shares of SBI and Bharti Airtel have risen 23% each during this period.

Among the underperformers, shares of Trent are the biggest losers during this period, having declined 45% from the September 2024 peak, while Tata Motors PV shares are down 40% for the same period. Bajaj Auto, Coal India and TCS have also seen their respective shares drop between 26% to 28% respectively.

Brokerage firm JPMorgan has raised its Nifty 50 base case target to 30,000 for the end of 2026 and reiterated its preference of domestic-oriented themes over exporters.

Despite the index hitting record highs, the broader markets have not done much over the last 14 months. The midcap index is still flat, while the Smallcap index is down 8%.