Mumbai. The upward trend in the local stock market continued for the fourth consecutive trading session on Thursday and the Sensex crossed the 79,000 mark for the first time. At the same time, the Nifty also touched the historic peak of 24,000 points for the first time. The market gained momentum due to buying in the shares of big companies like Infosys, Reliance and TCS.
The 30-share BSE index Sensex rose 568.93 points or 0.72 percent to close at a new record high of 79,243.18 points. During trading, at one point it rose 721.78 points to a new all-time high of 79,396.03 points.
The National Stock Exchange (NSE) index Nifty closed at a record high of 24,044.50, up 175.70 points or 0.74 percent. During trading, it had climbed 218.65 points to reach a new all-time high of 24,087.45.
The Sensex crossed the 78,000 mark for the first time on June 25 this week. At the same time, the Nifty touched the level of 23,000 points for the first time on May 24 this year. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said, “The standard indices showed a rise on the expectation of growth in the information technology sector and strength in the cement sector. However, the broader market remained in a stable range due to valuation concerns and selling by foreign institutional investors (FIIs).” Shares of UltraTech Cement, the leading cement producer in the Sensex group, rose more than five percent. Earlier, the company had said that it would acquire 23 percent stake in its Chennai-based rival company India Cements Limited for about Rs 1,885 crore.
Apart from Infosys, Reliance and TCS, shares of NTPC, JSW Steel, Tata Motors, Bharti Airtel, Power Grid, Kotak Mahindra Bank and Tech Mahindra also gained. On the other hand, shares of Larsen & Toubro, Sun Pharma, Nestle, HDFC Bank and Maruti were in loss.
Religare Broking Limited Senior Vice President (Research) Ajit Mishra said, “The market remained positive for the fourth consecutive trading session and maintained a bullish trend with a gain of more than half a percent. After a stable start, the Nifty climbed amid volatility and crossed a new mark of 24,000 points.” In the broader market, the BSE Midcap index rose 0.17 percent while Smallcap declined 0.57 percent.
In other Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei, China’s Shanghai Composite and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed with a decline. European markets had a mixed trend in afternoon trade. US markets closed with gains on Wednesday.
Global oil benchmark Brent crude rose 0.84 per cent to $85.97 per barrel.
According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 3,535.43 crore on a net basis on Wednesday. The BSE Sensex jumped 620.73 points to close at 78,674.25 points and the NSE Nifty rose 147.5 points to close at 23,868.80 points on Wednesday.