Equity benchmarks raced to new peaks for the fourth straight session on Wednesday as participants took note of continuously improving macroeconomic indicators and positive trends in global markets.
The BSE Sensex settled 403.29 points or 0.87 per cent higher at 46,666.46, while the NSE Nifty climbed 114.85 points or 0.85 per cent to 13,682.70 -- record closing for both the benchmarks.
Both the indices also marked their all-time intra-day highs of 46,704.97 and 13,692.35, respectively.
In the Sensex pack, HDFC, ONGC, Bharti Airtel, Asian Paints, Titan, TCS and Mahindra and Mahindra were the prominent gainers, advancing up to 3.11 per cent.
On the other hand, ICICI Bank, IndusInd Bank, NTPC, UltraTech Cement, Tech Mahindra and HCL Tech were among the major laggards, skidding up to 1.09 per cent.
Asian bourses closed broadly higher amid hopes that COVID-19 vaccines and economic stimulus by governments around the world will revive economic growth.
European equities surged to 10-month highs on prospects of a Brexit trade deal and expectations of swift rollout of coronavirus vaccination.
“Domestic equities remained in the grip of bulls, recording fresh highs fairly supported by firm global markets. Emerging prospects of additional fiscal stimulus in the US and satisfactory progress on coronavirus vaccination bolstered investors’ sentiments. Barring PSU banks, all key sectoral indices recorded gains.
“Encouraging data for key economic indicators and positive news flows continued to attract investors’ interest in domestic equities. Further, improving prospects of corporate earnings recovery, weak dollar index, consistent improvement in coronavirus recovery rates, government’s strong commitment to revive the economy and dismal real interest rate scenario globally continued to act as key tailwinds to attract FPIs flows into Indian equities,” said Binod Modi, Head- Strategy at Reliance Securities.
Gold gains Rs 215; silver jumps Rs 1,185
Gold price gained Rs 215 to touch Rs 49,059 per 10 gram in the national capital on Wednesday supported by strong global precious metal prices, according to HDFC Securities.
In the previous trade, gold had closed at Rs 48,844 per 10 gram.Silver price jumped Rs 1,185 to Rs 64,822 per kilogram. It was at Rs 63,637 per kilogram in the previous trade.
Rs climbs 5 paise to 73.58 per US dollar
The rupee appreciated 5 paise to close at 73.58 against the US dollar on Wednesday, propped up by sustained foreign fund inflows and a weak greenback overseas. Strong domestic equities also strengthened investor sentiment, traders said. At the interbank forex market, the rupee opened at 73.49 against the US dollar and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.48 and a low of 73.60.