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Closing bell
Indian equity indices conquered new peaks on Tuesday, with the Nifty closing above the 13,000-level for the first time, as banking, FMCG and auto stocks saw heavy buying amid optimism over COVID-19 vaccine progress and unabated foreign capital inflows.
A strengthening rupee further boosted investor confidence, traders said.
After scaling a lifetime intra-day high of 44,601.63, the 30-share BSE Sensex ended 445.87 points or 1.01 per cent higher at a record 44,523.02.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty climbed 128.70 points or 1 per cent to close at 13,055.15.
Axis Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, spurting 4.02 per cent, followed by M&M, HDFC Bank, ITC, SBI, ICICI Bank, Maruti, Kotak Bank and Sun Pharma.
On the other hand, HDFC, Titan, Nestle India, Bharti Airtel, ONGC and Infosys were among the main laggards, shedding up to 1.47 per cent.
Global markets maintained their upward trajectory as investors wagered on swift rollout of COVID-19 vaccines following encouraging trials data from at least three companies.
“Market is inching higher with more confidence that COVID-19 vaccine will be available in India soon. It can provide an advantage to India compared to the rest of the world. While, foreign inflows have already broken to a new high on a monthly basis, due to risk on strategy on healthier emerging markets like India.
“Recently broad market, including mid and small caps, have started to perform better which may continue in the short-term as large caps look expensive post the solid rally from COVID low,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.
Barring telecom, all BSE sectoral indices ended in the green, led by bankex (2.37 per cent), auto (1.84 per cent), realty (1.78 per cent) and metal (1.37 per cent).
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 4,738.44 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.
Market update at 1.30 pm
Key benchmark indices are holding on to its gains in the afternoon session. All the sectoral indices are trading in the green, while exceptionall rally was seen in Auto, Banking and Realty indices
At 1.30 pm, the Sensex was being quoted at 44,480.39, registering 403.24 points gain over its yesterday's close. The Nifty too was hovering above the key psychological level of 13,000 and was trading at 13,039.65, up by 113.20 over yesterday's close.
While the Nifty Auto rose 1961.55 points or 2.19%, to 8,930.15, the Nifty Bank was up 521.10 points, or 1.80%, to 29,545.30.
Top gainers among auto stocks are Bosch Ltd, M&M, Eicher Motors, Maruti and Tata Motors gaining up to 6 per cent today.
Among the gainers in the banking segment are RBL Bank, Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, Kotak Bank and ICICI Bank rising up to 5.50%.
Updates at 11.45 am
Equity benchmark Sensex rallied over 390 points on Tuesday initially, tracking gains in index-heavyweights HDFC Bank, Maruti, ONGC and Axis Bank amid positive cues from global markets and unabated foreign fund inflows.
After touching a lifetime intra-day high of 44,487.65, the 30-share BSE index was trading 305.41 points or 0.69 per cent higher at 44,382.56 at 11.45 am.
Similarly, the broader NSE Nifty touched the 13,000 mark for the first time ever as it rose to a new high of 13,048.75 before trading at 13,017.20 gaining 89.75 over its yesterday's closing level.
HDFC Bank was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, surging around 1.60 per cent, followed by Maruti, ONGC, Axis Bank, L&T, Titan, ICICI Bank and PowerGrid.
On the other hand, Bajaj Auto, Nestle India, Infosys and Hindustan Unilever were among the laggards.
Among companies, Future Retail rose 10% and was on course to gain for a fourth straight session. India's antitrust body approved its deal with Reliance Industries on Friday.
Shares in India's top automaker, Maruti Suzuki, climbed 2.50% or Rs 173.35 to Rs 7,161.10 on the NSE after a report said it had raised its production estimate for the year.
Foreign institutional investors remained net buyers in the capital market as they purchased shares worth Rs 4,738.44 crore on Monday, according to provisional exchange data.
Elsewhere in Asia, bourses in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Seoul were trading with gains in mid-session deals, while Shanghai was in the red.
Bourses in the US ended on a positive note in overnight trade.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, were trading 0.85 per cent higher at $46.45 per barrel.
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