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Benchmark indices were trading higher during the afternoon on Thursday, after recording fresh highs for the second consecutive session, lead by bank stocks.
Markets opened on a positive note despite weak global cues. Indices extended gains, led by bank stocks even as IT and metals witnessed profit-booking.
At 1 pm, BSE Sensex which breached the 59,000 mark and hit a new all-time high of 59,042.77, was trading at 58,974.37, up 251.17 points or 0.43 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 58,700.50.
Nifty 50, which recorded a fresh high of 17,597.85, was trading at 17,573.80, up 54.35 points or 0.31 per cent. It hit an intraday low of 17,510.45.
IndusInd Bank, ITC, State Bank of India, Reliance and IOC were the top gainers on the Nifty 50 while Shree Cement, Coal India, Grasim, Tech Mahindra and ITC were the top laggards.
Auto and telecom stocks also gained focus after Cabinet approved support packages for the sectors.
The rally in telco stocks such as Vodafone Idea pushed the S&P BSE Telecom index upn1.83 per cent. While the S&P BSE Auto Index was up 0.22 per cent. Nifty Auto was 0.24 per cent.
According to Dr. V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services, “The clear message from yesterday’s package for telecom industry and PLI scheme for autos is that the government is on fast-forward mode as far as reforms are concerned.”
“This reform initiatives justify the market’s confidence in India’s potential growth and earnings outperformance. The bold reforms in India’s two crucial sectors have the potential to add to India’s GDP growth in the coming years.The timing of the PLI scheme for autos has to be seen in the context of investment leaving China due to regulatory crackdown. India is firmly on the road to become part of the global supply chains for auto industry. The exuberance in the market is partly justified by the bold reform initiatives. The over confidence of the bulls, however, emanates from the lack of any moves on the horizon that will sharply reduce liquidity in the market,” added Vijayakumar.
Bank stocks in focus
On the sectoral front, while bank stocks and CG gained, IT and metals dragged.
Nifty Bank was up 1.47 per cent. Nifty PSU Bank recorded the highest gains trading 3.65 per cent higher while Nifty Private Bank was up 2 per cent. Nifty FMCG was up 1.34 per cent. Nifty Oil & Gas also gained and was trading 1.15 per cent higher.
Meanwhile, Nifty IT was down 0.99 per cent while Nifty Metal was down 0.74 per cent.
Broader indices
Broader indices were in the green. Nifty Midcap 50 was up 0.50 per cent while Nifty Smallcap 50 was up 0.45 per cent.
The S&P BSE Midcap was up 0.33 per cent while the S&P BSE Smallcap was up 0.02 per cent.
The volatility index rose 3.67 per cent to 14.24.
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