Sensex Ends Above 55,000 For First Time, Led By Rally In Reliance, TCS

The equity benchmarks created fresh record highs on Friday, wherein the 30-share Sensex moved above its important psychological level of 55,000 and Nifty 50 index scaled 16,500. The rally was led by buying interest in blue-chip shares such as Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC Bank, Infosys, HDFC and Larsen & Toubro. The Sensex jumped as much as 644 points in intra-day trading to hit a record high of 55,487.79 and Nifty 50 index touched an all-time high of 16,543.60. The market sentiment received a boost from a pick-up in manufacturing activity in June and dip in retail inflation in July, analysts said.

The Sensex closed at an all-time high of 55,437, up 593 points, and Nifty 50 index rose 165 points to settle at record high of 16,529.

"The domestic sentiment remains positive as the industrial output data has shown signs of recovery in the manufacturing sector, leading to more buying in the market. Manufacturing data is still at the pre-Covid levels. But if India is able to avoid the third wave, we will see these data surpassing pre-covid levels. Retail inflation has also started to decrease, which is another positive sign for the market," Gaurav Garg, head of research at CapitalVia Global Research said.

Ten of 15 sector gauges compiled by the National Stock Exchange ended higher, led by the Nifty IT index's 1.35 per cent gain. FMCG, Financial Services, Bank, Metal, Oil & Gas and Consumer Durables indices also ended higher in range of 0.5-0.8 per cent each.

On the other hand, media, pharma, healthcare and auto indices ended with a negative bias.

Broader markets underperformed their larger peers, with the mid- and small-cap shares witnessing selling pressure. The Nifty Midcap 100 index fell 0.3 per cent and Nifty Smallcap 100 index declined 0.4 per cent.

Tata Consumer Products was top Nifty gainer; the stock rose 4 per cent to close at Rs 805. TCS advanced 3 per cent to hit a record high of Rs 3,456 and with today's rally, the country's largest IT company achieved market value of Rs 13 lakh crore.

Larsen & Toubro advanced 2.5 per cent after its arm bagged an order from Technip Energies.

HCL Technologies, Tata Steel, Bharti Airtel, Wipro, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Auto, HDFC Bank, Bharat Petroleum and Infosys also rose 1.4-3 per cent each.

On the flipside, Eicher Motors, Dr Reddy's Labs, Power Grid, Cipla, Britannia Industries, IndusInd Bank, Bajaj Finance and HDFC Life were among the losers.

The overall market breadth was neutral as 1,565 shares ended higher while 1,651 closed lower on the BSE.