Share Market Today: The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday closed with minor gains after hitting record highs earlier in the session. The BSE Sensex, which hit a lifetime high of 77,145, ended at 76,811, up 204 points. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50, settled at 23,399, up 76 points. It touched a record high of 23,481 on Thursday.


Stock update


On the 30-share Sensex platform, M&M, Titan, L&T, IndusInd Bank, TechM, TCS emerged gainers. On the flip side, HUL, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, PowerGrid, Airtel, and ITC were among the losers.


In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap and SmallCap indices closed 0.89 per cent and 0.89 per cent higher, respectively.


Sectoral upate


Among sectors, the Nifty Bank and Private Bank indices ended up to 0.12 per cent lower on profit booking, while the Nifty FMCG dipped 0.7 per cent. On the upside, the Nifty Realty index added 2 per cent.


In the previous session on Wednesday, the BSE benchmark jumped 150 points to settle at 76,606. The Nifty ended at 23,323, up 58 points.


"There is good news on the inflation front, both in the US and in India. The takeaway from the inflation numbers is that the disinflation process is well on track. From the market perspective, this is positive news, particularly for banking stocks," said VK Vijayakumar, Chief Investment Strategist, Geojit Financial Services.


Global update


In Asian markets, Seoul, and Hong Kong settled higher, while Tokyo and Shanghai ended lower. European markets were trading lower. US markets ended mostly with gains.


Global oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.71 per cent to $82.01 a barrel.


Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 426.63 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.


Rupee slips 7 paise


The rupee consolidated in a narrow range and settled for the day lower by 7 paise at 83.55 (provisional) against the US dollar on Thursday even as both the domestic equity benchmark indices touched all-time high levels. Forex traders said rupee was seen resilient against the dollar, even after volatility witnessed in the dollar index, due to CPI data and US Fed's policy decision.


At the interbank foreign exchange, the local unit opened at 83.52 and finally settled for the day lower by 7 paise at 83.55 (provisional) against the American currency. On Wednesday, the rupee appreciated 11 paise to close at 83.48 against the US dollar.