Nifty, Sensex Rally to Fresh Record Highs as Asia Stocks Build on February Rally

The Nifty 50 and Sensex index rallied 1.62% and 1.72%, respectively, on Friday, with both indices recording fresh record highs in the process.

• Strong performance of Indian equities coincided with a strong showing across the major APAC equity indices amid more positive global sentiment following the US PCE data yesterday. Of note, the Nikkei index rallied 1.90%, while the MSCI Asia Pacific Index is at levels not seen since April 2022.
• USD/INR dipped at the start of the session following Thursday’s strong GDP data posted out of Indian hours (+8.4% Y/Y vs. +6.6% expected). However, the rupee’s gains were slowly eroded throughout the rest of the session, with both spot USD/INR and USD/INR 1-month forward outrights now back to flat and within familiar ranges.
• HSBC and S&P Global’s Manufacturing PMI for India came in at 56.9 in February (56.5 in January). That is its highest reading since September, with the figure having crossed above the expansionary 50-mark in every month since July 2021.