Sensex Hits 78,000 Mark, Nifty Reaches All-Time High

The 30-share BSE Sensex reached a new closing peak of 78,053.52, jumping 712.44 points or 0.92 percent, with the benchmark hitting a fresh lifetime high of 78,164.71, surging 823.63 points or 1 percent during the day. The Sensex breached the 77,000 mark for the first time on June 10. The Nifty settled at a fresh record high of 23,721.30, increasing by 183.45 points or 0.78 percent, and hitting an intra-day lifetime high of 23,754.15, climbing 216.3 points or 0.91 percent during the day. Among the 30 Sensex companies, Axis Bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Tech Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finserv, State Bank of India, Reliance Industries, and Infosys were the biggest gainers, while Power Grid, Asian Paints, Tata Steel, Nestle, Maruti, and JSW Steel were among the laggards.

“A rally in the banking stocks pushed Nifty to hit another record – 34th time this year though a host of other sectors ended in the negative,” said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities. In the broader market, the BSE midcap gauge declined 0.26 percent, while the smallcap index dipped 0.03 percent. “A positive news from the market perspective is the current account turning surplus in Q4 FY24. This will take away the pressure on the rupee and pave the way for FII inflows when clarity emerges on the Fed rate cuts,” said V K Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist at Geojit Financial Services.

India recorded a current account surplus of USD 5.7 billion or 0.6 percent of GDP in the March quarter, marking the first time in ten quarters that the country’s crucial external strength metric turned into surplus mode. Among indices, bankex jumped 1.87 percent, financial services climbed 1.45 percent, IT by 0.53 percent, capital goods by 0.28 percent, and teck by 0.43 percent. Realty declined 1.82 percent. Power (1.05 percent), utilities (0.95 percent), metal (0.84 percent), and telecommunication (0.28 percent) also dropped.

Nifty traded within a range during the first half, but selective buying in heavyweight stocks, particularly from the banking sector, spurred a sharp surge,” Ajit Mishra – SVP, Research, Religare Broking Ltd, said. “We believe the current buoyancy in banking, coupled with notable strength in IT, will dictate the trend, while other sectors may contribute on a rotational basis,” Mishra added. In the Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled higher, while Shanghai ended lower. European markets were trading in the negative territory.

US markets ended on a mixed note on Monday. The global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.44 percent to USD 85.63 a barrel. *(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed. )*