Stock Market Today: Sensex Soars 970 Points; Nifty Atop 21,450. IT Top Gainer; HCL, TCS Up 5%

Stock update: On the 30-share Sensex platform, HCL, TCS, Infosys, SBI, Tata Steel, NTPC emerged gainers. HCL, TCS, and Infosys soared 5 per cent

The bull run continued on Dalal Street as Sensex and Nifty, the two key equity benchmarks, on Friday scaled new heights following the US Fed's dovish approach. The S&P BSE Sensex rose 970 points to 71,484, hitting a record high of 71,606 during intra-day. On the other hand, the NSE Nifty50 closed at 21,457, up 274 points. The benchmark also hit an all-time high of 21,492 during the day.

On the 30-share Sensex platform, HCL, TCS, Infosys, SBI, Tata Steel, NTPC emerged gainers. HCL, TCS, and Infosys soared 5 per cent. On the downside, Nestle, Airtel, Maruti, ITC, Kotak Bank, Axis Bank were among the losers.

In the broader markets, the BSE Midcap ended flat with a negative bias, while the BSE Smallcap ended 0.58 per cent higher. The indices hit record highs of 36,421 and 42,219, respectively, during the day.

Sectorwise, Nifty IT index was top gainer, rising 4.5 per cent. The Nifty Metal gained 2.13 per cent while the Nifty PSU Bank index went up 2.39 per cent.

In the previous session on Thursday, Sensex closed with a gain of 930 points at 70,514, while the NSE Nifty50 settled at 21,182, up 256 points.

As many as 1,969 stocks advanced, while 1,801 declined and 118 remained unchanged.

In Asian markets, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hong Kong settled with gains, while Shanghai ended lower. European markets were trading on a mixed note. The US markets ended higher on Thursday.

The stock market rally has come on the back of a dovish stance by the US Federal Reserve, which has signalled around three rate cuts in the coming years, Devarsh Vakil, Deputy Head of Retail Research, HDFC Securities. "Cash market volumes stood sharply higher (second highest ever) as compared to recent averages. PSU bank stocks extended gains for the eleventh consecutive trading session. The combined market value of all BSE-listed companies surged by Rs 2.76 lakh crore on Friday, marking an overall increase of Rs 8.55 lakh crore for the week, reaching Rs 357.78 lakh crore," he said.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their buying momentum as they bought equities worth Rs 3,570.07 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude climbed 0.33 per cent to $76.86 a barrel.

Meanwhile, the rupee jumped by 27 paise to close at 83.03 (provisional) against the US dollar on Friday following unabated foreign fund inflows and a record-breaking rally in domestic stocks.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened flat at 83.30 against the dollar. After touching the day's low of 83.32 in early trade, the rupee reversed the losses and surged to a high of 82.94. The rupee finally closed at 83.03, up by 27 paise over the previous close of 83.30. On a weekly basis, the rupee gained 37 paise.