Sensex, Nifty hit record highs as IT and auto stocks rally
By Koustav Das: Benchmark stock market indices ended the week on a strong note, hitting fresh record highs amid a strong rally in information technology stocks.
The S&P BSE Sensex gained over 800 points to close over 64,700, while the NSE Nifty 50 settled over 200 points higher at nearly 19,190. Broader market indices ended the session on a strong note.
Nifty IT and Nifty Auto were the top-performing sectoral indices, both gaining over 2 per cent. The gains were also driven by heavyweights Nifty Bank and Nifty Financial Services.
Also Read | Sensex, Nifty trade at record high amid broad-based rally
The top five gainers on the Nifty 50 were M&M, Infosys, IndusInd Bank, Sun Pharma and Hero MotoCorp. On the other hand, the top losers were Adani Ports, Grasim, Apollo Hospitals, HDFC Life and Adani Enterprises.
Among individual stocks, M&M jumped nearly 4.4 per cent and was the top gainer on the Nifty 50, while Infosys gained nearly 3.5 per cent.
IT and auto stocks gained sharply after strong economic data from the United States allayed fears of a economic slowdown, leading to an improvement in global markets.
Sustained foreign inflows, easing inflation and prospect of healthy earnings growth are primary reasons that have been driving gains in the domestic markets, as per analysts.
Riches Vanara, Technical And Derivatives Analyst, Stoxbox, said, “Indian markets ended in the green today, with the benchmarks scaling to new all-time highs on strong sentiment following robust economic data from the US which faded recessionary concerns.”
“All the 13 major sectoral indices were higher, with IT and automobile leading the way. AMC stocks were in action, prompted by the SEBI’s announcement regarding a significant change to the old draft Total Expense Ratio (TER) proposal,” Vanara added.
“Looking forward, markets are likely to sustain momentum as tomorrow’s expected positive monthly auto sales numbers would take centre stage on Monday.”
