Share Market Today: Sensex Ends Above 78000 Mark; Nifty At All-Time High. Private Banks Rally

Share market today: The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday hit new all-time highs, led by a strong rally in large-cap private banking shares. The S&P BSE Sensex rallied past the 78,000-mark for the first-ever time and registered a summit at 78,105. It ended at 78,053, rising 712 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 jumped above the 23,700 level for the first time to hit a record high of 23,735.5. It closed with gains of 183 points at 23,721.

Stock update

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Axis Bank (3.40 per cent), ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, TechM, L&T, SBI emerged gainers. On the down side, PowerGrid, Tata Steel, Asian Paints, Nestle, Maruti, NTPC were among the losers.

In the broader market, BSE Midcap and Smallcap indices, however, closed 0.26 per cent and 0.03 per cent down, respectively.

Sectoral update

Sectorwise, Nifty Bank and Nifty Private Bank jumped by 1.7 per cent each, while Nifty IT saw a rise of 0.8 per cent. Nifty Realty dropped by 1.8 per cent, with Nifty Metal and Nifty Media slipping 0.7 per cent and 0.5 per cent, respectively.

In the previous session on Monday, the BSE benchmark closed 131 points higher at 77,341, while the NSE Nifty50 rose 37 points to end at 23,538.

India recorded a current account surplus of $5.7 billion or 0.6 per cent of GDP in the March quarter, the Reserve Bank of India said on Monday. This is the first time in ten quarters that the crucial metric of the country's external strength has turned into surplus mode.

"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, Geojit Financial Services.

Global update

In 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.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.44 per cent to $85.63 a barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded equities worth Rs 653.97 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

Rupee rises 3 paise

Meanwhile, the rupee gained 3 paise against the US dollar on Tuesday, tracking a firm trend in domestic equities amid stable global crude oil prices. However, a strengthening American currency in the overseas market weighed on the local unit and restricted the up move, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the local unit opened at 83.46 and hit the intraday high of 83.41 and a low of 83.48 against the greenback during the session.

It finally settled at 83.44 (provisional) against the dollar, registering a gain of 3 paise from its previous close. On Monday, the rupee appreciated 10 paise to settle at 83.47 against the US dollar.