Mumbai: Indian shares reached new highs on Tuesday, boosted by technology and consumer stocks, as economic indicators pointed to a recovery in demand, though the gains were limited by concerns about an increase in Delta variant cases elsewhere in Asia.
The 30-share index Nifty breached 16,000 for the first time to close at 16,130, while the BSE Sensex reached a new record high of 53,823 points, up 873 points, making it a historic day for the Indian markets.
The country's factory activity rebounded last month, and the July trade deficit increased to $11.23 billion from $9.4 billion a month earlier, with economists pointing to a return to normalcy after curbs were eased.
Solid buying in pharma, IT, FMCG, and financial stocks lifted benchmark indices to record highs on Tuesday. The most significant contributors to the gain in the 30-scrip S&P BSE Sensex index were HDFC, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, and Titan. The four collectively contributed 200 points to the index's rise.
The significant losers on the BSE include Vodafone Idea, Inox Wind Ltd, Ind-Swift Labs, LKP Finance (down 5.14%), and Cosyn. The BSE Mid- and SmallCap indices reached new highs in the broader markets, gaining up to 0.5% in intraday trade.
In the Nifty pack, 36 stocks traded in the green, while 14 stocks traded in the red. The Indian markets reached record highs while many other Asian markets traded lower amid rising COVID-19 cases. Hang Seng and Nikkei fell up to a percent, while Shanghai Composite Index traded flat. In Asia, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.12%.
The spread of the Delta coronavirus variant in key Asian regions posed new risks, putting Chinese authorities on high alert, rattling investor confidence.