Indian equity benchmarks surged to new all-time highs on Friday with the BSE benchmark index - S&P BSE Sensex - crossing 60,000 for the first time and Nifty soaring above its important psychological level of 17,900 led by gains Infosys, HDFC Bank, Tata Consultancy Services, ICICI Bank, HCL Technologies and Larsen & Toubro amid positive global cues. The Sensex rose as much as 427 points to hit a record high of 60,312.51 and Nifty 50 index touched an all-time high of 17,947.
As of 9:25 am, the Sensex was up 278 points at 60,163 and Nifty 50 index advanced 109 points to 17,932.
"Expectations of solid economic recovery and sustained growth in the next couple of years is keeping the bulls enthused. Also from global funds perspective, India remains an attractive destination, especially in the China+1 scenario. Having said that retail investors must have a diversified portfolio at this stage to face any kind of volatility," said Sandeep Bharadwaj, CEO, retail at IIFL Securities.
Congratulations India. To celebrate @SENSEX_BSE at 60,000, We meet virtually at physical cake cutting ceremony outside of Bullgate at BSE today at 4 pm. Please be virtual and follow the COVID protocol. @PMOIndia @FinMinIndia @nsitharaman pic.twitter.com/WYVgSesA28
Overnight, world stock markets rallied and the U.S. dollar retreated from one-month highs as worries faded about a contagion from China Evergrande and as investors digested the Federal Reserve's plans for reining in US stimulus.
On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 506.5 points, or 1.48 per cent, to 34,764.82, the S&P 500 gained 53.34 points, or 1.21 per cent, to 4,448.98 and the Nasdaq Composite added 155.40 points, or 1.04 per cent, to 15,052.24.
Back home, nine of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange were trading higher led by the Nifty Information Technology index's 2.5 per cent gain. Nifty Bank, Pharma, Financial Services and Private Bank indices were also trading higher.
On the other hand, metal, media, PSU banking and real estate shares faced selling pressure.
Mid- and small-cap shares were witnessing mild buying interest as Nifty Midcap 100 index rose 0.2 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index advanced 0.51 per cent.
Wipro was the top Nifty gainer; the stock rose 2.85 per cent to hit an intraday high of Rs 693.50. Grasim Industries, Infosys, Larsen & Toubro, HCL Technologies, Asian Paints, Tata Consultancy Services, Eicher Motors, HDFC Bank and Tech Mahindra also rose 1-2 per cent each.
On the flipside, JSW Steel, Hindalco, NTPC, SBI Life, Hindustan Unilever, Bajaj Finance, Tata Consumer Products, HDFC and Mahindra & Mahindra were among the laggards.
The overall market breadth was extremely positive as 1,739 shares were advancing while 808 were declining on the BSE.
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