MUMBAI, Aug 29: Equity benchmark indices Sensex and Nifty hit their all-time high levels on Thursday, driven by a fag-end rally in index majors Reliance Industries and Tata Motors.
Robust buying in energy and FMCG stocks also supported the domestic equities, traders said.
The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 349.05 points or 0.43 per cent to settle at an all-time closing high of 82,134.61, extending its winning momentum to the eighth day in a row. During the day, it soared 500.27 points or 0.61 per cent to hit a lifetime intra-day peak of 82,285.83.
The BSE gauge has surged 1,709.93 points or 2.12 per cent in eight straight trading sessions.
Rallying for the 11th straight session, the NSE Nifty surged 99.60 points or 0.40 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 25,151.95. During the trade, the benchmark climbed 140.55 points or 0.56 per cent to hit a fresh record intra-day peak of 25,192.90.
In 11 trading days, the NSE Nifty has jumped 1,012.95 points or 4.19 per cent.
“Nifty ended on a strong note on Thursday aided by buying across frontline stocks in the last hour of trade,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities.
Among the 30 Sensex firms, Tata Motors jumped over 4 per cent, followed by Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, HCL Technologies, ITC, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Maruti and State Bank of India.
Reliance Industries climbed nearly 2 per cent after Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of the firm, said the board of the company will meet on September 5 to consider issuing bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1.
“When Reliance grows, we reward our shareholders handsomely,” Ambani said.
Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharma, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and Tata Steel were among the biggest laggards.
“Indian equities began steadily and breached a record high. Volatility disturbed the trend in the afternoon due to Reliance Ltd AGM expectations, but the broad market carried the rally to a new high by the end of the day with rapid improvement in sentiment.
“The recent uptick in Indian IT and FMCG stocks points to a potential soft landing for the US economy and an improvement in domestic rural consumption,” Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said.
In the broader market, the BSE smallcap gauge declined 0.72 per cent, and the midcap index dipped 0.27 per cent.
Among the indices, oil & gas jumped 0.91 per cent, energy (0.88 per cent), FMCG (0.58 per cent) and telecommunication (0.44 per cent).
Industrials, capital goods, commodities, utilities and services were among the laggards.
In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo and Shanghai settled in the negative territory, while Hong Kong ended higher.
European markets were trading in the positive zone. The US markets ended lower on Wednesday.
Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 1,347.53 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.60 per cent to USD 78.27 a barrel.
On Wednesday, the NSE Nifty went up by 34.60 points or 0.14 per cent to settle at a new closing high of 25,052.35. The BSE benchmark climbed 73.80 points or 0.09 per cent to settle at 81,785.56. (PTI)
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