The two key equity benchmarks, Sensex and Nifty, on Tuesday, reached new record highs during the day before closing on a strong note. The BSE Sensex hit a fresh lifetime high of 69,381.31 during the day and settled at a gain of 431.02 points at 69,296.14 as trading ended. The NSE Nifty50 reached a record high of 20,864.05 during trading, and settled at 20,855.10, after climbing 168.30 points.
The markets have been on an upward trend for the last two trading sessions and reaching new highs every day.
On the 30-share Sensex platform, PowerGrid, NTPC, SBI, ICICI Bank, and M&M emerged as the major gainers during the day. While, Hindustan Unilever, HCL Tech, Bajaj Finance, Wipro, and Infosys were among the prime losers at the end of the day.
The broader markets closed trading entirely in green, except the Nifty Microcap 250, which dipped 0.07 per cent. The Nifty Next 50 and Nifty 100 indices led the gains with increases of 1.04 per cent and 0.92 per cent respectively.
Among specific stocks, Adani Enterprises saw its shares hit the sky during the day. The flagship firm saw a climb of 17.38 per cent in its stock to Rs 2,971 apiece, while the Adani Ports' shares soared nearly 15 per cent higher to end at Rs 1,010 apiece.
Sectorally, the Nifty Metal led the gains with an increase of 3.07 per cent, followed by PSU Bank, and Oil & Gas, which rose by 1.41 per cent each. Further, the Nifty Bank index climbed 1.25 per cent and touched a fresh lifetime high of 47,230.55 during the day, before settling a little lower.
Among the losers, the Nifty Media and IT indices reported losses of 0.58 per cent and 0.57 per cent respectively. Other indices in losses included Nifty Realty, FMCG and Healthcare Index.
Analysts credited the market surge to the unabated inflow of foreign funds which boosted investor confidence and the results of the Assembly Elections held in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh, which added to the expectations of longer political stability in the country. Further, investors are also awaiting the RBI's decision on interest rates in its bi-monthly monetary policy meeting to be held on Wednesday. The results of the meeting would be announced on Friday.
In the previous session on Monday, the two key equity benchmarks climbed over 2 per cent during the day. The BSE Sensex crossed the 68,500 mark and climbed nearly 1,400 points to close at 68,865.12, after hitting a fresh lifetime high of 68,918.22 during the day. The NSE Nifty50 jumped over 400 points and stood way beyond the 20,000 mark at 20,686.80 as the trading session closed for the day.
The domestic rupee recovered from all-time low levels to close by 1 paisa higher at 83.37 against the US dollar on Tuesday. The Indian currency touched a new all-time low of 83.41 against the greenback early in the day. A day earlier, the currency closed at 83.38 against the American dollar.
Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) invested in shares worth Rs 2,073.21 crore on Monday, exchange data revealed.
Vinod Nair, head of research, Geojit Financial Services, noted, "The domestic market extended the gains and hit fresh highs despite cautiousness among global peers ahead of key US job data this week. The aura of the state election results and other positive factors like above-expected earnings and GDP growth data are supporting the return of FII flows to the Indian market. The RBI's monetary policy meeting is expected to be status quo. However, the commentary on economic growth, foodgrain prices and inflation trajectory will be closely watched."