Mumbai. The local stock market reached record levels on Thursday due to buying in the shares of big companies Reliance Industries and Tata Motors. The Sensex jumped 349 points while the Nifty registered a gain of 100 points. The BSE’s 30-share benchmark index Sensex jumped 349.05 points or 0.43 percent to close at an all-time high of 82,134.61. During trading, at one time it had climbed 500.27 points to reach its highest level of 82,285.83.
This was the eighth consecutive session of gains in the Sensex. In these eight sessions of gains, the Sensex has gained a total of 1,709.93 points or 2.12 percent. The benchmark index Nifty of the National Stock Exchange (NSE) rose 99.60 points or 0.40 percent to close at a new record level of 25,151.95. During trading, it rose 140.55 points to reach its highest level of 25,192.90.
This was the 11th consecutive session of Nifty’s rise. During this period, Nifty jumped a total of 1,012.95 points or 4.19 percent.
Prashant Tapase, Senior Vice President (Research), Mehta Equities Limited, said, “The market again witnessed activity on the day of settlement of contract deals. The market fluctuated and also declined in the afternoon session. But Reliance’s announcement of bonus shares brought back the excitement and it closed at a new record level.” Reliance Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani said that the company’s board of directors will consider issuing one-for-one bonus shares on September 5. After this announcement, shares of Reliance Industries rose by 1.5 percent.
Among the companies included in the Sensex group, Tata Motors’ shares registered the highest gain of four percent. Shares of Bajaj Finserv, Bajaj Finance, HCL Technologies, ITC, Reliance Industries, Tech Mahindra, Maruti and State Bank of India also remained on the rise. On the contrary, shares of Mahindra & Mahindra, Sun Pharma, JSW Steel, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Infosys and Tata Steel declined. In the broader market, the BSE Smallcap index fell by 0.72 percent while the Midcap index was in loss of 0.27 percent.
Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Financial Services, said, “Stock markets reached record highs. Activities related to Reliance’s meeting influenced market sentiment. The recent rise in IT and FMCG stocks also strengthened the market.” In other Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei and China’s Shanghai Composite were down while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng closed with gains.
European markets were trading in positive territory. US markets closed with a decline on Wednesday. According to stock market data, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) sold shares worth Rs 1,347.53 crore on Wednesday. Global oil benchmark Brent crude fell 0.60 percent to $ 78.27 per barrel. The BSE Sensex rose 73.80 points or 0.09 percent to close at 81,785.56 and the NSE Nifty rose 34.60 points to close at 25,052.35 on Wednesday.