Stock Market: Sensex Hits Lifetime High, Rises 762 Points. Nifty Ends Near 18500 Amid Positive Cues

Stock update: Infosys, HCL, Power Grid, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HDFC, Sun Pharma, HUL, and M&M were among the major winners on the S&P BSE Sensex

The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Thursday ended their trading in the green with the S&P Sensex surged nearly 900 points to hit a lifetime high of 62,412 amid positive global cues. Global markets were also higher after the US Federal Reserve suggested that the it may slow the pace of interest rate hikes.

Before closing Indian key equity benchmarks Sensex settled at 62,273, higher by 762 points (1.24 per cent) compared to Wednesday. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 also hit a fresh 52-week high and was trading above the 18,500 mark. It closed at 18,484, up 217 points (1.19 per cent).

On the 30-share Sensex platform, Infosys, HCL, Power Grid, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, TCS, HDFC, Sun Pharma, HUL, and M&M were among the major winners. On the flip side, Kotak Bank, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Fivserv, and Tata Steel were among the losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE MidCap and SmallCap indices added 0.5 per cent, and 0.4 per cent, respectively.

Among sectors, the Nifty IT index jumped 2.6 per cent, while the Nifty FMCG and Financial Services index gained a little over 1 per cent. The Nifty Bank index, which hit a record high of 43,163.4 during the day, settled 0.8 per cent higher.

"Two triggers assisted the Sensex rally to record highs. One, in the mother market US, the market construct turned favourable with rising equities, declining bond yields and falling dollar. Two, macro developments in India show steady rise in credit growth and capex indicating strong economic recovery. Along with this, sharp correction in crude is a big positive. This has facilitated this Sensex rally led by large-caps, mainly the HDFC twins, Infosys, TCS and RIL," said V K Vijayakumar, chief investment strategist, Geojit Financial Services.

In the previous session, the BSE benchmark on Wednesday climbed 92 points (0.15 per cent) to end at 61,511, while the NSE Nifty gained 23 points (0.13 per cent) to end at 18,267.

Earlier in Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi surged 0.96 per cent, Japan’s Nikkei 225 advanced 0.95 per cent, China’s Shanghai Composite declined 0.25 power cent. In the last trading session, US markets closed in the green. Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 1.08 per cetn, S&P 500 surged 0.59 per cent, and Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.99 per cent. The US markets are closed today for the Thanksgiving holiday.

International oil benchmark Brent crude was trading 0.46 per cent lower at $85.02 per barrel.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) offloaded shares worth Rs 789.86 crore on Wednesday, as per exchange data.

Meanwhile, the rupee also got a boost amid broader dollar weakness. The rupee ended at 81.63 per dollar against its previous close of 81.84. The benchmark 10-year government bond yield ended at 7.25 per cent versus its close of 7.2910 per cent on Wednesday.