NEW DELHI: The benchmark equity indices are at fresh high again!Thanks to a spurt in the Nifty Bank, the Nifty50 has managed to surpass its April 5 high of 9,273 by breaching the 9,300 level for the first time ever. The banking index, too, has risen to a record high since April 18 this year. The BSE Sensex climbed over 250 points in early trade on Tuesday.So what is fuelling this sharp rally in the market despite so much concern over valuations? Going by the buzz on Dalal Street, here are the top factors driving this rally.The Round 1 of French elections, which was held on April 23, went to Centrist Emmanuel Macron. In case you don’t know who Macron is, he is the presidential candidate, a pro-European Union ex-banker, whose win could ensure an avoidance of a Brexit-like situation in France – the third largest EU economy. Macron won the first round of voting and qualified for a May 7 runoff alongside far-right leader Marine Le Pen. European indices, such as CAC40 of France, German DAX and the UK’s FTSE100 soared up to 4 per cent. US stocks closed 1 per cent higher in overnight trade. And now Dalal Street is seeing some rub-off.Ever since Reliance Jio started ringing, the stock is ringing too, so loud that shares of Reliance Industries hit a nine-year high in Tuesday’s trade. With a 3 per cent jump in early trade, Reliance Industries market-cap has zoomed past the Rs 4.7 lakh crore mark. Well, it is not Reliance Jio but RIL’s refining performance that did the wonders. That the company clocked the higher margins over its Asian peers is something the market really liked. Brokerage Morgan Stanley, which has a target price of Rs 1,506 for the stock, said timelines on energy project execution should raise confidence in earnings delivery.While global cues, strength in the shares of RIL and other banking stocks made investors turn bullish, one could not undermine the role of short coverings ahead of the expiry of April series F&O contracts. Marketwide rollovers stood at 23 per cent till Monday, which were lower than the average of 26 per cent seen during the comparable period of last three series. Rollover of Nifty futures stood at 32 per cent on D-3, which was higher compared with the average rollover of 26 per cent seen in last three series.RIL’s Q4 results have spurred sentiment. The numbers from blue chip IT firms were not that poor either. There have been hopes that the implementation of GST from July 1 could give a big push to the organised sector. Listed firms in sectors with large unorganised markets are gaining as the new tax would create a level-playing field.“We will review the Nifty50 numbers and target after the fourth quarter results are announced. When we take the next strategy call, we think GST will be a big catalyst. If it is rolled out on time on July 1, that will be a positive factor. For FY18, the consensus earnings growth rate is between 12 per cent and 15 per cent, which is not easy to achieve. That is where the challenge is going to be. If numbers do come, then the market has further steam, because there is lot of liquidity and lot of investors are hunting for new ideas in the market,” said Jigar Shah, CEO at Kim Eng Securities.Though FPIs’ love for debt is impartial, equity has not been out of their sight. Data showed foreign investors have bought equities worth Rs 2,382 crore this month, though it is far lower than Rs 4,500 crore inflows to equity in the first week of this month. Money comes and goes, but trust remains. A recent survey by Credit Suisse among 2,500 institutional investors, hedge funds, HNIs holding over $18 trillion in assets, 330 companies from 15 countries, besides renowned policy makers and political leaders, showed India and China have been the two most overweight bets of FPIs in the Asian region. FPIs have infused Rs 42,013 in domestic equities so far this year. March alone saw an inflow of Rs 30,906 crore.