Sensex Surges Over 500 Points, Nifty Above 17,750 As Markets Scale Record Highs
The equity benchmarks scaled new highs for fourth straight session on Friday, wherein the Nifty 50 index moved above its important psychological level of 17,750 for the first time and the Sensex surged over 500 points to hit an all-time high of 59,668. ITC, State Bank of India, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Reliance Industries, Tata Consultancy Services, HDFC and Kotak Mahindra Bank were among the top movers in the Sensex. Indian markets were outperforming Asian peers on Friday as Asian shares steadied in early after losses earlier in the week, but China jitters and global growth concerns weighed on investors' minds, while the dollar sat near a three-week high.
As of 10:30 am, the Sensex was up 510 points at 59,643 and Nifty 50 index climbed 138 points to 17,768.
MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan recovered from early losses to trade flat, but was still down 2.7 per cent on the week.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.5 per cent after posting its lowest close in 10 months the day before, as the saga around China Evergrande Group lurched towards a conclusion, unsettling investors.
Back home, sixteen of 19 sector gauges compiled by the BSE were trading higher led by the banking index's nearly 1 per cent gain.
Telecom, finance, information technology, real estate, auto, FMCG and consumer discretionary goods & services indices also rose 0.5-1 per cent each.
On the other hand, utilities, metal and oil & gas shares were witnessing selling pressure.
Mid- and small-cap shares were under-performing their larger peers as Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 indices rose 0.3 per cent.
ITC was top Nifty gainer; the stock rose 3 per cent to Rs 237.20. In the last two trading sessions, ITC has rallied over 10 per cent after it gave a breakout in technical charts. Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, Eicher Motors, Titan, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, SBI Life, Kotak Mahindra Bank and TCS also rose 1-2.4 per cent each on the NSE.
On the other hand, Tata Steel, JSW Steel, NTPC, Hindalco, IndusInd Bank, ONGC, Coal India and Power Grid were among the notable losers.
The overall market breadth was positive as 1,419 shares were advancing while 1,163 were declining on the BSE.