The S&P BSE Sensex surged over 310 points to close at a fresh record high of 35,082 for the first time ever as the Government has lowered its additional borrowing plan to Rs 20,000 crore for the fiscal from the earlier proposal of raising an extra Rs 50,000 crore from the market. The reduced borrowing would help contain fiscal deficit within the target.

The 30-share BSE index Sensex jumped 310.77 points or 0.89 per cent to 35,081.82, breaking its previous record of 34,843.51 reached on January 15. Intra-day, it climbed to 35,118.61, bettering its previous intra-day high of 34,963.69 reached on January 15.

Similarly, the 50-share NSE index Nifty rose 88.1 points or 0.82 per cent to 10,788.55, breaking its previous record of 10,741.55 hit on January 15. It also touched an intra-day record of 10,803, surpassing its previous high of 10,782.65 hit on January 15.

All BSE sectoral indices ended in the positive zone. Among them, capital goods index gained the most by 1.59 per cent, followed by banking 1.55 per cent, PSU 1.41 per cent and IT 1.28 per cent.

Top five Sensex gainers were Axis Bank (+4.65%), State Bank of India (+3.44%), ICICI Bank (+2.68%), Infosys (+2.61%) and YES Bank (+2.58%), while the major losers were Wipro (-1.85%), HDFC Bank (-0.88%), Hero MotoCorp (-0.8%), ONGC (-0.74%) and HUL (-0.68%).

FII buying

Analysts said strong liquidity in the market following unabated buying by foreign funds inflows and encouraging Q3 earnings by some companies lifted the mood. Foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) had bought shares worth Rs 693.17 crore, while domestic institutional investors (DIIs) had sold equities worth a net Rs 246.38 crore yesterday, as per provisional data.

Strong gains in the rupee also improved the market sentiment. The rupee recovered sharply by 25 paise to hit a high of 63.75 against the US dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market today.

Buoyant sentiment

Domestic sentiment remains buoyant as investors expect corporate results to improve, especially since numbers during the same period last year were impacted by a ban on high-value currency notes.

“Markets are hitting newer highs by the week, so people latch on to that opportunity. There is some stability in the market with a little bit of buying,” said Hitesh Agarwal, EVP and Head Retail Research, Religare Securities Ltd.

IT stocks spurt

Infosys led the gains on the NSE index, surging as much as 3.5 per cent in its eighth session of gains. Tata Consultancy Services Ltd rose 2.6 per cent to hit a record high. The Nifty IT index climbed as much as 1.8 per cent.

“Value-buying along with the sharp fall in the rupee yesterday is helping support IT stocks. Rupee weakening is always good for IT companies as they are exposed to the United States for revenues,” Agarwal said.

Private lenders also rose, with ICICI Bank gaining as much as 3 per cent and Axis Bank Ltd up 2 per cent. The Nifty private bank index rose 0.7 per cent to notch up another peak this week.

As per provisional data, foreign investors had bought equities worth Rs 693.17 crore on a net basis yesterday.

Asian stocks stepped back from a record high on Wednesday as the region's resource shares were dented by falling oil and commodity prices while digital currencies tumbled on worries about tighter regulations.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan dropped 0.1 per cent from its record high as resource shares declined after oil and other commodities succumbed to profit-taking after recent gains. Japan's Nikkei fell 0.7 per cent from its 26-year peak hit the previous day.

(With inputs from Agencies)

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW