Sensex scales 72,000 peak for first time; Nifty hits all-time high

PTI

Mumbai, December 27

Sensex and Nifty soared to fresh closing record highs on Wednesday, with the 30-share benchmark index crossing the historic 72,000 mark, boosted by optimism over the country's macroeconomic fundamentals and firm global market trends.

Reflecting broader investor bullishness, the 50-share index surged to a record high of 21,654.75 on intense buying in metal, commodity, auto and banking sectors.

Rising for the fourth straight session, the BSE gauge jumped 701.63 points or 0.98 per cent to settle at its all-time closing high of 72,038.43.

During the day, it zoomed 783.05 points or 1.09 per cent to reach its intra-day lifetime high of 72,119.85.

The Nifty climbed 213.40 points or 1 per cent to settle at a record high of 21,654.75. During the day, it rallied 234.4 points or 1.09 per cent to reach its all-time intra-day peak of 21,675.75.

“The upbeat domestic market continued reaching a new record high and easily recovered the last week's losses. This upward trend was predominantly supported by the Santa Claus rally in anticipation of early rate cuts by the US Fed and cooling global inflation,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Financial Services.

UltraTech Cement was the biggest gainer on the Sensex chart, rising 4.23 per cent, followed by JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, State Bank of India, Larsen & Toubro, Infosys and Bajaj Finserv were the major gainers.

On the other hand, NTPC and Tech Mahindra were the laggards.

In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge climbed 0.41 per cent, and smallcap index advanced 0.20 per cent.

Among the indices, metal jumped 1.33 per cent, auto climbed 1.33 per cent, commodities (1.19 per cent), teck (0.96 per cent), IT (0.68 per cent), consumer durables (0.67 per cent) and capital goods (0.67 per cent).

Utilities, power and services were the laggards.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, Shanghai and Hong Kong settled with gains.

European markets were mostly trading in positive territory. The US markets ended in the green on Tuesday.

“After a brief midweek panic last week, bulls are back with a bang, albeit with some caution. India VIX has touched a new high in a multi-month time frame, indicating the possibility of some volatility as we approach the monthly expiry.

“FII's have been buyers in the last couple of sessions in Index options while they continue to stay long in the index futures segment. Banks have been a bit late to this party but now seem ready to break out from the current range. PSU Banks are the strongest while private banks are expected to play catch up,” Rahul Sharma Director, Head- Technical & Derivative Research, JM Financial Services, said.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.21 per cent to USD 80.90 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 95.20 crore on Tuesday, according to exchange data.

“21,800 on the Nifty and 49,000 on the Nifty Bank seems likely tomorrow,” Sharma said.

The BSE benchmark climbed 229.84 points or 0.32 per cent to settle at 71,336.80 on Tuesday. The Nifty advanced 91.95 points or 0.43 per cent to 21,441.35.

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