Tech and banking powered a broad-based rally in equity markets this week, with sector indices in India and the US pushing closer to record territory as investors rotated back into growth and cyclicals. Indian benchmarks advanced with Nifty sectoral data showing strong gains in IT, metals, autos, and capital goods, supported by upbeat global cues and continued domestic demand momentum. At the same time, global tech and AI names helped lift the S&P 500 to fresh highs during the holiday-shortened week, as investors looked past mixed macro data and focused on earnings resilience and AI-led growth stories.​

However, sector trends remain uneven beneath the headline indices, offering important lessons for sector rotation and risk management. Foreign portfolio investors have been trimming exposure to rate-sensitive pockets like banking, power, realty, and capital goods, even as they selectively add to metals, autos, and some consumption names, highlighting how valuation, policy risk, and global growth expectations can drive sharp divergence across sectors. For learners, this environment illustrates how combining sector-level performance data with flows, macro indicators, and stock-specific catalysts can help identify which sectors are in accumulation, distribution, or transition phases at any point in the cycle.